Five junior military officers in the Gambia ousted the government of Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara in 1994.

After three decades of relative political stability under a democratically elected government, it was a stunning turn of events – and what followed was two decades of political turmoil, tribalism, massive corruption, disappearances, and forced exile.

Mathew K. Jallow, a U.S. citizen who was sentenced to death in absentia for his role in demonstrating against the military dictatorship in his native Gambia, examines his homeland's history and how a global movement toppled the junta.

Jallow captures the slow but steady erosion of human rights, economic plunder, and the collapse of state institutions under the junta's heavy-handed Machiavellian rule. He also shows how all too often, funds meant to help the continent end up in the bank accounts of politicians, bureaucrats, and the politically connected.

With his insightful commentary, the author helps explain why Africa, the wealthiest continent on the planet, remains hopelessly poor. He also takes readers into the minds of Africans, showing a face of Africa that is still a mystery to much of the developed world.