Introduction. 1. Conditions of Tranquillity in Black Africa. 2. Forces of Change in the 1930s. 3. War and the African Empires 1939 - 1945. 4. The Mobilization of African Discontents. 5. Colonial Reforms and Imperial Strategies. 6. Growing Hopes of Independence. 7. Recalculations in the 1950s. 8. The End of the Affair. 9. Retrospect, 1995. Decolonization and Cold War: An Outline Chronology. Bibliographical Essay. Maps. Index.