AFRICAN NATIONALISM

With due respect for the unique features of African nationalism (anti-colonialism took precedence over a sense of national identity), Hollings summarizes the chief events of the postwar independence movements in the British, French and Belgian colonies. A brief history of the scramble for Africa points out the most obvious differences between the way the various European powers administered their colonies; a profile of Zambia's Kenneth Kaunda illustrates the ""dedication and sacrifices shared by many leaders,"" and the successful struggles of Algeria, Kenya and the Congo are counterweighted by a look at South Africa's apartheid system. The breadth of the subject leaves little space for discussion of social conditions, tribal differences or post-independence developments. The rivalry between Mboya and Kenyatta is not explained (though there's a picture of Mboya's coffin), and Kenya's Indian population is not mentioned. Nor is the alignment of non-African powers discussed with reference to the Biafran revolt. Despite considerable gaps of this sort, Hollings' journalistic account will supplement and update some of the material in MacGregor-Hastie's Africa: Background for Today, a title which it by no means replaces.