Description: Africa's newest nation has a long history. Often considered remote and isolated from the rest of Africa, and usually associated with the violence of slavery and civil war, South Sudan has been an arena for a complex mixing of peoples, languages, and beliefs.
Review Quotes: "Johnson's unrivaled knowledge of South Sudan's history is apparent throughout this concise and readable book. His approach is both sympathetic and critical: South Sudan's current woes are explicable, but not inevitable. It would be easy to see South Sudan's history simply as a bleak story of oppression and misrule; but Johnson shows us that it is also a story of innovation and courage. South Sudan has a deeply problematic historical legacy, and the current situation is dire: yet as this timely book shows, it is not hopeless."--Justin Willis, coeditor, The Sudan Handbook