Homer Crawford Series by Mack Reynolds

Posing as low-caste itinerant smiths selling wares, the all-black fieldworkers of the Reunited Nations team led by sociologist Dr. Homer Crawford travel the Sahara subtly subverting the culture of its nomad tribes by disseminating "progressive" Western propaganda such as the right to equality, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness with the long-term objective of leading North Africa into the modern age... morePosing as low-caste itinerant smiths selling wares, the all-black fieldworkers of the Reunited Nations team led by sociologist Dr. Homer Crawford travel the Sahara subtly subverting the culture of its nomad tribes by disseminating "progressive" Western propaganda such as the right to equality, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness with the long-term objective of leading North Africa into the modern age. Knowing the peoples they encounter may label their teachings as blasphemous, the fieldworkers attribute them to El Hassan, an imaginary leader who has incorporated the wisdom of all the sages and prophets of the world. On their way back from working at a Tuareg encampment, the fieldworkers are attacked by an Arab Union convoy trespassing on Reunited Nations territory and, in defending themselves, kill all the Arab troopers... less

Kipling said those things didn't count when two strong men stood face to face. But ... do they count when two strong ideologies stand face to face...? A fantastic science fiction tale woven by the masterful genius, Mack Reynolds!

Blackman's Burden is one of Reynolds's earlier novels. His ideas are played out much closer to home, in a time much closer to ours. The time is the near future. The place is Africa. In a reaction to centuries of largely-botched colonialism, the rest of the world has chosen to leave Africa pretty much on its own... moreBlackman's Burden is one of Reynolds's earlier novels. His ideas are played out much closer to home, in a time much closer to ours. The time is the near future. The place is Africa. In a reaction to centuries of largely-botched colonialism, the rest of the world has chosen to leave Africa pretty much on its own. Aside from some modernization efforts by the Reunited Nations & aside from the efforts of various charitable organizations-- some altruistically motivated, others not--& aside from the presence of agents pursuing the interests of their several home countries. In Blackman's Burden, & in its sequels "Border, Breed Nor Birth" & "The Best Ye Breed", a small team of those interlopers decides that what the Sahel really needs isn't minor charities or piddling interventions, but political union & modernization. Needless to say, almost nobody agrees. It's an interesting book--a knowledgeable view of Africa combined with a cynical view of the human condition. There's a short-story epilog to this trilogy titled "Black Sheep Astray" Border, Breed nor Birth: El Hassan, would-be tyrant of all N. Africa, was on the run. His followers at this point numbered six, one of whom was a wisp of a 24-year-old girl. Arrayed against him & his dream, he knew, was the combined power of the world in the form of the Reunited Nations, &, in addition, such individual powers as the United States of the Americas, the Soviet Complex, Common Europe, the French Community, the British Commonwealth & the Arab Union, working both together & unilaterally. A novel of colonialism set in N. Africa, Border, Breed Nor Birth originally appeared as a serial in Analog under the editorship of John W. Campbell Jr. less

ALEXANDER GHENGIS KHAN NAPOLEON Liberator of North Africa, charismatic conqueror of Islam in reality he is Homer Crawford, "turncoat" black American sociologist who is determined to lead the Dark Continent into the modern age by whatever means are necessary. Arrayed against him are all the forces of the status quo: the combined military might of the North African states, mercenary hirelings of corrupt oil sheikdoms, Moslem religious fanatics, and the American CIA... moreALEXANDER GHENGIS KHAN NAPOLEON Liberator of North Africa, charismatic conqueror of Islam in reality he is Homer Crawford, "turncoat" black American sociologist who is determined to lead the Dark Continent into the modern age by whatever means are necessary. Arrayed against him are all the forces of the status quo: the combined military might of the North African states, mercenary hirelings of corrupt oil sheikdoms, Moslem religious fanatics, and the American CIA. Only the people are for El Hassan, and they, only so long as he is victorious less