Richard Andrew Lobban jr.

The Republic of the Sudan was long the largest country in Africa and, according to the general consensus, also one of the least successful in many ways. This was not entirely its fault since it lay along the fault line between Muslim and Christian Africa and between the Nile Valley civilizations and African Sudanic cultures. This partly explains the long and bloody warfare waged by the Southerners to achieve independence, which they did in July 2011. So this hefty book actually covers not one but two states. This fourth edition of the Historical Dictionary of the Sudan does so, first, through a lengthy and detailed chronology tracing its relatively few successes and numerous failures. The introductory essay does an admirable job of putting it all in perspective. But the most informative part is the dictionary, with now over 700 entries for this fourth edition. They deal with important personalities, politics, the economy, society, culture, religion and inevitably the civil war. There are also appendixes and an extensive bibliography.

Presenting a continent-wide comparative analysis of ethnic, political, and colonially based insurgencies, this text examines the causes, tactics, outcomes, and key individuals of African insurgent events and assesses a range of foreseeable outcomes in Africa's multiple regions of continuing political instability. Insurgencies continue to erupt in many nations of Africa. The techniques and intended purposes of today's insurgencies are evolutions of historical versions of insurgencies, long-standing strife among ethnic and political groups, and modern-era movements reflective of the ever-shrinking planet, leading to revolutions in the region. This book spans the African continent to address a diverse classification of insurgencies and revolutions, weaving them together thematically and enabling readers to make connections between their purposes, tactics, outcome, and impact. Providing researchers in African and security studies with a comprehensive body of work for further studies, this eminently readable work examines the many past and current insurgencies that have occurred in Africa, identifying their causes and predominantly common bases and rationales. Coauthored by an acclaimed scholar of African studies and a U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel with a master's degree in national security and strategic studies, this single-volume book provides an in-depth examination into the drivers, actors, tactics, weapons, intended outcomes, and sweeping consequences of the many events in Africa that have overturned existing rule or implemented rule where none existed-and in a few cases, resulted in stabilization of a nation. Readers will better understand the causal, contextual, tactical, ideological, and philosophical factors that launch insurgencies through coverage of pre-colonial insurgencies; anti-colonial resistance and national liberation movements; separatist and irredentist movements; reformist, revolutionary, and Islamist insurgencies; and genocide, warlord, and proxy insurgencies. The book's last chapter discusses how insurgent movements might be prevented through better governance, or contained or defeated with diplomatic and/or military means.