This is the fourth edition of 'Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era. It is also the largest and includes new material not found in previous editions. The work is a comprehensive study of the political career of President Julius Nyerere spanning half a century. The author takes a critical look at Nyerere's policies and influence in the domestic and international arenas for an objective evaluation of the life and times of one of the most influential leaders in the twentieth century. The major role he played in the liberation of southern Africa is just one of the subjects addressed by the author. He also provides insights into Nyerere's personality from some of the people who knew him best. Included in the book are interviews with some of the people who knew Nyerere since his childhood. Some of them were his teachers. And they outlived him. Others were his schoolmates and colleagues in government and when he was a teacher. And some of them were his students. Also included are interviews with some of his family members. This is an essential study of post-colonial Africa. It is also a study in political leadership and Cold War politics in the African context, among many other subjects addressed in the book which should serve as a reference text for scholars and laymen alike interested in Africa and the Third World in general.

This work looks at some of the major policy initiatives and achievements by Nyerere, a leader whose humility and dedication led millions of ordinary people in Tanzania and elsewhere to identify with him, and pay him the highest tribute by simply saying, He was one of us.

Julius K. Nyerere rose to global greatness in what was at the time one of the poorest countries in the world. He led the way in uniting two countries into one (Tanganyika and Zanzibar) and emerged as in the vanguard of the struggle against colonialism and apartheid. He also became one of the most eloquent voices of the Global South in its demands for fairness and justice in the global economy. This collection of essays captures Nyerere's invention of a new indigenous ideology (ujamaa), his promotion of an indigenous language policy (Kiswahili), his remarkable influence in Pan-African politics, and Nyerere's special place in the history of the 20th century. Because the essays were written across time, they capture the unfolding narrative of continuity and change. This volume also demonstrates how a political leader could be humble enough to avoid ostentation, scholarly enough to translate Shakespeare into an African language, and great enough to help change the African continent forever. This book is part of the African World Series, edited by Toyin Falola, Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities, University of Texas at Austin. "...[I]t is genuinely a useful book for all those seeking inspiration in 'their struggles to transcend dependency.' It is of importance to all students and those interested in understanding Tanzania and Africa." -- Conrad John Masabo, African Studies Quarterly

The author, who lived and grew up under Nyerere's leadership, remembers how life was in those days in his home country of Tanganyika, later Tanzania. It is more than just a sentimental journey into the past. It is also an assessment of Nyerere's leadership and policies from the perspective of a former journalist. The author worked as a reporter at Tanzania's leading newspaper, "The Daily News," when Nyerere was president. Included in the book is one of the last interviews Nyerere gave not long before he died in which he reflected on his leadership and even on his student days at Makerere University College in Uganda and at Edinburgh University in Scotland. Also included is an interview with former Ugandan President Milton Obote in which he talked about Nyerere and failure of the East African federation.

Nyerere's economic policies, his successes and failures in pursuit of economic development under socialism, are some of the subjects addressed by the author in this book. A Tanzanian himself., he also looks at how life was under Nyerere since the sixties. The work is also a critical examination of the political situation in Tanzania since independence when the country was known as Tanganyika before uniting with Zanzibar. The author also looks at the transition that has taken place in Tanzania from one-party rule to multiparty democracy, and from socialism to capitalism since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. He also takes a critical look at globalization and the negative impact of structural adjustment programmes in Tanzania and Africa as a whole. The work is also a study of Tanzania's history since the advent of colonial rule and of the struggle for independence in one of Africa's largest countries.