Leo Zeilig - Frantz Fanon: A Political Biography

Also by Leo Zeilig:

Frantz Fanon: Voices of Liberation

HSRC Press, 2014

ISBN: 978 0 79692 485 8

Zeiligs remarkable book about a remarkable scholar-activist, Fanon, tells the story of the man, his ideas and the milieu. Zeilig rescues the kernel of Fanons thought from hostile detractors and mistaken adulators showing that it was anti-racist, anti-capitalist, internationalist and humanist. This book is a subtle and sympathetic engagement with Fanons life project: decolonisation and the plight of the national liberation movement in Africa. Everyone concerned with the human emancipation project must read this book.

Trevor Ngwane, Research Chair for Social Change, University of Johannesburg

A thought-provoking book that represents a new interpretation of Frantz Fanon, key thinker of the Third World anti-colonial revolution that transformed the twentieth century.

Martin Evans, Professor of Modern European History, University of Sussex

Leo Zeilig identifies Frantz Fanon as the most important figure in the ideological struggle against colonialism in the twentieth century, arguing that his critical engagement with Marxism enabled him to go far beyond that project. He was a brilliant champion of national liberation, yet he turned into its most devastating critic. In this captivating and passionate biography, Zeilig argues that while Fanons legacy is ambiguous, its emancipatory message demands our continuing attention if we are to challenge the continuing oppressions and inequalities of global capitalism. This book is a magnificent addition to the already hugely impressive corpus of work on Fanons philosophy and politics.

Roger Southall, Professor Emeritus, Department of Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand