Africa's First DemocratsAbdi Ismail Samatar provides a clear and foundational history of Somalia at the dawn of the country's independence when Africa's first democrats appeared. While many African countries were dominated by authoritarian rulers when they entered the postcolonial eraand scholars have assumed this as a standard feature of political leadership on the continentSomalia had an authentic democratic leadership. Samatar's political biography of Aden A. Osman and