Rake provides short profiles of Africa's leaders and their main challengers. It concentrates on the presidents and military rulers in power and those most likely to replace them. Each profile has a short assessment of the character and career followed by a comprehensive life history. This is told in strict chronological order, on a country by country basis. The essential facts about each leader are featured in bold type at the beginning of each biography the leader's rank, date of birth, ethnicity, religion, and political party. More than a dry list of facts and dates, this volume includes insight, anecdote, comment, and a general assessment. The author has tried to show the part the leader has played in shaping the main events affecting his country during his time in office.

Chapter 1 Preface Chapter 2 Algeria Abdelaziz Bouteflika Chapter 3 Angola José Eduardo Dos Santos Chapter 4 Benin Mathieu Kérékou Chapter 5 Botswana Festus Mogae Chapter 6 Burkina Faso Blaise Compaoré Chapter 7 Burundi Pierre Buyoya Chapter 8 Cameroon Paul Biya Chapter 9 Cape Verde Antonio Mascarenhas Monteiro and Carlos Veiga Chapter 10 Central African Republic Ange Felix Patassé Chapter 11 Chad Chapter 12 Republic of Congo Denis Sassou-Nguesso and Pascal Lissouba Chapter 13 Côte d'Ivoire Laurent Gbagbo, Robert Guei, and Alassane Ouattara Chapter 14 Egypt Muhammad Hosni Mubarak Chapter 15 Equatorial Guinea Teodoro Nguema Mbasogo Obiang Chapter 16 Eritrea Issayas Afeworki Chapter 17 Ethiopia Meles Zenawi Chapter 18 Gabon Omar Bongo Chapter 19 Gambia Yahya Jammeh Chapter 20 Ghana Jerry Rawlings Chapter 21 Guinea Lansana Conté Chapter 22 Kenya Daniel arap Moi Chapter 23 Lesotho King Letsie III Chapter 24 Liberia Charles Taylor Chapter 25 Libya Muammar Qaddafi Chapter 26 Madagascar Didier Ratsiraka Chapter 27 Malawi Bakili Muluzi Chapter 28 Mali Alpha Konaré Chapter 29 Mauritania Maawiya Ould Sid' Ahmed Taya Chapter 30 Mauritius Navinchandra Ramgoolam Chapter 31 Morocco King Sidi Mohammed VI Chapter 32 Mozambique Joaquim Chissano Chapter 33 Namibia Samuel Nujoma Chapter 34 Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo Chapter 35 Rwanda Paul Kagame Chapter 36 São Tomé e Prinicipe Miguel Trovoada Chapter 37 Senegal Abdou Diouf and Abdoulaye Wade Chapter 38 Seychelles France-Albert René Chapter 39 Sierra Leone Ahmad Tejan Kabbah Chapter 40 Somalia Hussein Mohamed Aideed Chapter 41 South Africa Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki Chapter 42 Sudan Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir Chapter 43 Swaziland King Mswati III Chapter 44 Tanzania Benjamin Mkapa Chapter 45 Togo Etienne Eyadema Chapter 46 Tunisia Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali Chapter 47 Uganda Yoweri Museveni Chapter 48 Zambia Frederick Chiluba and Benjamin Mwila Chapter 49 Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai Chapter 50 Index Chapter 51 About the Author