Turning Point In Africa

The Turning Point in Africa (1982) is a significant study of British colonial policy towards tropical Africa during a critical decade, from the complacent trusteeship of the inter-war years to the strategy of decolonization inaugurated after the Second World War. Charting a course through a wide variety of official sources and private papers, the work assesses the importance for colonial policy of the Colonial Office, the Colonial Service, the Labour Party, African nationalists, and of ideological and moral preconceptions. The revolution in African policy is investigated with a wide and yet detailed approach. Special attention is devoted to the effects of the Second World War on Britain and its empire and to the importance of American anti-imperialist pressure on the British Government. The importance of three men – the adviser Lord Hailey, politician Arthur Creech Jones and civil servant Andrew Cohen – receives attention and an assessment is made of their contribution to a policy which, from 1948 onwards, led to a rapid decolonization in large parts of Africa. The significance of this policy is analysed in detail. The British aimed at ‘nation-building’: indirect rule was to be replaced by the forms of English-style local government while rapid constitutional progress at the centre was to be conceded, in accordance with a preconceived model, once powerful nationalist movements had arisen. However, as the book shows, progress at the centre was introduced prematurely and outstripped reform in local government so that progress was not the balanced development the British had wished to see. Decolonization had been given an irreversible momentum by British planning.

The Turning Point in Africa (1982) is a significant study of British colonial policy towards tropical Africa during a critical decade, from the complacent trusteeship of the inter-war years to the strategy of decolonization inaugurated after the Second World War. Charting a course through a wide variety of official sources and private papers, the work assesses the importance for colonial policy of the Colonial Office, the Colonial Service, the Labour Party, African nationalists, and of ideological and moral preconceptions. The revolution in African policy is investigated with a wide and yet detailed approach. Special attention is devoted to the effects of the Second World War on Britain and its empire and to the importance of American anti-imperialist pressure on the British Government. The importance of three men - the adviser Lord Hailey, politician Arthur Creech Jones and civil servant Andrew Cohen - receives attention and an assessment is made of their contribution to a policy which, from 1948 onwards, led to a rapid decolonization in large parts of Africa. The significance of this policy is analysed in detail. The British aimed at 'nation-building' indirect rule was to be replaced by the forms of English-style local government while rapid constitutional progress at the centre was to be conceded, in accordance with a preconceived model, once powerful nationalist movements had arisen. However, as the book shows, progress at the centre was introduced prematurely and outstripped reform in local government so that progress was not the balanced development the British had wished to see. Decolonization had been given an irreversible momentum by British planning.

A team of scholars examine the radical political changes that have taken place since 1990 in eleven key countries in Africa. Radical changes have taken place in Africa since 1990. What are the realities of these changes? What significant differences have emerged between African countries? What is the future for democracy in the continent? The editors have chosen eleven key countries to provide enlightening comparisons and contrasts to stimulate discussion among students. They have brought together a team of scholars who are actively working in the changing Africa of today.Each chapter is structured around a framing event which defines the experience of democratisation. The editors have provided an overview of the turning points in African politics. They engage with debates on how to study andevaluate democracy in Africa, such as the limits of elections. They identify four major themes with which to examine similarities and divergences as well as to explain change and continuity in what happened in the past. Abdul Raufu Mustapha is University Lecturer in African Politics at Queen Elizabeth House and Kirk-Greene Fellow at St Antony's College, University of Oxford; Lindsay Whitfield is a Research Fellow at the Danish Institute of International Studies, Copenhagen.

Since the mid-1990s, sub-Saharan Africa has experienced an acceleration of economic growth that has produced rising incomes and faster human development. However, this growth contrasts with the continent's experience between 1975 and 1995, when it largely missed out on two decades of economic progress. This disparity between Africa's current experience and its history raises questions about the continent's development. Is there a turnaround in Africa s economy? Will growth persist? 'Africa at a Turning Point?' is a collection of essays that analyzes three interrelated aspects of Africa's recent revival. The first set of essays examines Africa's recent growth in the context of its history of growth accelerations and collapses. It seeks to answer such questions as, is Africa at a turning point? Are the economic fundamentals finally pointing toward more sustainable growth? The second set of essays looks at donor flows, which play a large role in Africa's growth. These essays focus on such issues as the management and delivery of increased aid, and the history and volatility of donor flows to Africa. The third set of essays considers the recent impact of one persistent threat to sustained growth in Africa: commodity price shocks, particularly those resulting from fluctuations in oil prices.

Written to give you ideas for how the Turning Points in History series of books can be used in the teaching of South African History in the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General)."

“A well-researched and highly readable account of one of World War II’s most important ‘turning point’ battles.” —Jerry D. Morelock, Senior Editor at HistoryNet.com In the early years of World War II, Germany shocked the world with a devastating blitzkrieg, rapidly conquered most of Europe, and pushed into North Africa. As the Allies scrambled to counter the Axis armies, the British Eighth Army confronted the experienced Afrika Corps, led by German field marshal Erwin Rommel, in three battles at El Alamein. In the first battle, the Eighth Army narrowly halted the advance of the Germans during the summer of 1942. However, the stalemate left Nazi troops within striking distance of the Suez Canal, which would provide a critical tactical advantage to the controlling force. War historian Glyn Harper dives into the story, vividly narrating the events, strategies, and personalities surrounding the battles and paying particular attention to the Second Battle of El Alamein, a crucial turning point in the war that would be described by Winston Churchill as “the end of the beginning.” Moving beyond a simple narrative of the conflict, The Battle for North Africa tackles critical themes, such as the problems of coalition warfare, the use of military intelligence, the role of celebrity generals, and the importance of an all-arms approach to modern warfare.

Examining turning points in historical thought in a variety of cultures, the essay here deal with reorientations in historical thinking in the pre-modern period since Antiquity, mainly in ancient Greece and China and in medieval Christian Europe.