“Africa has been so plagued and misrepresented by externally generated global descriptions and evaluations that it is hard to imagine an African scholar, even with the brilliant credentials of Carlos Lopes, capable of offering us today a synthesis, at one time rigorous and just, of the immense diversity of the continent. In this case, reality has proven stronger than imagination. Such a daunting task has been accomplished by the author so successfully and with so much wisdom and subtlety that this book is must read for any scholar, diplomat or policy maker concerned with Africa.” – Boaventura Sousa Santos, University of Coimbra, Portugal and University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
