The difficult, protracted struggle to free the African continent from the last vestiges of colonial and white minority rule is fully delineated in this first comprehensive survey of contemporary African liberation movements. The author, an Afro-American journalist whose assignments have carried him from Algeria to Zambia, writes out of a deep personal conviction and commitment to the cause of national liberation. Nevertheless, his appraisal of each of the major liberation movements encompasses their serious problems and shortcomings, notably factionalism.

While other books have dealt with only a few areas—South Africa, South West Africa, the Portuguese colonies—or have been confined to a rather biased view of the struggle, Mr. Gibson's book offers a complete political history of the development of liberation movements throughout Africa, including those organizations not recognized by the African Liberation Committee. He begins by examining the specific geographic, economic, social, and political conditions in which each national struggle evolved, and outlines the history of African resistance to white encroachment and rule. He traces the efforts at reformist solutions and finally, chronicles the developments of the movements that are in existence today. Combining accuracy and fairmindedness with his personal feelings about the struggle for national independence and liberty, Richard Gibson has written the first important history of the African liberation movement from the African point of view.

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