Table Of ContentNKRUMAH AND
THE GHANA REVOLUTION
| | | | |
The C. L. R. James Archives
recovers and reproduces for a contemporary
audience the work of one of the great intel-
lectual figures of the twentieth century, in
all their rich texture, and will present, over
and above historical works, new and current
scholarly explorations of James’s oeuvre.
Robert A. Hill, Series Editor
ii | Introduction
NKRUMAH AND
THE GHANA REVOLUTION
| | | | |
C. L. R. JAMES
Introduction by Leslie James
Duke University Press Durham and London 2022
© 2022 Estate of C. L. R. James
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America on acid- free paper ∞
Project editor: Lisa Lawley
Typeset in Arno Pro and Gills Sans Std by
Copperline Book Services
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: James, C. L. R. (Cyril Lionel Robert), 1901–1989, author. |
James, Leslie, [date] editor.
Title: Nkrumah and the Ghana revolution / C. L. R. James,
Leslie James.
Other titles: C.L.R. James Archives (Series)
Description: Durham : Duke University Press, 2022. | Series: The
C. L. R. James Archives | Includes bibliographical references and
index.
Identifiers: lccn 2021034984 (print)
lccn 2021034985 (ebook)
isbn 9781478005452 (hardcover)
isbn 9781478006220 (paperback)
isbn 9781478007128 (ebook)
Subjects: lcsh: Nkrumah, Kwame, 1909–1972. | Nationalism—
Africa. | Ghana—Politics and government—To 1957. | bisac:
history / Africa / West | political science / Colonialism &
Post-Colonialism
Classification: lcc dt512 .j35 2022 (print) | lcc dt512 (ebook) |
ddc 966.705/1—dc23/eng/20211027
lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021034984
lc ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021034985
Cover photograph: Government officials carry Prime
Minister Kwame Nkrumah following Ghana’s independence
from Great Britain, April 14, 1957. Courtesy of Bettmann/
Getty Images.
CONTENTS
Editor’s Note vii
Acknowledgments ix
INTRODUCTION | Ghana and the Worlds of C. L. R. James
Leslie James xi
Nkrumah and the Ghana Revolution
INTRODUCTION | 1977 Edition 5
Part I
1 The Myth 23
2 The Masses Set the Stage 33
3 The People in 1947 41
4 The Revolution in Theory 50
5 The Men on the Spot 65
6 The People and the Leader 76
7 Positive Action 104
8 The Party under Fire 113
9 The Tip of the Iceberg 124
Part II
1 Government and Party 135
2 1962: Twenty Years After 149
3 Slippery Descent 152
4 Lenin and the Problem 158
5 “ . . . Always out of Africa” 179
APPENDIX 1 | Correspondence, 1957 189
Notes on Appendix 1 Leslie James 189
Extract of letter from C. L. R. James to the Correspondence
Publishing Committee, Addressed to Martin Glaberman 190
Letters from C. L. R. James to the Correspondence
Publishing Committee 191
APPENDIX 2 | “Africa: The Threatening Catastrophe —
A Necessary Introduction,” 1964 199
Notes on Appendix 2 Leslie James 199
Excerpt from “Nkrumah Then and Now” 200
Notes 221
Index 229
EDITOR’S NOTE
The 1977 edition of Nkrumah and the Ghana Revolution is reprinted here in
its original form with only minor insertions or deletions to clarify typos or
supply dropped words.
All spellings and capitalization, along with most punctuation, remain as
they appeared in the first edition despite any changes in common usage since
1977. For example, “Marxism” has been retained as “marxism.”
Readers may also note the spelling of “Nkrumaism.” The second com-
monly used spelling retains the “h” in Nkrumah’s name. Although both spell-
ings have existed since the 1960s, the spelling “Nkrumaism,” used by C. L. R.
James, was most common at the time (including in the Ghanaian press) while
“Nkrumahism” has become more common in recent years.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The introduction to this volume would not have been possible without the
consistent wisdom and support of Robert Hill. His careful eye on drafts was
always firm and strong. Most of all, I thank him for inviting me in as a collab-
orator, and for his warmth and hospitality in our meetings in Jamaica. The
two anonymous reviewers also significantly improved the first draft of the
introduction.
I want to thank Margaret Busby for meeting with me and sharing her ex-
perience of working with C. L. R. James on the original publication. And I
want to thank Christian Høgsbjerg and John Williams for their insights into
the appendices.
Finally, I want to thank the wonderful archivists at The University of the
West Indies at St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, as well as at Howard Uni-
versity’s Moorland Spingarn Research Center. My multiple trips to both ar-
chives over the past decade proves the invaluable and brilliant support they
consistently provide.
