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How Africa Works: Success and Failure on the World's Last Developmental Frontier

How Africa Works: Success and Failure on the World's Last Developmental Frontier

by Joe Studwell

Atlantic Monthly Press ·2026 ·416 pages ·Investigative Journalism
Near the Top
Near the Top
I Index
56/99
Maybe Someday

48/99

Critics

Near the Top

64/99

Readers

n/a

Scholars

82/99

Rating

15/99

Volume

65/99

Rating

64/99

Volume

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About This Book

The birth of new nations, independent democracies, the unprecedented growth of cities from Lagos to Cairo; the African continent is booming. So why do myths about underdevelopment, unproductive land and overpopulation remain?In a groundbreaking new study of Africa's developmental history, economist Joe Studwell debunks long-held views about the continent's presumed resistance to growth, charting monumental changes in government, demography and asset management.Considering everything from settler colonialism to soil conditions, mineral extractivism to disease development and eradication, Studwell persuasively argues that the seizing back of land, people and states across Africa, has also been the seizure of mass economic development. From slavery to independence and beyond, this is the definitive account of the world's second largest continent - and an optimistic look to its future.


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Reviews

"A great strength of How Africa Works is how it documents the policy vicissitudes, even when they don't support the author's story ..."

William Easterly· The Wall Street Journal Top of the Pile

"A dazzling reassessment of the continent's historic handicaps, and its potential for economic development."

David Pilling· Financial Times Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"Worth reading for his fine-grained insights into African politics and economies."

Publishers Weekly Read review ↗ Near the Top

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