The Shackled Continent: Power, Corruption, and African Lives [Paperback]

A former Africa editor forThe Economist, Robert Guest addresses the troubled continent's thorniest problems: war, AIDS, and above all, poverty. Newly updated with a preface that considers political and economic developments of the past six years,The Shackled Continentis engrossing, highly readable, and as entertaining as it is tragic.

Guest pulls the veil off the corruption and intrigue that cripple so many African nations, posing a provocative theory that Africans have been impoverished largely by their own leaders' abuses of power. From the minefields of Angola to the barren wheat fields of Zimbabwe, Guest gathers startling evidence of the misery African leaders have inflicted on their people. But he finds elusive success stories and examples of the resilience and resourcefulness of individual Africans, too; from these, he draws hope that the continent will eventually prosper. Guest offers choices both commonsense and controversial for Africans and for those in the West who wish Africa well.Preface
Introduction: Why is Africa So Poor?

The Vampire State
Digging Diamonds, Digging Graves
No Title
Sex and Death
The Son of a Snake is a Snake
Fair Aid, Free Trade
Of Potholes and Grasping Gendarmes
Wiring the Wilderness
Beyond the Rainbow Nation

Conclusion: One Step at a Time
Epilogue
Notes
Index“Rarely does an author combine experience, common sense and humour when writing about Africa. It's even rarer when the analysis is as hard-hitting as in the writing of Robert Guest.” Roger Bate, Wall Street Journal.
 
“I doubt whether there is a better brief introduction to the travails of modern Africa and their causes.” Anthony Daniels, Sunday Telegraph.
 
An excellent book. Timely, provocative and written throughout with a passion for Africa and Africans. Bob Geldof
 
“astute and clever…[Guest has] an extremely strong and rationalist grlÓ+