BOOK REVEIW
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF KWAME NKRUMAH
PRISCILLA OWUSUAA OPOKU
2012
LEADERSHIP 3 Dr. Kwame Nkrumah
The book I chose to review was “The Autobiography Of Kwame Nkrumah.” The main reason I decided to pick this book was because Kwame Nkrumah has been a household name for me for as long as I can remember. It was, and still is, not only for me, but for all Ghanaians or anyone who has attended school in Ghana. Everyone is familiar with the name Kwame Nkrumah because we know that he fought for the independence of Ghana- for our independence. Many books have been written about him and everyone seems to have a general idea of who Kwame Nkrumah was, and yet, majority of us have not delved deeply enough into his life and read all about him. Most of us have been fed form school books/ journals or teachers about how he was an authoritarian ruler, and how he was not the best choice for Ghana simply because they focused more on his weaknesses. I must admit that before I read his autobiography, I had a different view about this man. In my eyes existed a parochial view of his exploits and his person but from my reading I was able to gather a profound appreciation for his… his philosophies and I am very happy that I did that because I was able to learn and understand him properly. This review is going to focus much on the rise of Kwame Nkrumah as an average man, and his rise up the leadership ladder throughout his life. It was published by Thomas Nelson And Sons Ltd in 1957, specifically on the 6th of March.
The beginning of the book talks about Kwame Nkrumah’s birth and early childhood. During this era, there were no registrations for birth and death as there are today, and so he did not know exactly when he was born, although he was able to make a good guess from the events that occurred before and during his birth. Therefore he settled on the date of Saturday, 18th of September, 1909. He was born on a Saturday, and thus was named