From Booklist
Gr. 7-10. Acknowledging the historic traditions of early Africa, Wepman focuses on the cruel and arbitrary division of the continent by European countries, and the struggle of various African regions against colonial rule. The style is accessible, and the approach is never simplistic, whether the subject is the vicious Belgian exploitation of the Congo, the Mau Mau independence movement in Kenya, or the influences of Marcus Garvey and W. E. B. Du Bois on the Pan-Africanist movement. The book design is attractive, with clear type, lots of subheads, boxed quotations, and two good maps. There are chapter notes for direct quotes, a long annotated bibliography, and a chronology. One serious drawback, however, is in the choice of photographs. Except for portraits of such leaders as Jomo Kenyatta and Patrice Lumumba, almost every picture shows a view of "natives" in their primitive tourist mode, doing their traditional dances or crafts. Not surprisingly, the source of these exotic pictures is the South African government. Hazel Rochman
