On the End of Empire in French West Africa

In this book, Tony Chafer attacks the popular view that decolonization in French West Africa was “successful.” In other words, that the French government gave independence to its territories in West Africa. Chafer makes it clear that this was untrue, as there was a massive nationalist movement capable of bringing down French rule. It was only “successful” in that it did not wind up as a violent debacle like Indochina or Algeria. Instead, France replaced imperial institutions with private ones, continuing the neo-colonial present.