Based on the proceedings of the conference on contemporary Africa which the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies sponsored in Washington in August 1954.

Bibliographical footnotes.

1. The position of Africa in world affairs: Africa and the West in historical perspective / Sir Philip Mitchell ; commentary: David Edward Owen -- The African cultural background in the modern scene / Melville J. Herskovits ; commentary: Robert T. Parsons -- Africa's strategic significance / Admiral Richard L. Conolly ; commentary: Paul H. Nitze -- 2. The heritage of Africa: Native cultural and social patterns in contemporary Africa / Elizabeth Colson ; commentary: Robert A. Lystad -- The role of Christianity and Islam in contemporary Africa / George W. Carpenter ; commentary: Glora M. Wysner -- The European heritage: approaches to African development / Paul Henry ; commentary: Horace Mann Bond -- The impact of Western education on the African's way of life / Lorenzo D. Turner ; commentary: E. Franklin Frazier -- 3. Elements of political and social upheaval: Geography of sub-Saharan race relations / Edwin S. Munger ; commentary: William O. Brown -- Fears and pressures in the Union of South Africa / Cornelis E. De Kiewiet ; commentary: Arthur Keppel-Jones -- The emergence of African political parties / James S. Coleman ; commentary: Norman Steven-Hubbard -- The communist threat in Africa / Max Yergan ; commentary: Harold Cooper -- 4. Recent developments in the African dependencies: The Gold Coast and Nigeria on the road to self-government / Kofi A. Busia ; commentary: Harold Cooper -- French Africa and the French union / Kenneth Robinson ; commentary: Rayford W. Logan -- Recent developments in Belgian Africa / Guy Malengreau ; commentary: William Ugeux -- The impact of the United Nations on Africa / Vernon McKay ; commentary: Sherman S. Hayden -- 5. The economic status and future possibilities of Africa: Africa's economic potentialities / Peter Ady ; commentary: Karl Pelzer -- Colonial development and welfare / A. Campbell ; commentary: William Hange -- U.S. technical and economic assistance to Africa / E. William Moran, Jr. ; commentary: David L. Gordon -- Private enterprise in Africa / Bernard Blankenheimer ; commentary: W. Clifford Shields -- 6. The United States and Africa: The United States and Africa: an American view / Paul H. Nitze -- The United States and Africa: an African view / Kofi A. Busia -- Appendix: Mau Mau / Sir Philip Mitchell.