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Sto caricando le informazioni... A Political History of The Gambia, 1816-1994 (Rochester Studies in African History and the Diaspora)di Arnold Hughes
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A Political History of the Gambia: 1816-1994 is the first complete account of the political history of the former British West African dependency to be written. It makes use of much hitherto unconsulted or unavailable British and Gambian official and private documentary sources, as well as interviews with many Gambian politicians and former British colonial officials. The first part of the book charts the origins and characteristics of modern politics in colonial Bathurst (Banjul) and its expansion into the Gambian interior (Protectorate) in the two decades after World War II. By independence in 1965, older urban-based parties in the capital had been defeated by a new, rural-based political organisation, the People's Progressive Party (PPP). The second part of the book analyzes the means by which the PPP, under President Sir Dawda Jawara, succeeded in defeating both existing and new rival political parties and an attempted coup in 1981. The book closes with an explanation of the demise of the PPP at the hands of an army coup in 1994. The book not only establishes those distinctive aspects of Gambian political history, but also relates these to the wider regional and African context, during the colonial and independence periods. Emeritus Professor Arnold Hughes was educated at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and Ibadan University, Nigeria. Between 1966 and 2001 he taught at the Centre of West African Studies, the University of Birmingham, becoming its Director and Professor of African Politics. He has researched and published widely on various aspects of African politics and political history and, since, 1972, developed a special interest in the political history of the Gambia. He has paid some twenty-five research visits to the Gambia and published two books, The Gambia: Studies in Society and Politics (1991) and Historical Dictionary of the Gambia (with H. A. Gailey) (1999); and over thirty articles and book chapters on Gambian politics. Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
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Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni... GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)966.51History and Geography Africa West Africa Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Gambia, Cape Verde, etc. The GambiaClassificazione LCVotoMedia:
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I expected “A Political History of The Gambia, 1816-1994” by Arnold Hughes and David Perfect to be a monotonous tome (at 549 pages!), but I thought I’d give it a go! And since there are so few books written about The Gambia, mainland Africa’s smallest state, I was determined to finish reading it!
No English language book likely has as much information about The Gambia as this book. That being said, there really isn’t a lot of information in this book. Besides offering slightly more historical context than Wikipedia, the main area of focus in the book is electoral politics in The Gambia: the emergence of political parties and interests in colonial Gambia, the dominance of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), and the various opposition parties that have come and gone during The Gambia’s post-colonial existence. Now, this isn’t a problem in itself, even if mainstream liberalism’s adulation of electoral politics is enough to make any astute political analyst want to find the nearest high-rise building and throw themselves off it. But when you consider that this book is primarily about electoral politics in a country that was a de facto, if not de jure, one-party state for the entirety of The Gambia’s post-colonial history under examination in this book (1965-94), it becomes much easier to imagine how much commitment it took to slog through this book.
Moreover, the political analysis offered by the authors is almost laughable. Indeed, I got a good laugh when the authors on page 210 compared Kukoi Samba Sanyang, a Gambian dissident and leader of the failed 1981 coup d’état, to Joseph Stalin!
Phew…it’s done!! I can now say that I read a book about The Gambia! Time to move on to something else!
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