During the colonial period, Africans told each other terrifying rumors that Africans who worked for white colonists captured unwary residents and took their blood. In colonial Tanganyika, for example, Africans were said to be captured by these agents of colonialism and hung upside down, their throats cut so their blood drained into huge buckets. In Kampala, the police were said to abduct Africans and keep them in pits, where their blood was sucked. Luise White presents and interprets vampire stories from East and Central Africa as a way of understanding the world as the storytellers did. Using gossip and rumor as historical sources in their own right, she assesses the place of such evidence, oral and written, in historical reconstruction. White conducted more than 130 interviews for this book and did research in Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia. In addition to presenting powerful, vivid stories that Africans told to describe colonial power, the book presents an original epistemological inquiry into the nature of historical truth and memory, and into their relationship to the writing of history.

This is a detailed study of the political and economic condition of the Republic of the Gabon which focuses on the years of the oil boom (1975-1985).

More than ten thousand years ago, a race called the Bitalo conquered the continent of Africa. They were something like vampires, something like African vampires. There is a quite a bit of sunshine in Africa. Do you know what that means? It means that the African vampires do not fear the sun. It means that the sun cannot save you from an African vampire. There are African vampires in the United States. They came to this country during the slave trade. Most of them look like ordinary African American people, but there are Bitalos in every race. African vampires do not like blood that much. To them it is like milk—good for their health. Some call them cannibal vampires or ghoul vampires because their main food is people. They like their food prepared in many ways—fried, baked, barbequed, and ground like hamburgers. There are quite a few African vampires in the United States. Now they are planning to take over the United States. Somebody has got to stop them. John Irungu has killed quite a few Bitalos, but he is a very old man now, and he is becoming senile. Also, there would seem to be very few Irungu Knights left. But John Irungu has a much younger friend named John David Hunter, also known as the Preacher. The preacher just might be a natural-born Irungu Knight. He just might be the Chosen One. Bitalo prophecy warns them of the coming of a man who could destroy them. He would be a descendant of Curtis Jore, the man of war, the man who destroyed their ancient vampire. Could this preacher be the Chosen One?

"A highly readable, sweeping, and yet detailed analysis of the African state in all its failures and moments of hope. Crawford Young manages to touch upon all the important issues in the discipline and crucial developments in the recent history of the African continent. This book will be a classic."---Pierre Englebert, author of Africa Unity, Sovereignty, and Sorrow --

'Meredith has given a spectacularly clear view of the African political jungle' – Spectator 'This book is hard to beat... Elegantly written as well as unerringly accurate' – Financial Times The fortunes of Africa have changed dramatically since the independence era began in 1957. As Europe’s colonial powers withdrew, dozens of new states were born. Africa was a continent rich in mineral resources and its economic potential was immense. Yet, it soon struggled with corruption, violence and warfare, with few states managing to escape the downward spiral. So what went wrong? In this riveting and authoritative account, Martin Meredith examines the myriad problems that Africa has faced, focusing upon key personalities, events and themes of the independence era. He brings his compelling analysis into the modern day, exploring Africa’s enduring struggles for democracy and the rising influence of China. It is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the continent’s plight and its hopes for a brighter future.