167pp., illus., map, paperback, Athens, 2017
Short biography of Tanzanian anti-colonial activist, politician, and political theorist Julius Kambarage Nyerere (1922 -1999). Nyerere was the leader of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), the first Prime Minister of independent Tanganyika from 1961 to 1962) and President from 1962 to 1964, after which he was President of the United Republic of Tanzania (Tanganyika and Zanzibar) from 1964 to 1985. He retired from politics in 1990.
“Bjerk succeeds in debating the legacy of Nyerere through six short chapters. The book recognises the highs and lows of Nyerere’s illustrious political careers and balances this in a manner befitting a great African statesman … This book offers that opportunity to understand Tanzania’s political culture and history through the life and times of Mwalimu Nyerere.” Africa at LSE
“Bjerk’s embrace of contradiction and complexity allows him to address [an] amorphous question of legacy, and he draws deeply on the full range of existing scholarship about Tanzania.” Global Africana Review