Central Africa

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30342, 18 January 1964, Page 3

Central Africa

Unholy Wedlock. The failure of the Central African Federation. By Harry Franklin. Allen and Unwin. 234 pp. Harry Franklin has long been actively acquainted with Central African affairs, having spent some 23 years in the Northern Rhodesian Colonial Service and 10 years as a member of the Northern Rhodesian Government. In his view, the creation of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in 1953 was an act of folly which has now been redeemed by dissolution of the Federation and the coming independence of the constituent States. In this book Harry Franklin traces the history of the formation of the Central African Federation, the desperate attempts to bolster and preserve it during its shaky 10 years of life and the rise of militant African nationalism which led to its final downfall. The author is very definitely a champion of African rights and interests and paints a scathing picture of the. often incredible. political machinations of the white minority in order to maintain power, as well as the attempts of Southern Rhodesia to absorb her partners in the Federation This picture, one might add, is rather different from that gleaned from publicity and press reports from that part of Africa over the last few years. Even the generally recognised magnificence of the achievement of the Kariba Dam is made to appear in a new and unsavoury light. While by no means light reading, this book should be read by serious students of African affairs.