Review by Booklist Review
French adeptly places the rise and fall of Kwame Nkrumah, first president of Ghana, the first liberated African colony, within the context of anti-colonial movements in Asia and the Middle East, as well as Nkrumah's influence on racial justice in the U.S. French traces Nkrumah's education in American universities and storefront churches, his growing stature as a natural leader and "prison graduate," and his early commitment to nonviolent "tactical action" (a path resembling and influencing that of Martin Luther King Jr.). Dubbed a troublemaker by the British, Nkrumah calmly persisted, refusing to accept anything less than total independence, eventually winning the day, especially after the carnage of WWII demolished the racist notion of superior European civilization. An uncomfortable reminder to the segregated U.S. that Black equality was possible, Nkrumah became a folk hero to African Americans, too, drawing starstruck crowds that watched as this charismatic leader, "Obama before Obama floated down the Air Force One staircase--Blacker, cooler . . . and because he was the first, he was a breathtaking sight." Despite assassination threats, ethnic rivalries, and failure to achieve his greatest goal of a pan African Federation, Nkrumah's influence on African and African American liberation remains unparalleled.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this magisterial account, journalist French (Born in Blackness) revisits the history of the Pan-Africanist movement through the life of Ghanaian prime minister Kwame Nkrumah, who in 1957 became the first head of state of the first colonized African nation to gain independence. French's work is "not a comprehensive biography," but rather "an exploration of the momentous politics of age," including Nkrumah's role in turning Ghana into a "fountainhead of emancipation" for other colonies. Born in 1909, Nkrumah lucked into an education thanks to the sponsorship of a missionary, who sent him to the U.S. There, he met "committed Marxist" C.L.R James, who "tutored" him in "radical politics." During WWII, "Europe's... focus on extraction" of men and resources from Africa radicalized the Gold Coast's "local intelligentsias"; by 1947, London's Colonial Office was acquiescing to demands for constitutional reform, leading to a public convention with more than 60,000 in attendance, at which a newly returned Nkrumah addressed a receptive crowd. Over the coming years, Nkrumah assumed leadership of a massive nonviolent political movement that eventually (after Nkrumah's imprisonment) led to independence. French notes that Nkrumah never relinquished his Pan-African ideals, and dissects how the Cold War, which brought the colonial presence back to Africa in the form of U.S. imperialism, unraveled Nkrumah's dream of a unified Africa. Weaving a staggering amount of history into a propulsive narrative that recasts the 20th century as a long struggle for liberation, this is a towering achievement. (Aug.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Wide-ranging study of the life and thought of Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of independent Ghana. As formerNew York Times foreign correspondent French observes, Kwame Nkrumah was a brilliant man who, during a sojourn in Depression-era America, "earned four degrees, in sociology, theology, education, and philosophy." Closely studying the work of African and African American writers, he also formulated the doctrine of Pan-Africanism, which held that the African continent would never be free of the aftereffects of colonialism until its nations, along with new nations and federations, had forged a common cause that would mark a new world order and "remedy the curse of Balkanization…that colonialism had inflicted upon them." Pan-Africanism is not widely remembered today; this is due in part to the continent's leaders neglecting to shake off its colonial past and instead allowing themselves to be swayed by corruption and privilege. Nkrumah spent his early years in office steering a careful course between the U.S. and USSR during the peak years of the Cold War; although Ghana appeared to be far friendlier to the U.S., its nonalignment led to confrontation with Lyndon Johnson's "you're either for us or against us" mentality, so Ghana effectively dropped off the map. At the same time, French writes, Nkrumah, having built a roster of political enemies and feeling paranoid about being assassinated--for good reason, it happens--began to succumb to the temptations of authoritarianism, so that "in its panic, the regime had begun to commit autophagy, cannibalizing itself," evidenced by Nkrumah's firing the country's chief justice so that three prominent foes could be found guilty and imprisoned for opposing him. In the end, Nkrumah was overthrown in a coup, his Pan-African dream thwarted, and died in exile. A fluent exploration of an important if often overlooked political leader whose ideas still bear consideration. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
