Given the limited focus on African history in Western education this book provides an eye-opening experience, which challenges the dominant understanding that the West can do no harm, perhaps one of Rodney’s goals in writing this particular piece. Although the book’s discussion of African history ends in the 1970’s, this does not make it any less valid today, as many of the patterns described by Rodney can be observed in present day African society. An argument can be made that the aid industry in Africa is following a similar trajectory to formal colonialism and only goes to further Rodney’s original thesis that the only true way to develop Africa is through a severance of ties with the international capitalist economy.
Overall, Rodney’s How Europe Underdeveloped Africa was a refreshing read, which challenged Western accounts of African history. His arguments were well supported and have stood the test of time; both of which are important for academic texts. Above all, it provides a desperately needed critique of Western actions both in the past and the present and is one of the best explanations of present day African underdevelopment, showing the importance of a historical approach to understanding current