African history Books

Book SynopsisThrough the prism of sports and from a range of scholarly perspectives, this anthology offers insight into the varied and shifting experiences of African athletes, fans, communities, and postcolonial states.Trade Review“An extraordinary volume…. Not only is the writing empirically driven, but, more importantly, the theoretic content is grounded in prose that is fresh, vibrant, and something not always associated with what is a university textbook, fascinating. Cleveland, Kaur, and Akindes are to be congratulated for putting together a team that explores complex identities and the dynamic nature of African sport…. Hats off to the Ohio University Press for not only supporting the venture but publishing a book that looks like, and reads like, a classic.” * Journal of Sport History *“A long-overdue project by scholars committed to building African sports studies as a humanities subject. It presents close studies of sports like cycling, surfing, track and field, ultra-marathoning, and weightlifting, which are often neglected in favor of bigger and more popular sports such as soccer, rugby, and cricket. Scholars of social history, nationalism, popular culture, social anthropology, media, and cultural studies will appreciate this book.”“The Sport in Africa collective, active since 2004, has helped kick-start a movement. Here it adds seventeen more topics to the growing corpus of works on African sports history—from surfers in Transkei and women in Nigeria to Kenyan athletes and the football migrations to Europe (happening alongside desperate refugee journeys in the Mediterranean)—showing what a rich field of study sport is becoming.”“Sports in Africa heralds the arrival in sports studies of an empirically rich, theoretically informed, methodologically rigorous, and incisive African-focused genre. The volume demonstrates the centrality and complexity of sport in the daily rhythms and social fabric of life on the continent, across time, and in the formal and informal economies. It challenges longstanding racial, ethnic and cultural stereotypes pertaining to Africans, and dispenses with any notion of fixed and prescribed social and cultural identities.”“This collection of essays opens up the debate on the influences of social history, subaltern studies, and postmodernism in stimulating new research and pedagogical approaches to sport studies in Africa. It offers exemplary studies of mainstream sports (athletics, cricket, football, and rugby) and those on the margins (cycling, surfing, and wrestling) and reflects on the contributions and trajectories of those sporting pasts and their present impacts and meanings across the African continent. A go-to volume for those seeking a solid introduction to the politics, poetics and practices of the fascinating life-worlds of sports in Africa.”

