The Rise of Nationalism in Central Africa

“Mr. Rotberg has seen things which no other historian has seen before—in particular, files relating to all the different kinds of local welfare and other associations of the 1930s and ’40s out of which the nationalist politics of the 1950s and ’60s emerged. This is exciting stuff, because it shows in convincing detail how far, when the moment for action came, the nationalist leaders were able to build upon an existing network of local associations in which the germ of nationalism was already present. Those who still believe that African nationalism was the work of a handful of unrepresentative agitators should read Rotberg’s book and think again… Rotberg has written a story of which every Malawian and Zambian will feel proud.”—The New York Review of Books

“No recent study of African nation-making is fuller of fine and finely organized detail.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Professor Rotberg has given students of African history a detailed and thoroughly documented study of the creation of Malawi and Zambia and much information on the formation and collapse of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. No other scholar has written so full and reliable an account of this recent and complex history. Rotberg had access to hitherto unused official archives and to private correspondence, sources that he supplemented by interviews with many of the European and African participants in the vents of the last decades of a century of history. No one can read this story without being impressed by the dizzy speed of change in Africa.”—American Historical Review

“Not only has [Rotberg] written a book that will be of value for years to come—he has written it well! It is the rare historian who so happily combines impressive documentation with a fluent style.”—Africa Today