Contemporary Africa

by T.Walter Wallbank

Published 1 June 1964
In 1955, when this survey was originally written, there was only one independent African state -- Liberia -- south of the Sahara; by 1964 there were some two dozen. Africa has been revolutionized, with these emergent nations playing an important role in the United Nations, refusing to be taken for granted in international affairs, and determined to press forward with urgent developmental plans for human betterment. In this revised edition, the author has added a chapter entitled 'Eight Momentous Years, 1956-1964.' Extracts from Prime Minister Macmillan's 1960 'Wind of Change' speech and views on apartheid in this period are also included.

After World War II, alien rule in Africa began to dwindle, as upwards of 30 independent African nations emerged by the early 1960s. The author has selected and arranged eight documents and readings to aid in a modern African history. They discuss: the opening of Africa, philosophies and systems of colonial rule, and the effect of World War I on the African scene; the rise of nationalism; the independence explosion; the new African governments; Pan-Africanism; African culture; and such problem areas as South Africa, Southern Rhodesia, and Angola.