Book Reviews and Notices : The Gold Coast in Transition. By DAVID E. APTER. (Princeton: Princeton University Press. 1955.)

• Author: William M. McGovern
• Published date: 01 December 1956
• Date: 01 December 1956
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/106591295600900415
• Subject Matter: Articles

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lems to a few pages each, the author could do justice to the objectives of
the Charter, the policies of the Administering Authorities and the aspira-
tions of the indigenous and other peoples.
The author has attempted -
and to a remarkable degree has succeeded
-
in being fair to the viewpoints of the Administering Authorities and of
the non- or anti-colonial states. It may be said that the Trusteeship provi-
sions of the Charter itself are characterized by a similar spirit. It appears
from the author’s study, however, that the Administering Authorities have
the power to determine both the objective and the pace of their own
policies and that the United Nations can very often do nothing more use-
ful than to offer more-or-less enlightened counsel and more-or-less informed
criticism. The resolutions of the General Assembly which try to force the
Administering Authorities to hasten the achievement of self-government
or independence, or of independence rather than self-government are prob-
ably neither enlightened nor informed. It appears that in some cases, at
any rate, the pace of evolution will depend on that of neighboring colonies,
and that some Trust Territories will achieve their self-government or
independence only vicariously, that is as integral parts of a colony.
Dr. Chowdhuri’s is an able and very useful contribution to a better
understanding of the functions and limitations of the Trusteeship System.
LEO GROSS.
Tufts University.
The Gold Coast in Transition. By DAVID E. APTER. (Princeton: Princeton
University Press. 1955.)
During the first half of the twentieth century the revolt of Asia against
European domination was one of the major political developments. It may
well be that during the second half of the century public attention will be
directed in large measure to the revolt of Africa against white overlordship.
For this reason, a serious study of contemporary social and political de-
velopments inside &dquo;the Dark Continent,&dquo; such as...