After the initial exhilaration of independence, many African nations have had to face ongoing crisis and witness their hopes for a better life recede into the indefinite future. In his new book, George Sheperd looks beyond standard cold-war interpretations and conventional North-South development analysis for an explanation not only of the plight of African nations, but of the means to remedy it. His thesis of subordination to continuing superpower dominance offers striking new insights into the debt, famine, war, racism, and human rights violations that plague Third World countries.