Tishio la Ukombozi examines the role of the Umma Party of Zanzibar and its leader in the turbulent years of the Zanzibar revolution of the 1960s that was perceived in those Cold War years as a threat to the interests of the US and Europe. Based on declassified US and British documents, in-depth interviews and information released by WikiLeaks, Amrit Wilson offers an insightful and compelling analysis of the struggle against neo-colonialism as it played out in Zanzibar and what is now Tanzania. She introduces the reader to the movement that built unity across ethnic divisions and could have brought about the revolutionary transformation of Zanzibar and beyond. The book considers the contemporary relevance of such struggles in the context of the ‘War on Terror’ in East Africa.

“Amrit Wilson has tapped a wide range of sources to tell a story of Zanzibar in modern times. As interesting as the narrative she puts together is the vantage point from which she tells it. This book deserves a wide audience.” Mahmood Mamdani, Herbert Lehman Professor of Government and Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University, and Director, Makerere Institute of Social Research, Kampala, Uganda

Kitabu hiki kinaturudisha katika kipindi cha kusisimuwa cha miaka ya vita baridi, kipindi ambacho, sambamba na kipindi cha leo, madola ya kibeberu yamekuwa yakifanya njama za kubadilisha serikali zilizokuwepo na kuziweka madarakani zile zenye kufuata amri. Kwa kutumia kumbukumbu za picha za Johari, nyaraka za siri za Marekani na Uingereza, pamoja na mahojiano ya kina, kitabu kinatowa uchambuzi juu ya nafasi na satwa ya Chama cha Umma Party nchini Zanzibar na kiongozi wake mwenye upeo mkubwa wa mambo, Mwanamapinduzi mfuasi wa Itikadi ya Karl Marx, Abdulrahman Mohamed Babu. Kwa kuangalia kwa njia ya uwiano wa mifano inayokwenda sambamba ya wahka wa Marekani kuhusu Uchina ya Kikomunisti katika miaka ya 1960 na woga walionao hivi sasa kuhusu ushawishi wa Uchina, kitabu kinatafakari juu ya mivutano mipya iliyopo katika kupigania rasilmali za Afrika, kuundwa kwa kikosi cha AFRICOM, na jinsi Wanasiasa wa Afrika Mashariki wanavyoshiriki katika kuimarisha udhibiti wa Marekani katika nchi zao, na “Vita dhidi ya Ugaidi” katika ukanda wa Afrika Mashariki hivi sasa.