A revelatory new history of post-colonial African independence movements shows how they were systematically undermined by one nation: the US. This is the untold story of how, over a few vital years, African Independence was strangled at birth.

African Independence movements from former colonial powers were unsuccessful governments. But not because they lacked the skills. They were systematically undermined by one nation: the US. This is the sweeping history of how, over a few vital years, African Independence was strangled at birth. In 1958 in Accra, Ghana, the Hands Off Africa conference brought together the leading figures of African independence in a public show of political strength and purpose, inspired by the example of Ghana itself which, under the charismatic leadership of Kwame Nkrumah, had just thrown off the British colonial yoke - the first African nation to do so. It was moment heady with promise for independence movements across Africa, and for all those who believed colonialism was a moral aberration. Among the supporters of African independence were some of the leading figures of the American Civil Rights movement. Malcolm X was in Accra and Martin Luther King used...