Elizabeth Schmidt is Professor of History at Loyola University Maryland. She is the author of Cold War and Decolonization in Guinea, 1946–1958 (2007), which received the African Politics Conference Group's 2008 Best Book Award, and Mobilizing the Masses: Gender, Ethnicity, and Class in the Nationalist Movement in Guinea, 1939–1958 (2005), which received Alpha Sigma Nu's book award for history in 2008. Her 1992 book, Peasants, Traders, and Wives: Shona Women in the History of Zimbabwe, 1870–1939, was awarded a special mention in the Alpha Sigma Nu book competition for history, was a finalist for the African Studies Association's Herskovits Award and was named by Choice an 'Outstanding Academic Book' for 1994.

'This book is a meticulously researched study that brings together a vast body of literature in a clear and accessible way and is written by one of the leading scholars of her generation. Above all else it underscores how critical foreign intervention has been in shaping the arc of recent history throughout the continent.' Allen Isaacman, Regents Professor, University of Minnesota

• Foreword William Minter; Acknowledgments; Illustrations list; Abbreviations; Introduction; 1. Nationalism, decolonization, and the Cold War (1945–91); 2. Egypt and Algeria: radical nationalism, nonalignment, and external intervention in North Africa (1952–73); 3. The Congo crisis (1960–5); 4. War and decolonization in Portugal's African empire (1961–75); 5. White minority rule in Southern Africa (1960–90); 6. Conflict in the Horn (1952–93); 7. France's private African domain (1947–91); 8. From the Cold War to the War on Terror (1991–2010); Conclusion; Index.

Elizabeth Schmidt is Professor of History at Loyola University Maryland. She is the author of Cold War and Decolonization in Guinea, 1946–1958 (2007), which received the African Politics Conference Group's 2008 Best Book Award, and Mobilizing the Masses: Gender, Ethnicity, and Class in the Nationalist Movement in Guinea, 1939–1958 (2005), which received Alpha Sigma Nu's book award for history in 2008. Her 1992 book, Peasants, Traders, and Wives: Shona Women in the History of Zimbabwe, 1870–1939, was awarded a special mention in the Alpha Sigma Nu book competition for history, was a finalist for the African Studies Association's Herskovits Award and was named by Choice an 'Outstanding Academic Book' for 1994.

'This book is a meticulously researched study that brings together a vast body of literature in a clear and accessible way and is written by one of the leading scholars of her generation. Above all else it underscores how critical foreign intervention has been in shaping the arc of recent history throughout the continent.' Allen Isaacman, Regents Professor, University of Minnesota

• Foreword William Minter; Acknowledgments; Illustrations list; Abbreviations; Introduction; 1. Nationalism, decolonization, and the Cold War (1945–91); 2. Egypt and Algeria: radical nationalism, nonalignment, and external intervention in North Africa (1952–73); 3. The Congo crisis (1960–5); 4. War and decolonization in Portugal's African empire (1961–75); 5. White minority rule in Southern Africa (1960–90); 6. Conflict in the Horn (1952–93); 7. France's private African domain (1947–91); 8. From the Cold War to the War on Terror (1991–2010); Conclusion; Index.