The author looks at Africa in the sixties and at the major events which have shaped the destiny of the continent for decades since the end of colonial rule. Most of the countries had won independence by 1968. It was the euphoric and turbulent sixties when African countries were confronted with the harsh realities of nationhood including nation building and state consolidation. They were also years of military coups and assassinations as well as conflicts: the ouster of Kwame Nkrumah who led Ghana to become the first black African country to win independence; the Congo crisis including the secession of Katanga province and the assassination of Patrice Lumumba; the Nigerian civil war triggered by the secession of the Eastern Region which declared independence as the Republic of Biafra; the Zanzibar Revolution followed by the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar which led to the creation of a new country, Tanzania, which is the only union of independent states ever formed on the continent; and liberation wars in the countries of southern Africa which were under white minority rule. There were many other events which took place across the continent during those years. Almost all the major events which have taken place on the continent through the decades can be traced back to the sixties in one way or another. That was when the foundations of the young African nations were laid. It was also during those years when African governments adopted and implemented policies, including imported -isms which had a profound impact on the continent for decades. It was probably the most important decade in the history of post-colonial Africa.

How colonial governments in Asia and Africa financed their activities and why fiscal systems varied across colonies reveals the nature and long-term effects of colonial rule.

This volume considers innovations, transitions, and traditions in both familiar and unfamiliar texts and moments in 1960s African American literature and culture. It interrogates declarations of race, authenticity, personal and collective empowerment, political action, and aesthetics within this key decade. It is divided into three sections. The first section engages poetry and music as pivotal cultural form in 1960s literary transitions. The second section explains how literature, culture, and politics intersect to offer a blueprint for revolution within and beyond the United States. The final section addresses literary and cultural moments that are lesser-known in the canon of African American literature and culture. This book presents the 1960s as a unique commitment to art, when 'Black' became a political identity, one in which racial social justice became inseparable from aesthetic practice.

Intended for those interested in the African continent and the diversity of human history, this work looks at Africa's past and reflects on the changing ways it has been imagined and represented. It illustrates key themes in modern thinking about Africa's history with a range of historical examples.

A history of Atlantic solidarity between Cuba and Africa, in struggle for African independence from colonial powers The Cuban people hold a special place in the hearts of the people of Africa. The Cuban internationalists have made a contribution to African independence, freedom, and justice, unparalleled for its principled and selfless character.’ As Nelson Mandela states, Cuba was a key participant in the struggle for the independence of African countries during the Cold War and the definitive ousting of colonialism from the continent. Beyond the military interventions that played a decisive role in shaping African political history, there were many-sided engagements between the island and the continent. Cuba and Africa, 1959-1994 is the story of tens of thousands of individuals who crossed the Atlantic as doctors, scientists, soldiers, students and artists. Each chapter presents a case study – from Algeria to Angola, from Equatorial Guinea to South Africa – and shows how much of the encounter between Cuba and Africa took place in non-militaristic fields: humanitarian and medical, scientific and educational, cultural and artistic. The historical experience and the legacies documented in this book speak to the major ideologies that shaped the colonial and postcolonial world, including internationalism, developmentalism and South–South cooperation. Approaching African–Cuban relations from a multiplicity of angles, this collection will appeal to an equally wide range of readers, from scholars in black Atlantic studies to cultural theorists and general readers with an interest in contemporary African history.

The Oxford Handbook of the Cold War offers a broad reassessment of the period war based on new conceptual frameworks developed in the field of international history. Nearing the 25th anniversary of its end, the cold war now emerges as a distinct period in twentieth-century history, yet one which should be evaluated within the broader context of global political, economic, social, and cultural developments. The editors have brought together leading scholars in cold war history to offer a new assessment of the state of the field and identify fundamental questions for future research. The individual chapters in this volume evaluate both the extent and the limits of the cold war's reach in world history. They call into question orthodox ways of ordering the chronology of the cold war and also present new insights into the global dimension of the conflict. Even though each essay offers a unique perspective, together they show the interconnectedness between cold war and national and transnational developments, including long-standing conflicts that preceded the cold war and persisted after its end, or global transformations in areas such as human rights or economic and cultural globalization. Because of its broad mandate, the volume is structured not along conventional chronological lines, but thematically, offering essays on conceptual frameworks, regional perspectives, cold war instruments and cold war challenges. The result is a rich and diverse accounting of the ways in which the cold war should be positioned within the broader context of world history.

A description of the conflicts which have so damaged Africa, this survey of the last four decades seeks to throw light on the problems which afflict the continent. All important conflicts are covered, North, Central and South, with their political and military background, and details of armies and weaponry.