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Book Synopsis"Northrup's highly accessible book breaks through the most common barriers that readers encounter in studying African history. Each chapter takes on a common myth about Africa and explains both the sources of the myth and the research that debunks it. These provocative chapters will promote lively discussions among readers while deepening their understanding of African and world history. The book is strengthened by its incorporation of actors and issues representing the African diaspora and African Americans in particular." —Rebecca Shumway, College of CharlestonTrade Review"I never imagined that my Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest, first published in 2003, would prove to be so enduring a format for helping students of all kinds to rethink key moments in human history. It is therefore a great honor to see that the book has now inspired Hackett Publishing Company's "Myths of History" series, expertly and effectively edited by Alfred J. Andrea and Andrew Holt." —Matthew Restall, Pennsylvania State University"Seven Myths of Africa in World History, the latest of David Northrup's incisive and profound investigations of Africa's history, is a great intellectual menu in its taste and variety. Based essentially on a critique of earlier scholarship and a fresh reading of the expanding corpus of primary data on Africa's variegated and complex history, Northrup provides an excellent critique of earlier writings on the cultural, economic, social, political, and religious landscapes of Africa as influenced by both internal and external forces of change and continuity. With tremendous scholarly erudition and insight, Northrup challenges, and proffers explanations to, many prevailing assumptions, falsehoods and distortions that have been produced and circulated by ignorance and prejudices over a long period of time. No doubt, both the unyielding expert and the man with general education will read this magnificent book with great profit and delight." —David Lishilinimle Imbua, University of Calabar"A superb introduction to major themes in African history, lively and without jargon, and pitched at the right level for a general or student readership. At the same time, it does not oversimplify. Unlike many other introductions to African history, the text does not overwhelm with details, but focuses on arguments and issues with which readers can engage. Northrup's approach is balanced. Even as it engages with some politically sensitive topics, it does so in a careful and fair fashion: A thoughtful book, drawing on and reflecting the best traditions of Africanist scholarship. Most of all, it was a pleasure to read." —David Gordon, Bowdoin College"Sacred cows, beware. For centuries, observers have generated myths about Africa while Africanists have dispelled them, sometimes creating new ones. Northrup does plenty of the former and none of the latter in this stimulating offering. He identifies ignorance, prejudice, and excess sympathy for Africans as major sources of mythmaking. Key points include the notion of peoples without history; evolving images of Ethiopia; catastrophic effects of foreign involvement, including the slave trade (which was not mythical); relative merits of Christianity and Islam; and varying views of Africa’s future. Northrup introduces each chapter by quoting influential writers, then assesses whether their contributions are well founded or misleading (usually the latter) while suggesting how they may still have value. Some favorites (E.W. Blyden, Walter Rodney) receive stiff scrutiny, but the goal is to encourage critical thought, not merely bash authorities. Surprisingly, “colonialism” has no index entry or chapter, but the author satisfactorily covers that crucial era in various places. Students are a prime audience; combined with other materials, individual chapters serve as bases for solid essays. Scholars and the public will also benefit from this thought-provoking supplementary text. Summing Up: Highly recommended." —T. P. Johnson, University of Massachusetts, Boston, in CHOICE"This is a very good book. . . . Northup uses the seven myths formula to address some major issues in African historiography. These range from addressing older debates about whether Africa has a history at all, to Ethiopian exceptionalism, to the effects of long distance trade, to ethnic formation, to the Afro-pessimist-Afro-optimist debate. His approach to these topics is wide ranging. . . . All of this is delivered in an accessible, jargon-free, undergraduate-friendly style. "Perhaps the best thing about the book is that it does not stop with confronting popular misconceptions and myth making about Africa. It also addresses debates within the discipline. . . . Using material from this book would be a way to expose students to debates within the field and help to dispel the notion that there is an agreed upon narrative about Africa’s past." —Erik Gilbert, Arkansas State University, in International Journal of African Historical StudiesTable of ContentsContents: Series Editors' Foreword Editor’s Preface Introduction No History in Africa? Can the Oldest Humans Have the Shortest History? How Special Can Ethiopia Be? Encounters with Non-Africans: Good, Bad, or Complicated? The Atlantic Slave Trade: Stolen Bodies, Stolen Identities? Merrie Olde Africa: Change, Continuity, and Identity Is Islam More Authentically African than Christianity? The Mythical Present: Africa Rising? Africa Failing? Epilogue Suggested Readings

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Book SynopsisExamines Eritrea's deprivation of human rights since independence and its transformation into a militarised "garrison state", updated to include the recent UN Commission of Inquiry and the new geopolitical dynamics. When Eritrea gained independence in 1991, hopes were high for its transformation. In two decades however, it became one of the most repressive in the world, effectively a militarised "garrison state". This comprehensive and detailed analysis examines how the prospects for democracy in the new state turned to ashes, reviewing its development, and in particular the loss of human rights and the state's political organisation. Beginning with judicial development in independent Eritrea, subsequent chapters scrutinise the rule of law and the court system; the hobbled process of democratisation, and the curtailment of civil society; the Eritrean prison system and everyday life of detention and disappearances; and the situation of minorities in the country. While the situation is bleak, it is not without hope: the epilogue describes the recent UN Commission of Inquiry process, the renewed international dialogue with Asmara and the new geopolitical dynamics. Kjetil Tronvoll is Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Bjørknes University College, Director of Oslo Analytica policy research and advisory company, and a former Professor of Human Rights at the University of Oslo. ; Daniel Mekonnen is the Executive Director of the Eritrean Law Society, and a Guest Writer at the Writers in Exile Program of the Swiss-German PEN Centre in Luzern, Switzerland. Formerly, he was Judge of the Central Provincial Court in Asmara, Eritrea.Trade Review2015 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title * . *The book will be well received by a wider readership, particularly among students of African regimes. . . . It will certainly stimulate and inform an ongoing debate on the national identity and constitutional future of Eritrea. * AFRICAN STUDIES QUARTERLY *This fantastically dense, thorough, rich, comprehensive tome breaks down Eritrean contemporary statehood and civil society in a way that should be copied as a model for modern political/national security case studies. Highly recommended. * CHOICE *Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Eritrean African garrison state Judicial development in independent Eritrea: Legal pluralism and political containment Rule of law(lessness) in Eritrea: The special court and the judiciary Democratic curtailment in Eritrea: 'Never democracy, always control!' Obliterating civil society in Eritrea: Denying freedom of organisation and expression The Eritrean Gulag archipelago: Prison conditions, torture and extrajudicial killings Everyday life of detention and disappearances in Eritrea: Vulnerable groups in a population under siege Minority marginalisation in Eritrea: EPLF's politics of cultural superiority Diversity diminished in Eritrea: Targeting the Kunama minority group The militarisation of Eritrean society: Omnipresent and neverending military service Eritrea? Towards a transition? Postscript: Eritrea - renewed international engagement to sustain control at home

