As many authors know, book projects often grow out of coincidences, those chance encounters and experiences that stem from one’s upbringing or personal background. Even by these standards, the genesis of How Africa Works by Joe Studwell is a striking story. The cover of "How Africa Works" by Joe Studwell. How Africa Works: Success and Failure on the World’s Last Developmental Frontier, Joe Studwell, Atlantic Monthly Press, 448 pp., $32, February 2026 On the book’s first page, Studwell declares