Revolutionary State-Making in Dar es Salaam: African Liberation and the Global Cold War

A history by George Roberts of Dar es Salaam’s rise and fall as an epicentre of Third World revolution in the decade after independence. Roberts traces the connections between the global Cold War, African liberation struggles, and Tanzania’s efforts to build a socialist state, locating the intersection of these dynamics in a globally connected city in East Africa rather than understanding decolonisation through a national lens. The book introduces a vibrant cast of politicians, guerrilla leaders, diplomats, journalists, and intellectuals whose trajectories collided in Dar es Salaam’s cosmopolitan and rumour-filled hotel bars, embassy receptions, and newspaper offices. Praised by Emily Callaci (University of Wisconsin, Madison), Chambi Chachage (Howard University), and Emma Hunter (University of Edinburgh) for its fresh and original account of Tanzania’s post-colonial political history and its contribution to histories of anti-colonial liberation and the global Cold War. A gem for those interested in Cold War politics, state-building, capitalism, socialism, urbanism, globalisation, and transnationalism.