Inside Africa by John GuntherReview by: George M. HouserAfrica Today, Vol. 2, No. 5 (Nov. - Dec., 1955), p. 15Published by: Indiana University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4183766 .

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AFRICAN REVIEW (Cont'd.)

INSIDE AFRICA by John Gunther. 95Z pp. Harper & Brothers. $6. 00.

When I was travelling in various parts of Africa last year, I was con- stantly crossing John Gunther's trail. In Liberia the people with whom I talked were critical of him. At Schweitzer's hospital in French Equatorial Africa, European staff personnel eagerly awaited his appraisal of the hospital and "le grand docteur". In South Africa an official of the Institute of Race Relations in Durban said she was amazed at Gunther's knowledge of South Africa, and that he had been able to tell her things she had never heard before about her own country.

Inside Africa is an overwhelming book--because of its length, be- cause of the phenomenal research in compiling the facts which stand out in almost every sentence, and because of its point of view. Un- doubtedly there are some factual errors, but the ones which I noted were not too important. The theme for the book might well be its final sentence on page 892: "Africa is awake, Africa is alert, it has seen the example of Asia, even if its circumstances are different from those of Asia, and for good or evil it is marching with the times. " The book is important not only because it gives as compre- hensive a view of Africa from Cape to Cairo as is possible in the space of one volume, but also because it puts the material in what seems to me is sound perspective. Gunther expresses personal opinions in almost every paragraph, such as: Arab Africa can never be really civilized until women are educated; or that the gov- ernment of South Africa "is in some respects the ugliest I have ever encountered in the free world."

It is refreshing to read a book which, although it mentions the possi- bility that Communism may make headway in the future if develop- ment toward self-government is not permitted by the colonial powers, nevertheless rightly ridicules the idea that there is any significant communist influence or effective Russian plot to subvert the mass of African people to a Marxist revolutionary doctrine.

Reviewed by George M. Houser (Executive Director, American Committee on Africa)

(NOTE: -- African writers are planning to hold a Congress in 1956 probably in Paris but possibly in Nigeria. The moving spirit is Alioune Diop, of Presence Africaine. Those expected to attend include Rene Maran, L. Senghor, Aime Cesaire, Richard Wright, Professor Busia, Dr. Biobaku, Dr. Derekson Nichol, Peter Abrahams, and Langston Hughes.)

TODAY 15

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