This is an important work in literary theory and philosophy of literature. I consider the work a properly constructed path that will lead readers to the literary world of Nkengasong, and Nkengasong to a global world of literary relevance. If you have read Nkengasong before now you will be more comfortable with his works by reading Riot in the Mind: A Critical Study of J. N. Nkengasong. If you have not start with it.Dr. Lawrence Ogbo Ugwuanyi

This is an important work in literary theory and philosophy of literature. I consider the work a properly constructed path that will lead readers to the literary world of Nkengasong, and Nkengasong to a global world of literary relevance. If you have read Nkengasong before now you will be more comfortable with his works by reading Riot in the Mind: A Critical Study of John Nkemngong Nkengasong. If you have not start with it. Dr. Lawrence Ogbo Ugwuanyi Department of Philosophy & Religions University of Abuja, Nigeria

The book Art and Political Thought in Bole Butake, through a pluralist critical approach, interrogates Butake’s major creative works—Lake God, And Palm Wine Will Flow, The Survivors, Shoes and Four Men in Arms, Dance of the Vampires and The Rape of Michelle —mainly in terms of their political underpinnings and cultural signification. The intention is to place his drama within the socio-political matrix of Cameroon and demonstrate the topicality of the issues of governance, marginalization, and corruption in Cameroon or Africa that Butake consistently foregrounds in his creative works. The study opens with an overview of the historical and social milieu that feeds Butake’s imagination and the introduction is followed by an interview of the playwright in which he explains his mission as a writer. The next two chapters appraise the political symbolism of Butake’s plays and chapter five undertakes a comparison of the colonial legacy and the culture of corruption in Butake’s Lake God and The Rape ofMichelle. Women in Butake’s imaginative universe play a non-negligible role in change. They are portrayed as political and social activists in their challenge to autocratic rule. This is the leitmotif of chapter six, which highlights the contribution of women towards political change in Cameroon. In chapters seven and eight, the focus is on articulating the cultural signification of Butake’s plays in terms of political change. Concomitantly, these chapters also demonstrate Butake’s seamless incorporation of elements of oral literature in his drama, as he interpolates proverbs, divinations and other elements of orality in his work. Chapter nine of the book points out how Butake foregrounds the character traits of his protagonists against the backdrop of traditional Noni religion as well as Christianity. Thus, the bigotry and belligerence of both the Fon and Father Leo in Lake God, for example, are projected through a supernatural frame. The conclusion appraises the contemporaneity of Butake’s drama. His oeuvre continues to inspire so many people: from disenfranchised groups that see in his drama a path to reclaiming liberties and to critics who are challenged to hone their literary tools in the endeavor to situate his works within the dynamics of politics and culture in Africa.

Guided by postcolonial theory and the ideas of some Western and African philosophers this study's in-depth analysis of the novels of three Anglophone Cameroonian authors addresses the question of how principles of nation formation and nationalism are influenced by both colonialism and pre-colonial in situ constituents. The analysis focuses on how nations represented in the imaginary worlds constructed by the novelists are dominated by aspects such as ethnicity, corruption, authoritarianism, nepotism, solidarity and communitarianism which marginalize the masses, leaving them in misery and abject poverty. Tracing the historical settings of the novels from 1948 till present day, the study delineates the writers' representation of the Anglophones of Cameroon as being marginalized as well as suffering from self-marginalization and also demonstrates how postcolonial misery in Africa is not caused solely by colonialism but by several other aspects. This study reads the works of these Anglophone novelists not only as representing aspects in a nation but as tools of renegotiating a better society and a way forward for this nation.

When Kendem, a varsity instructor, returns to his native Lewoh countryside where he spent his childhood, he is seeking relief from the complexity of human civilization after attending the Fulbright Institute in the United States. Instead, he is confronted with two seething issues: how to reveal to his sick and troubled mother the situation in which he finds his elder brother, the successor of Mbe Tanju-Ngong's household, who travelled to the United States many years before and had never returned and the dispute over Fuo Beyano's funeral which is tearing the land apart, whether the deceased village chief, should be given a Christian burial or he should, according to the age-old tradition of Lewoh people, go through a ritual to enable him return and continue ruling his people.

Cameroon is a country endowed with a variety of climates and agricultural environments, numerous minerals, substantial forests, and a dynamic population. It is a country that should be a leader of Africa. Instead, we find a country almost paralyzed by corruption and poor management, a country with a low life expectancy and serious health problems, and a country from which the most talented and highly educated members of the population are emigrating in large numbers. Although Cameroon has made economic progress since independence, it has not been able to change the dependent nature of its economy. The economic situation combined with the dismal record of its political history, indicate that prospects for political stability, justice, and prosperity are dimmer than they have been for most of the country's independent existence. The fourth edition of the Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Cameroon has been updated to reflect advances in the study of Cameroon's history as well as to provide coverage of the years since the last edition. It relates the turbulent history of Cameroon through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and over 600 cross-referenced dictionary entries on significant persons, events, places, organizations, and other aspects of Cameroon history from the earliest times to the present.