Book excerpt: The world's first attempt at a scholarly historicisation of the African crisis of development, this book interrogates the problem of national integration within the context of ethno-religious and cultural pluralism. Here, top scholars offer refreshing insight into the prospects for transforming Africa into a super-power of the third millennium. The breadth and depth of coverage and analytical rigour unites the essays, providing one of the most comprehensive and authoritative treatments of the subject in recent years.