The Rise and Fall of SPLM/SPLA Leadership provides lively and descriptive narratives of key leaders of the South Sudanese revolutions, with special attention to the debates and issues that make South Sudan's history relevant to both contemporary South Sudanese and wider audiences. Author Daniel Wuor Joak, an influential South Sudanese politician, illuminates the historical significances of South Sudan's social, political, and economic affairs within the wider context of Sudan-an extraordinary achievement, given the multiplicity of peoples and regions and the complexity of tribal rivalries within the country. The title of this book refers to the nine founding members of the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement and its army. Their rise and fall should serve as a reminder of the shortcomings of the leaders who planted the seeds of disharmony from the onset of the struggle for South Sudanese independence. With its freedom won on July 9, 2011, South Sudan's people know the stakes are high, should this nascent nation fail to manage its own affairs responsibly. For this reason, the issues that damaged the liberation movement need to be understood and resolved by members of all sixty-four united tribes to avoid lapsing back into an oppressed state.

The Republic of Sudan's former Culture Minister and a leading architect in the movement to gain independence for South Sudan, Bona Malwal, provides a factual and personal account of the break up of Sudan. He explores its troubled history post-colonialism and offers a frank account of the many challenges that both nations face in the coming years.

Sudan's Painful Road to Peace by Arop Madut Arop was designed as a reference book for students of Sudanese politics, but even more important is the fact that it contains comprehensive records of the recent history of Southern Sudan. Arop wishes the book to serve as a reminder to the Sudanese policy makers that such a destructive war that has held the socio-economic national advancement hostage for five decades should never be repeated