White Malice: The CIA and the Covert Recolonization of Africa by Susan Williams is a powerful exploration of how the Cold War played out on African soil. The book focuses on the hidden role the CIA and Western governments played in undermining the independence movements of newly freed African nations. Through meticulous research and access to declassified files, Williams shows how leaders like Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana and Patrice Lumumba in Congo were targeted because they refused to fall in line with Western agendas.
What makes this book so interesting is the way it combines serious historical research with gripping storytelling. It doesn’t read like a dry academic text. Instead, it feels like uncovering a secret history that was deliberately buried. Readers are taken behind the scenes of coups, assassinations, and covert operations that shaped Africa’s future in ways still felt today.This book is valuable because it helps explain why so many African nations faced political instability after independence. It sheds light on a history that is often ignored in mainstream accounts of the Cold War. White Malice is a must-read for anyone interested in African history, U.S. foreign policy, or the lasting impact of colonialism in the modern world.
