A uniquely detailed portrayal of the formative years of Tanzania's first president and the influences that led him to enter politics. Julius Kambarage Nyerere (1922-1999), the first President of Tanzania, was a man whose political life was uniquely and inextricably bound into the history of the nation he created. Yet, though 'Baba wa Taifa', Father of the Nation, there is still no adequate biography. This book presents the first truly rounded portrait of Nyerere's early life, from his birth in 1922 until his graduation from Edinburgh in 1952, helping us to see his later political achievements in a new light. It was after returning to Tanganyika that 'Mwalimu' (the teacher) formally entered politics, and led efforts to deliver Tanganyika to independence. Drawing on interviews with his contemporaries, as wellas archival sources, including his letters as a student and files that the colonial authorities kept on him, this revelatory and engaging account allows us to see Nyerere afresh. It also brings a new perspective on how the scholarship that Nyerere engaged with as a young man in Scotland influenced his ideas of the uhuru movement against colonial rule and, later, the ujamaa policy of African socialism that so defined his leadership of an independent Tanzania. Thomas Molony is Lecturer in African Studies at the University of Edinburgh.
Reviews
A major contribution to the field. * THE ROUND TABLE *
A well-researched, scholarly, yet highly-readable, work about one of the most remarkable, but least understood, African leaders of the last century. How welcome it is.... A wonderful book and one that should be on the shelves of universities and secondary schools not only in Africa but in those countries in the Commonwealth where African studies are underway. -- Trevor Grundy * POLITICSWEB *
It is an effective chronicle of a young man who excelled in school, took Roman Catholic missionary instruction, received a degree from Makerere College in Uganda, received another undergraduate degree from the University of Edinburgh, and returned home to teach secondary school and help create an independent republic. Recommended. * CHOICE *



Book Information
ISBN 9781847010902
Author Thomas Molony
Format Hardback
Page Count 302
Imprint James Currey
Publisher James Currey
Weight(grams) 1g