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Book SynopsisLauren Carruth''s Love and Liberation tells a new kind of humanitarian story. The protagonists are not volunteers from afar but rather Somali locals caring for each other: nurses, aid workers, policymakers, drivers, community health workers, and bureaucrats. The contributions of locals are often taken for granted, and the competencies, aspirations, and effectiveness of local staffers frequently remain muted or absent from the planning and evaluation of humanitarian interventions structured by outsiders. Relief work is traditionally imagined as politically neutral and impartial, and interventions are planned as temporary, extraordinary, and distant. Carruth provides an alternative vision of what humanitarian response means in practicenot driven by International Humanitarian Law, the missions of Western relief organizations, or trends in the aid industry or academia but instead by what Somalis call samafal. Samafal is structured by the Trade ReviewLauren Carruth's Love and Liberation is an insightful ethnographic study of global humanitarianism, critically analyzing humanitarian work in Ethiopia's Somali Region (Soomaaliweyn). Over the course of the book's chapters, the author takes us on a journey, from the vast and arid terrains of the Ogaden to the dilapidated and stifling office buildings of Jijiga (the region's capital). * Society of the Anthropology of Work *Table of ContentsPrologue: "I Cannot Give It Up" Introduction: Humanitarianism in the Margins of Empire 1. Humanitarianism Is Local 2. Humanitarianism Is Samafal 3. Humanitarian Work 4. Crisis Work 5. Humanitarianism Is Anti-Politics 6. From Crisis to Liberation

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Book SynopsisIn highlighting the role of East Africa's commercial connections to the Middle East and India during the colonial period, this book makes a major contribution to African history as part of world history.Trade ReviewThis agreeably written and copiously illustrated book deserves a wide audience, especially from maritime historians and those studying the East African coast. -- Michael Pearson * INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MARITIME HISTORY *In this welcome book Erik Gilbert addresses the history of the dhow from 1860 to 1970... a much-needed study of a neglected area of maritime history and will be a vital part of any maritime historian's library and initiates a number of elegantly argued debates that will provoke us for a long time. -- Kenneth McPherson * INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY *Professor Gilbert of Arkansas State University presents a colourful narrative on the long drawn out economic warfare which lasted throughout the colonial period. * NEW HISTORY *...an interesting and pleasingly slim and accessible volume -- Ashley Jackson * TANZANIAN AFFAIRS *...presents a convincing, practical analysis of the considerations that led to the success of the dhow in the Zanzibar economy and tells an interesting tale in an interesting manner. * ROYAL SOCIETY OF ASIAN AFFAIRS *... a valuable and welcome contribution to the literature on both Zanzibar and East Africa, as well as the growing body of literature on the Indian Ocean world. ...Clearly this volume is an excellent resource for scholars as well as a useful, thought provoking text for any graduate or undergraduate seminar. * ITINERARIO *Cette brillante etude constitue la biographie passionnante d'un objet etroitement lie a un art de vivre. - -- Danielle de Lame * JOURNAL DES AFRICANISTES *Table of ContentsIntroduction - The dhow in nineteenth-century Zanzibar - The creation of a colonial economy: dhows in a changing world, 1872-1914 - Cloves, dhows & steamers: the twentieth-century struggle between the state and the unofficial economy in Zanzibar - Mangrove poles & the long distance dhow trade in the colonial era - From definitions to deference: an overview of the dhow economy in colonial Zanzibar - Epilogue: dhows in the economy of twentieth-century Zanzibar.

