Africans have achieved their independence through very different means. While the former French colonies and most of the British ones reached an accord with the European power concerned, the Portuguese colonies, Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa achieved their liberation after protracted wars and internal political struggles. In this genuinely comparative study, Paul Nugent explores the different trajectories and experiences of independent African states. Following the independence of the Sudan and Ghana in 1956-7, Africans have been engaged in efforts to fashion a workable political and economic dispensation for the post-colonial era. Nugent examines the record of African Socialist, Afro-Marxist and self-professed Capitalist regimes over the first two decades, and compares the record of military and civilian regimes in implementing their preferred development paths. Subsequent chapters explore the retrenchment associated with structural adjustment, as well as the record of multi-partyism after 1989. Africa since Independence also addresses the impact of HIV and AIDS, the contagion of warfare and efforts at achieving national reconciliation, both in the past and at the start of the new millennium.