Having ruined Africa during colonial times and the Cold War, the West should stay out of this beleaguered continent in the future, argues Huband in this well-researched if tendentious book. Financial Times
editor Huband (Warriors of the Prophet: The Struggle for Islam) expertly traces the devastating postcolonial histories of several African countries, including Zaire, Liberia and Kenya. Situating himself in the middle of war zones in Rwanda, Burundi and elsewhere, he describes scenes of brutality and its aftermath in harrowing detail. For instance, visiting Liberia in 1994 when President Doe was tortured to death by Prince Johnson's faction, Huband witnessed a film of the torture in Johnson's home. Like other recent authors on Africa, Huband contends that U.S. policy during the Cold War was characterized by lack of information about Islam, profit-taking and Cold War politics. Huband's anti-U.S. sentiment sometimes precludes a balanced view. He rightly focuses much of his coverage of the Rwandan massacre on colonial policy, but neglects to explore the responsibility of the Africans who committed the atrocities. His vague prescriptions for the future sound like mere cheerleading: "The enormous problems much of Africa faces are far from being entirely of their own making, but with determination and courage it is the population of the continent that is now seeking to take those problems in hand." In the era of globalization, his prescription for the West to leave Africa alone seems unrealistic, but his reporting remains powerful. B&w photos. (Nov. 26)
