Another America: The Story of Liberia and the Former Slaves Who Ruled It

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Vivid An engaging and accessible account Publishers WeeklyIn 1820, a small group of African Americans reversed the course of centuries and sailed to Africa, to a place they would name after liberty itself They went under the aegis of the American Colonization Society, a white philanthropic organization with a dual agenda to rid America of its blacks and to evangelize Africa The settlers, eventually numbering in the thousands, broke free from the ACS and, in 1847, established the Republic of Liberia.James Ciment, in his enthralling history Another America, shows that the settlers struggled to balance their high ideals with their prejudices On the steamy shores of West Africa, they re created the only social order they knew, that of an antebellum Dixie, with themselves as the master caste, ruling over a native population that outnumbered them twenty to one They built plantations, held elegant dances, and worked to protect their fragile independence from the predations of foreign powers Meanwhile, they fought, abused, and even helped to enslave the native Liberians The persecuted became the persecutors until a lowly native sergeant murdered their president in 1980, ending 133 years of Americo Liberian rule and inaugurating a quarter century of civil war.Riven by caste, committed to commerce, practicing democratic and Christian ideals haphazardly, the Americo Liberians created a history that is, to a surprising degree, the mirror image of our own. New Download Another America: The Story of Liberia and the Former Slaves Who Ruled It Author James D. Ciment For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr When Liberia appears in the evening news, we generally anticipate bad tidings Ebola, gruesome civil wars, Michael Jackson s dreadful single Liberian Girl For most of its nearly 200 year history, though, the West African nation was a beacon of liberty, a country where former slaves could find freedom and their descendants could govern themselves free of European domination Such was at least the popular image of Liberia, which James Ciment clarifies and qualifies with this study of the nation When Liberia...Despite being an extremely slow read and very dry, this book contains a great overview of Liberia s history from 1820 to the present Since Ciment covered so much information, I came away with a great working knowledge of a country I previously knew little about I greatly appreciated the picture inserts in the middle of the book putting faces to the names helped with the amount of players in this wide history , but I would have liked to see at least one map, or even a few maps, on the pivotal Despite being an extremely slow read and v...Over all, I d say that this book held my interest However, to be perfectly blunt, this book is exceedingly dense This is not a book written in a manner to weave the history of Liberia into a cohesive, linear story Rather, Ciment s choice is to throw gobs of information at the reader at a rapid pace and then leave them to shuffle through everything If you have the patience to rea...Good and surprisingly quickly read Not the best historical book I ve read but I learned a lot and enjoyed it Ease of reading was a plus but the multitude of historical figures was at times hard to keep track ofDefinitely recommend if you don t know squat about Liberia or it s history, I was not familiar at all with the country other than the fact that it was founded by former slaves.I do wish the book was longer though, as many important people got only a brief mention while transitioning from period to period, jumping throughout time all the way.And although I know the focus was on the Americoes, I wishattention had been given to the native groups that lived there, as well as the civil war Definitely recommend if you don t know squat about Liberia or it s history, I was not familiar at a...Another America is an obviously well researched book with various quotes and information available on every page, but I did expect there to beanalysis of how the conditions of Liberia s past influence toda...A readable, brief history of Liberia The last full chapter ends with Samuel Doe s coup, and the Epilogue rapidly covers Doe, Charles Taylor, and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf So not much modern history, but still a good description of the country s history up until Doe.Fascinating history, but the bar for narrative non fiction is a lot higher these days, and this would benefit fromengaging storytelling since there are so many amazing stories to tell.Having recently read a couple of books from the late 19th early 20th century on Liberian history, I was interested to read somethingrecent about the country s history, especially the famous coup of 1980 and the civil wars and collapse of the economy that occurred over the following 25 years As someone involved in development, it s a fascinating case study to see a country that had per capita gross domestic product of 450 in 1980 and subsequently fell to below 65 by 1995 It s hard to Having recently read a couple of books from the late 19th early 20th century on Liberian history, I was interested to read somethingrecent about the country s history, especially the famous coup of 1980 and the civil wars and collapse of the economy that occurred over the following 25 years As someone involved in development, it s a fascinating case study to see a country that had per capita gross domestic product of 450 in 1980 and subsequently fell to below 65 by 1995 It s hard to think of another place where things have gone so badly so quickly in rec...The history of Liberia is a perfect illustration of the old maxim that truth is stranger than fiction This book tells the story well, and I highly recommend it.From the 1820 arrival on the West African coast of freed slaves and free blacks in search of a better life than what was available to them in the United States to the 1980 assassination of the last Americo president, William Tolbert Jr, by an obscure master sergeant in the Liberian Army, who then managed to install himself as a dictator The history of Liberia is a perfect illustration of the old maxim that truth is stranger than fiction This book tells the story well, and I highly recommend it.From the 1820 arrival on the West African coast of freed slaves and free blacks in search of a better life than what was available to them in the United States to the 1980 assassination of the last Americo president, William Tolbert Jr, by an obscure master sergeant in the Liberian Army, who then managed to install himself as a dictator with the support of the American Reagan administration, the history of Americo native relations largely mirrors that of black white relations in America during a similar timeframe Americo is a term used to describe the non native settler class of Liberians originating from the US and the Caribbean Though Liberia saw itself as a bulwark against the slave trade in its early decades, it s interesting to note that, as late as the 1920...

Another America: The Story of Liberia and the Former Slaves Who Ruled It
  • 07 April 2017
  • Paperback
  • 336 pages
  • 0809026953
  • James D. Ciment
  • Another America: The Story of Liberia and the Former Slaves Who Ruled It