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This article examines the historiography on Nkrumah's Pan-Africanist ideology with particular reference to his foreign policy and it provides an overview of the same by dividing it in three periods. These are introduced by an analysis of Nkrumah's and Nkrumaist literature. The first period of historiography coincides with Nkrumah's political life between 1945 and 1972. During these years, pro and anti-Nkrumah parties clashed vigorously. In the second period which stretches between the 1970s and 1980s, more detached analysis of the facts also began to emerge but strong limitations remained. The third period, began with the rehabilitation of Nkrumah's figure in the early 1990s. This, together with the end of the Cold War and the resurfacing of new primary sources allowed for a more scientific analysis of Nkrumah's times. The essay is built on the consideration that the debate on the role of the first President of Ghana in the liberation and unification of the continent is still vibrant. Moreover, to this day, his legacy is amply discussed both in academia and outside it. As for the latter, Nkrumah's Pan-Africanist proposals still attracts followers all over Africa and even in the Diaspora. The corpus of literature on Nkrumah and Nkrumaism is vast. This essay provides the reader with an instrument to understand, rationalise and categorise this enormous production, trying also to highlight the latest developments of the historiography on this subject. The article will also provide the reader with useful information about the primary sources, especially those that have become available in recent years.

Between 1957 and 1966, Ghana hosted a number of African nationalist parties and it helped them in achieving independence and in strengthening their power inside the nations. Ghana granted them financial aid and it provided political training to party members. Kwame Nkrumah wanted particularly to promote the Convention People's Party as a model for all the nationalist parties. Some institutions had been created in Ghana with the purpose of achieving these goals. The Ideological Institute of Winneba was established in 1961 to teach to both CPP members and other African nationalists how to work with the masses in the process of nation building. This paper illustrates the action of these institutions, such as the Ideological Institute and the Bureau of African Affairs, using mostly new and unpublished archival sources.

Intro -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- Abbreviations -- Notes on Contributors -- List of Figures -- Chapter 1: Introduction -- Continental Visions of Unity: African History and Pan-Africanism(s) -- International Visions of Unity: International History and Africa -- Historical Visions of African Unity: African History and the Archives -- Overview of the Book -- Bibliography -- Primary Sources -- Secondary Sources -- Part I: Imagining and Debating African Unity -- Chapter 2: A Different Kind of Union: An Assassination, Diplomatic Recognition, and Competing Visions of African Unity in Ghana-Togo Relations, 1956-1963 -- An Assassination and a Diplomatic Dilemma -- Investigating a 'Hideous Plot' -- Reunification Versus Union -- Union Versus Unité: The Pressure to Choose -- Party Divisions, Cross-Border Missions, and 'the will of the people' -- A Secret Union Agreement -- Bibliography -- Primary Sources -- Secondary Sources -- Chapter 3: Thinking East African: Debating Federation and Regionalism, 1960-1977 -- The Colonial Origins of East African Regionalism -- The Rise and Fall of East African Federation -- Federation and Pan-Africanism -- Federation and State-Building -- Federation and Alternative Sovereignties -- Uplighting Statehood: Regionalism and East African Citizenries -- Bibliography -- Primary Sources -- Secondary Sources -- Chapter 4: Kwame Nkrumah and the All-African Trade Union Federation: Labour and the Emancipation of Africa -- The Anti-colonial Socialist Labour Alliance -- Crushing Gold Coast Labour, Winning British Favour -- Independence and Pan-Africanist Labour -- Labour Freedom for Thee, but Not for We -- Economic Collapse and a Communist Lifeline -- Bibliography -- Primary Sources -- Secondary Sources -- Chapter 5: African Unity and the Process of Integration from the Grassroots: The Case of Mali and Senegal.

It is now widely recognised that a Cold War perspective falls short in unfolding the complex geographies of connections and the multipolarity of actions and transactions that were shaped through the movement of individuals and ideas from Africa to the "East" and from the "East" to Africa in the decades in which African countries moved to independence. Adopting an interdisciplinary, transregional perspective, this volume casts new light on aspects of the role of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union in the decolonisation of Africa. Taking further themes explored in a collection of essays published by the editors in 2019, the twelve case studies by authors from South Africa, Czech Republic, Portugal, Russia, Hungary, Italy, Canada, Serbia, and Germany draw on new sources to explore the history of the ties that existed between African liberation movements and the socialist bloc, some of which continue to influence relationships today. Chapters contribute to three relevant main themes that resonate in a number of scholarly fields of inquiry, ranging from Global Studies, Transregional Studies, Cold War Studies, (Global) History to African Studies, Eastern European, Russian and Slavic Studies: Reconsiderations, Resources, and Reverberations. Drawing upon newly opened archives and combining transregional perspectives with sources in different languages, chapters explicitly point out the shortcomings of past research and debates in the respective field. They highlight new avenues which have been developing and which need to be further developed (Reconsiderations). Selected case studies address the resources of those being active and involved in decolonisation processes, be it in East, North, West and South. They reveal: Which resources (both material and intellectual) are the actors drawing upon? On the other hand: From which resources are individuals on one side or the other reciprocally or intermittently (intentionally) kept away? (Resources). Finally, the third theme puts an emphasis on the historicity of the processes depicted. Studies point to the gaps and dead ends of international support, the paths that peter out, but also to repercussions and reverberations up until today. (Reverberations) Taken these three themes together, the individual chapters contribute to the overall question of: Which general historical narratives about the second half of the 20th century are changing based on these new research findings?

It is now widely recognised that a Cold War perspective falls short in unfolding the complex geographies of connections and the multipolarity of actions and transactions that were shaped through the movement of individuals and ideas from Africa to the "East" and from the "East" to Africa in the decades in which African countries moved to independence. Adopting an interdisciplinary, transregional perspective, this volume casts new light on aspects of the role of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union in the decolonisation of Africa. Taking further themes explored in a collection of essays published by the editors in 2019, the twelve case studies by authors from South Africa, Czech Republic, Portugal, Russia, Hungary, Italy, Canada, Serbia, and Germany draw on new sources to explore the history of the ties that existed between African liberation movements and the socialist bloc, some of which continue to influence relationships today. Chapters contribute to three relevant main themes that resonate in a number of scholarly fields of inquiry, ranging from Global Studies, Transregional Studies, Cold War Studies, (Global) History to African Studies, Eastern European, Russian and Slavic Studies: Reconsiderations, Resources, and Reverberations. Drawing upon newly opened archives and combining transregional perspectives with sources in different languages, chapters explicitly point out the shortcomings of past research and debates in the respective field. They highlight new avenues which have been developing and which need to be further developed (Reconsiderations). Selected case studies address the resources of those being active and involved in decolonisation processes, be it in East, North, West and South. They reveal: Which resources (both material and intellectual) are the actors drawing upon? On the other hand: From which resources are individuals on one side or the other reciprocally or intermittently (intentionally) kept away? (Resources). Finally, the third theme puts an emphasis on the historicity of the processes depicted. Studies point to the gaps and dead ends of international support, the paths that peter out, but also to repercussions and reverberations up until today. (Reverberations) Taken these three themes together, the individual chapters contribute to the overall question of: Which general historical narratives about the second half of the 20th century are changing based on these new research findings?