deltombe

＂According to conventional wisdom, France’s empire in sub-Saharan Africa ended peacefully. But this book tells a different story. The shocking violence of a secret war roiled Cameroon in the 1950s and ’60s. A mass movement for self-determination had emerged under the leadership of the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon (UPC), and France lashed out in acts of brutal repression. Just as they had in Algeria, French forces waged a bloody and pitiless counterinsurgency campaign. They eventually eradicated the opposition and installed a client dictatorship in the capital, Yaoundâe＂-- Provided by publisher.

Thomas Deltombe is an editor and journalist who writes widely for the French press.

Manuel Domergue is Research Director at the Fondation Abbé Pierre and a regular contributor to Alternatives Economiques.

Jacob Tatsitsa is a Cameroonian historian who has taught at the University of Yaoundé.