Includes Index

The 1960s were a tumultuous period in the history of Africa as one country after another won independence from the colonial powers. This was particularly true of Tanzania as it sought to carve out a role for itself between conflicting European and inter-African interests. It was in these extraordinary times that Al Noor Kassum rose to become a prominent political figure in newly independent Tanzania. Hand-picked by Julius Nyerere - later to become the country's first President - to run for elections on a Tanganyika African National Union ticket, he embarked on a career that brought him to prominence nationally and internationally. Africa's Winds of Change documents the changes that have taken place in Tanzania from the middle of the 20th century to the present day, through the prism of an East African Asian experience. The author sheds new light on the character and legacy of Julius Nyerere, who emerges as radically different from the stereotypical anti-Western firebrand which became his image in the West. Africa's Winds of Change offers a fascinating personal history of a unique African nation at a critical stage in its development.