a Runner-Up for the 2002 Cecil B. Currey Association of Third World Studies Book-Length Publication Award. "Important . . . a reminder that military interventions in African politics are indeed still alive and well, but also that the interventions have a solid history across generations." - Ali A. Mazrui, Director, Institute of Global Cultural Studies, SUNY-Binghamton ... Read more "At a time in which there is a frantic search throughout the African continent for permanent strategies to keep the military out of politics, it is refreshing to have a volume such as this one that has carefully mapped out the tortuous road that the African military has forced the continent to traverse these past several decades. This volume is unique in the time period it covers (beginning prior to 1956 in order to trace the origins of the military presence in politics), its focus on the entire African continent, and its truly multidisciplinary approach - combining historical acuity with attention to political detail." - Pita Ogaba Agbese, Professor of Political Science at the University of Northern Iowa and Co-Director of the Ford Foundation Project on the Military Question in West Africa Show Less