Traces the art and cultural history of the Baga people of Guinea, which continues to flourish despite the past vicissitudes of French colonial domination and an iconoclastic Marxist regime. Well illustrated with colour photographs and b/w drawings and diagrams. Gloss, 267pp, GERMANY. PRESTEL.

1996 3791317253 Hardback

Translated from the Dutch and edited by Albert van Dantzig and Adam Jones. Provides one of the earliest detailed European descriptions of West African society. Published less than ten years after the Dutch began trading in this region, it deals primarily with the Gold Coast (Ghana), but also contains information on Cape Verde, Benin (Nigeria) and Cape Lopez (Gabon). Maps, illus, bib, index. xxvi, 272pp. UK. OXBOW, 019726056X

In September 1958, Guinea claimed its independence, rejecting a constitution that would have relegated it to junior partnership in the French Community. Although Guineas stance vis-à-vis the 1958 constitution has been recognized as unique, until now the historical roots of this phenomenon have not been adequately explained. This book argues that Guinea's vote for independence was the culmination of a decade-long struggle between local militants and political leaders for control of the political agenda. Leftist militants, their voices muted throughout most of the decade, gained pre-eminence in 1958, when trade unionists, students, the party's women and youth wings, and other grassroots actors pushed the Guinean RDA to endorse a 'No' vote. In illuminating the Guinean case, Elizabeth Schmidt helps to achieve an understanding the dynamics of decolonization and its legacy for post-independence nation-building elsewhere. Index, bib, notes, b/w photos, 310pp, USA. OHIO U P.

The Rassemblement Démocratique Africain (RDA) led Guinea to independence in 1958, advancing a wave of decolonization that ultimately swept across Africa. Schmidt attributes the RDA's overwhelming success to its ability to form a broad ethnic, class, and gender alliance, whose strength lay in its solid support among the non-literate masses. Key to the party's prowess was its focus on groups already engaged in struggle against the state: military veterans, urban workers, peasants, and women. It was their grievances that drove the nationalist agenda and their energies that were harnessed in the struggle for independence. Based on previously unexamined archival records and oral interviews with rank-and-file RDA members, this book reinterprets nationalist history by approaching it from the bottom up. It illuminates the ways in which grassroots activists shaped the movement's vision, objectives, and strategies. The significance of Schmidt's work extends far beyond Guinea. 320pp, USA. HEINEMANN USA.