This edited volume examines the cases of four African military leaders who had enormous impact on the continent and beyond. These military officers, and later heads of state - Jerry Rawlings of Ghana; Moammar Gaddafi of Libya; Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso; and Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt - were provocative and polarizing figures, beloved domestically but mostly viewed with suspicion and hostility by foreign governments.