'The forerunner of an entire school of African literary art.' Sunday Times Those men who are history now; did they feel like this? A 1950s Hampstead pub; a freezing night. Lois can't tear her eyes away from the haunted, restless African man in the corner. Over brandy and stew, she discovers he is in awe of her friend, Panafrica's greatest political writer and fighter. Their meeting inducts this stranger, Udomo, into London's revolutionary community of exiled African activists: the start of a life-changing journey. Amidst the internal politics and love affairs, Udomo is inspired by other leaders' independence uprisings; but when he returns to his native land to overthrow the colonial oppressors, his idealism is put to the ultimate test ... Inspired by Peter Abrahams' befriending of future African heads of state in mid-century London , A Wreath for Udomo (1956) is a radical lost classic, unforgettably exploring the nature of freedom, power, leadership and love.

"The white man was generally considered the chief hurdle to African freedom by the young revolutionaries exiled to England. But when Udomo, whose fire and drive seemed to fit him to be the one to go out to Queensland to lead revolution, is himself the leader he finds there are two other enemies,- poverty and the traditions of his people. Udomo- back in London- had betrayed the white woman who loved him. For this some of their mutual friends could not forgive him. But in Africa, he learns to compromise with conditions with one sole goal in view. He sends for the others of the group, once the revolution has won control, politically, for the blacks. One of his comrades he returns to his mountain people to cope with some of the ritual problems, to lay the groundwork for education. Another -- whose first attempt at revolution had failed and whose life might be forfeit -- seeks out a secret way through the jungle, and launches a peaceful campaign of sabotage. Then Udomo is threatened with the end of his goal of economic recovery- and again he sacrifices the individual for the cause, or so he feels. But he reckons without the abiding sense of loyalty, and he dies at the hands of fanatics who cannot forgive. It is a powerful story, disturbingly violent. It has its moments of tenderness in first one, then another love story. It has several unforgettable figures. But it won't be an easy book to place, for the moral code, the sexual code is remote from our understanding. Abrahams is not to be overlooked- as witness Mine Boy and Tell Freedom."--Kirkus

"The Black Experience in the 20th Century is also the personal journey of Peter Abrahams. It is the odyssey of a young South African who worked for a time as a seaman in order to leave his homeland for wartime Britain and post-war France to become a writer; it is the story of his personal relationships with the Black literati of the day and his involvement in the pan-Africanist movement of the 1950s, which allows for his fascinating personal pen-portraits of men like George Padmore, W. E. B. Dubois, Julius Nyerere, Kwame Nkrumah, Richard Wright and Langston Hughes. It is how the journey takes him to the Caribbean island of Jamaica, where he and his wife, Daphne, and their three children find sanctuary from racial divisiveness at "Coyaba." Finally, it is about the author's lifelong companionship with Daphne and how their multiracial union reflects a symbolic "one bloodedness" mirroring Abrahams' own admirable sensibilities."--BOOK JACKET.

The first survey of the Pan-African movement this century, this book provides a history of the individuals and organisations that have sought the unity of all those of African origin as the basis for advancement and liberation. Initially an idea and movement that took root among the African Diaspora, in more recent times Pan-Africanism has been embodied in the African Union, the organisation of African states which includes the entire African Diaspora as its 'sixth region'. Hakim Adi covers many of the key political figures of the 20th century, including Du Bois, Garvey, Malcolm X, Nkrumah and Gaddafi, as well as Pan-African culture expression from Négritude to the wearing of the Afro hair style and the music of Bob Marley.