Consciencism : Philosophy and Ideology for Decolonization and Development with Particular Reference to the African Revolution

NY: Monthly Review Press, 1965. First American edition, following the British of 1964. 122pp; index. 8vo; dark brown textured-paper boards; silver spine titles; dust jacket. Light bump to base of front board; former owner's name inked on ffep; light foxing to endpapers. Very good or better in like jacket, unclipped, with some toning and soiling, and light foxing to flaps and interior.

First American edition of this key work of revolutionary African political ideology, which applied an Afrocentric value system to a framework of Marxist-Leninist socialism, positioning itself as a means to unite the continent and divest it of its colonial ties. Kwame Nkrumah (1909-1972) served as the Prime Minister of the Gold Coast from 1952-1957, when it became the first colonized African country to achieve independence, rechristening itself the Republic of Ghana. Nkrumah continued to serve first as prime minister and then as president of Ghana until 1966, when, his policies having become increasingly authoritarian, he was deposed by the National Liberation Council. Regardless, an important work in the cultural and intellectual history of 20th century Africa.