Book Review: Africa: The Congo since Independence
| Date | 01 December 1965 |
| Published date | 01 December 1965 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070206502000447 |
| Author | Donald Gordon |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
BOOK
REVIEWS
579
THE
CONGO
SINCE
INDEPENDENCE.
January
1960-December
1961.
By
Cath-
erine
Hoskyns.
1965.
(New
York:
Toronto:
Oxford
University
Press.
xii,
518pp.
$10.00)
Few
recent
political
developments
have aroused
a
partisan
passion
comparable
to
that
characteristic
of
the
Congo
crisis since
its
first
violent expressions in
1960.
The
incidence
of
deliberate
distortion,
special
pleading
and
selective
use
of
documentary
sources
has
been
both
con-
fusing
and destructive.
The
consequences
of
this
unfortunate
state
of
affairs have
been,
at
the
same time,
rather
more
serious
than
would
ordinarily
be
the
case.
The
effort to
resolve
the
crisis
with its
immediate
threats
to
stability
and
development
on
the
African
continent
has
been
significantly
inter-
fered
with.
Longer
term
issues,
such
as
the
problem
of
U.N.
peace-
keeping
policy
and
finance,
the
establishment
of
effectively
representa-
tive
regimes
in
associated
or neighbouring
states,
and
the
perfection
of
valid
neutral
bloc
initiatives,
have
all
suffered
from
the
diminution
of
opportunities
for
rational
and
objective
decision
and
discussion.
In
these
circumstances,
Catherine
Hoskyns'
new
book
assumes
more
than
usual importance.
It
provides
a
factual,
impressively
accu-
rate
and
compact
summation
of
events
leading
to
the
breakdown
of
civil
authority
in
July
1960,
a
sensibly
critical
description
and
evalua-
tion
of
events
during
the
crucial
period
of
pacification
during
1960
and
1961,
and
some
thoughtful
suggestions
as
to both
cause
and
effect
of
the
crisis
as
a
whole.
Even
persons
present
during
some
or
all
of
the
events
described
will
find
an
abundance
of
fresh
or
hitherto unrelated
material.
And,
for
the
more
general reader,
there
is
a
survey
notable
both
for
its
clearly
established
assertions and
its
frank
admission
of
doubt
or
ambiguity
where
such
qualifications
actually
exist.
One
further
point
deserves
mention.
In
the
light
of
the
present
widespread
canvassing
of
doubts
about
the
usefulness
of
a
United
Nations,
The
Congo
Since
Independence
offers.
a
convincing
case
study
capable
of
restoring
confidence
in
the practical
value
of
the
United
Nations
to
date.
It
makes
it
clear
that,
while
unavoidably
limited
in
its
abilities
to
furnish
instant
peace,
the
United
Nations
has
become
something
greater
than
the
sum
of
its
parts,
able
to
work
effectively
in
the
slow,
complicated
and
often
ignored
real
world
of
international
politics.
In
this
sense,
it
can
be
said
that
the
Congo
tested
out
U.N.
systems
and
techniques
to
the
fullest
possible
extent, and
that
the
elements
that
have
survived
now
are
of
proven
worth.
University
of
Alberta,
Calgary
DONALD
GORDON
EAST AFRICAN
UNITY
THROUGH
LAW.
By
Thomas
M.
Franck.
1964.
(New
Haven:
Yale
University
Press.
Montreal:
McGill
University
Press.
xi,
184pp.
$5.50)
Mr.
Franck,
recently
constitutional
adviser
and
consultant to
the
governments
of
Zanzibar and
Tanganyika,
has
written
a
useful
book
on
the
contemporary
legal
and
administrative
machinery
operating
in
East
Africa today,
and the
attempts
to
convert
it
into a
political
federa-
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