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Book SynopsisFrom Accra and Algiers to Zanzibar and Zululand, African football today reflects the history and culture of those who play the game and how they have shaped it in a distinctively African manner. Football may obey global rules, but the influence of magicians and healers, the nurturing of different tactics and styles of play, and local forms of spectatorship give football in the continent a cultural and sporting imprint all of its own . In African Soccerscapes Peter Alegi explores how football was influenced by colonialism, the growth of cities, independence, and global capitalism. Regional differences and the links between sport, culture and politics feature prominently in his book. In the independent era football offered a rare form of 'national culture' in ethnically diverse nations and symbolized pan-African unity and solidarity through the anti-apartheid struggle and the campaign for more guaranteed places for African teams in the World Cup finals. Huge numbers of Africans play overseas, disproportionately rewarding European leagues at Africa's expense, and this phenomenon is discussed, as are the recent privatization of the African game, football development programs and the growth of women's football.Trade ReviewNobody understands the background to African soccer better than the Italian-American historian Peter Alegi. This World Cup is his moment. His African Soccerscapes crams daunting erudition, gleaned over many years of study of African football, into under 200 pages of history. -- Financial TimesPeter Alegi's African Soccerscapes is simply the best available overview of the history. Concise and to the point, you'll be through it before the round of 16 begins, having covered all the basics without forgetting the pleasures and the passions that animate African football. -- The GuardianA fascinating history of African football, from empire to the post-colony. -- Sunday Independent (South Africa)Table of Contents1: The White Man's Burden: Football and Empire, 1860s-1919 2: The Africanization of Football, 1920s-1940s 3: Making Nations in Late Colonial Africa, 1940s-1964 4: Nationhood, Pan-Africanism, and Football after Independence 5: Football Migration to Europe Since the 1930s 6: The Privatization of Football, 1980s to Recent Times Epilogue: South Africa 2010: The World Cup Comes to Africa

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Book SynopsisExamines the impact of the changing geopolitical environment on a range of governance issues in North Africa

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Book SynopsisThe Act of Living explores the relation between development and marginality in Ethiopia, one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. Replete with richly depicted characters and multi-layered narratives on history, everyday life and visions of the future, Marco Di Nunzio''s ethnography of hustling and street life is an investigation of what is to live, hope and act in the face of the failing promises of development and change. Di Nunzio follows the life trajectories of two men, Haile and Ibrahim, as they grow up in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, enter street life to get by, and turn to the city''s expanding economies of work and entrepreneurship to search for a better life. Apparently favourable circumstances of development have not helped them achieve social improvement. As their condition of marginality endures, the two men embark in restless attempts to transform living into a site for hope and possibility.By narrating Haile and Ibrahim''s lives, Trade Review[A]s a people-focused analysis of certain hardscrabble lives in Addis Ababa, The Act of Living is an interesting work of urban anthropology. * Environment and Urbanization *

