His father , a. p. mda , was the " founding spirit " of the pan africanist congress of azania ( pac ) , which broke with the anc in 1959 in protest against , among other things , that party 's links with the soviet union .
If it has any lessons for the historian , the africanist or the would-be coup plotter , it is that it is unwise to tell too many people about your coup before it happens .
The need to tell the story beyond the africanist and human rights audience was one reason why mr gourevitch chose to use first names in much of his reporting .