Editorial Rating
8
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At getAbstract, we summarize books* that help people understand the world and make it better. Whatever we select for our library has to excel in one or the other of these two core criteria:
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We rate each piece of content on a scale of 1–10 with regard to these two core criteria. Our rating helps you sort the titles on your reading list from solid (5) to brilliant (10). Books we rate below 5 won’t be summarized. Here's what the ratings mean:
10 – Brilliant. A helpful and/or enlightening book that, in addition to meeting the highest standards in all pertinent aspects, stands out even among the best. Often an instant classic and must-read for everyone.
9 – Superb. A helpful and/or enlightening book that is extremely well rounded, has many strengths and no shortcomings worth mentioning.
8 – Very good. A helpful and/or enlightening book that has a substantial number of outstanding qualities without excelling across the board, e.g. presents the latest findings in a topical field and is written by a renowned expert but lacks a bit in style.
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5 – Solid. A helpful and/or enlightening book, in spite of its obvious shortcomings. For instance, it may offer decent advice in some areas while being repetitive or unremarkable in others.
*getAbstract is summarizing much more than books. We look at every kind of content that may matter to our audience: books, but also articles, reports, videos and podcasts. What we say here about books applies to all formats we cover.
Recommendation
As Africa attracts investment from China and elsewhere, observers foresee a bright future for the continent. A range of books – including The Next Factory of the World and Rwanda, Inc. – predict rapid economic growth and robust development. Journalist Martin Meredith’s examination of Africa’s recent history offers no such optimism. Since the 1960s, he writes, the continent’s story has been one of broken promises, squandered potential, governmental corruption and incompetence. In Africa, periods of difficulty become apocalyptically bad, with grinding poverty, starving children, rampant disease and corrupt government officials. On a continent where few nations did anything to stem the AIDS epidemic, life seems cheap. In a rare bright spot in Meredith’s history, Nelson Mandela endured imprisonment and emerged to lead a democracy movement in South Africa. getAbstract recommends this sobering 700-page reality check to investors, global managers, NGO workers, historians and students. He last updated his history in 2011, just as Africa showed new signs of growth, but his overview’s comprehensive nature still warrants and rewards a thoughtful read.
About the Author
Martin Meredith is a journalist, biographer and historian. His previous books include Mandela: A Biography and Born in Africa: The Quest for the Origins of Human Life.
Summary
Era of Mismanagement and Corruption
During the 1950s and 1960s, African nations unshackled themselves from European overseers. The notion of an African renaissance created near-euphoria. Self-determination, many believed, would allow Africans to control their destiny and prosper after decades of colonialist exploitation.
Excitement revived in 1994, when South Africa threw off its apartheid system. American President Bill Clinton visited in 1998 for a 10-day tour that included laudatory speeches in Africa’s budding democracies. Yet, despite many hopeful moments, Africa’s story in recent decades has been one of disappointment – abject poverty, illiteracy and poor health. The number of Africans living in poverty doubled from 1981 to 2002. Africa’s poor subsist on incomes that make first-world poverty seem luxurious. Hundreds of millions of Africans get by on less than $1 a day. Africa’s leaders often are bloodthirsty, like Liberia’s Charles Taylor, or greedy, like Kenya’s Daniel arap Moi, Gabon’s Omar Bongo and Equatorial Guinea’s Obiang Nguema.
Chinese Investment
China’s wave of investment in Africa in recent years is a...
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