Thomas Sankara

Brian J. Peterson is Associate Professor of History and Director of the Africana Studies Program at Union College. He is author of Islamization from Below: The Making of Muslim Communities in Rural French Sudan, 1880–1960.

• AcknowledgementsList of AbbreviationsIntroduction1. Coming of Age in the Shadow of Colonialism, 1949-19662. Education of a Revolutionary, 1966-19733. A Rising Star: Soldiers and the Political Left, 1973-19824. From Political Prisoner to Populist Prime Minister, 1982-19835. The "Revolution of August 4" and the People's President6. "This Man Who Unsettles": Confronting the Neocolonial Order, 1983-19847. The Struggle for Unity, 1983-19848. "Daring to Invent the Future": Nation-Building and the Promise of Revolutionary Change, 1984-859. Politics is War and War is Politics: Sankara in the International Arena, 1984-198510. Revolutionary Duties and Perils, 1986-198711. No Turning Back: The Road to October 15, 1987ConclusionSelected BibliographyIndex

Thomas Sankara: A Revolutionary in Cold War Africa is one of the most fully realized biographies of a modern African politicalgure in recent years, and a striking portrayal not just of this fascinating and ultimately tragic states-man but of an entire political era on the continent.(New York Review of Books) This is an exemplary biography of an Africa president revered for his integrity and gift of inspired leadership.- R. I. Rotberg, Harvard University (Choice)