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Book SynopsisThe hunter-gatherers of southern Africa known as ''Bushmen'' or ''San'' are not one single ethnic group, but several. They speak a diverse variety of languages, and have many different settlement patterns, kinship systems and economic practices. The fact that we think of them as a unity is not as strange as it may seem, for they share a common origin: they are an original hunter-gatherer population of southern Africa with a history of many thousands of years on the subcontinent. Drawing on his four decades of field research in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, Alan Barnard provides a detailed account of Bushmen or San, covering ethnography, archaeology, folklore, religious studies and rock-art studies as well as several other fields. Its wide coverage includes social development and politics, both historically and in the present day, helping us to reconstruct both human prehistory and a better understanding of ourselves.Trade Review'This book provides a masterful synthesis of what is over a century of ethnographic research, but it is in advocating for anthropology to not lose sight of the value of comparison … that it makes a broad and valuable contribution to the discipline.' Megan Laws, AnthroposTable of Contents1. 'Bushmen': unity and diversity; 2. The politics of indigeneity; 3. How far back can we go?; 4. Discovery and destruction of the /Xam; 5. The !Xoõ and their neighbours; 6. G/wi, G//ana and the central Kalahari; 7. Naro: 'Central', 'Northern' or unique?; 8. Ju/'hoansi or !Kung: classic San; 9. Hai//om: Khoekhoe-speaking San; 10. Bushmen of the Okavango; 11. Sharing the land with others; 12. Conclusions.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Wole Soyinka always guarantees challenging and lively reading.”—Tom Phillips, Times Literary Supplement“Wole Soyinka, the great Afro-Atlantic master, speaks with authority and compassion about the art and literature of the black world. Beyond Aesthetics is insightful, essential reading.”—Robert Farris Thompson, author of Flash of the Spirit and Tango: The Art History of Love

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Book SynopsisHistorian and journalist Jacob Dlamini investigates one of three surviving copies of the “terrorist album,” a rogue’s gallery of apartheid’s political enemies collected over decades by South Africa’s security police. From the photos emerges the afterlife of apartheid, as Dlamini tells the story of former insurgents, collaborators, and police.Trade ReviewIn The Terrorist Album, Jacob Dlamini has managed to reconstruct some of apartheid South Africa’s most violent and disturbing episodes, despite the former regime’s extensive efforts to erase its crimes and cover its tracks. Using archival evidence and detailed interviews with both perpetrators and their victims’ families, Dlamini, a superb historian and memoirist, has excavated a story that otherwise would have been hidden and forgotten. -- Sasha Polakow-Suransky, author of The Unspoken Alliance: Israel’s Secret Relationship with Apartheid South AfricaThe Terrorist Album is wise, humane, and thoroughly original. With one artifact, Jacob Dlamini opens worlds: of history, of biography, of the archive, of photography and philosophy. With characteristic flair and insight, he offers a compelling narrative of the workings of repressive violence and the way human beings are crushed by it, or manage to transcend it. -- Mark Gevisser, author of A Legacy of Liberation: Thabo Mbeki and the Future of the South African Dream and Lost and Found in Johannesburg: A MemoirEnables us to look anew at the brutality and bureaucracy that marked apartheid policing…The Terrorist Album traces the evolution of policing in South Africa: how it grew more and more depraved in its desperation to counter the state’s political illegitimacy…The human loss it uncovers is painful, yet there is also a hopeful side to the story…[It] arrives at a time when this widespread cover-up is once again the subject of public conversation in South Africa. -- Bongani Kona * The Baffler *A harrowing descent into the hell of apartheid via documents the regime neglected to destroy. One person’s terrorist is another person’s freedom fighter, and such people are made, not born…The apartheid regime created many through its campaign of repression and separation…Perhaps the greatest takeaway is [Dlamini’s] observation that no matter how a government tries to obliterate the past, it can never do so completely. An important document in the history of the apartheid era. * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *A monumental work of remembrance…Dlamini’s writing is lucid and captivating, moving between historical fact and careful biographical reconstruction. It is an invaluable addition to the greater and ongoing project of restoring to South Africans a history that some sought to erase and evade. -- Marianne Thamm * Daily Maverick *[A] remarkable book that invites a long-overdue reckoning…Dlamini navigates the underside of apartheid and its long shadow by asking difficult questions that few other scholars or journalists have had the nerve to investigate…Turns his attention more fully to the nature of the apartheid state and the bureaucratic, if no less nasty, security apparatus that netted the ANC defectors…Dlamini is a reliable guide to the dimmer paths of the apartheid state in its dying throes. As those shadowed trails begin to fade with memory, we may need to rely ever more on his insights. -- Alex Lichtenstein * Public Books *Dlamini continues storytelling centered around the seemingly untold stories of the apartheid era. -- Fatima Moosa * Daily Vox *A timely and important contribution. More significantly, it is a thought-provoking and unsettling examination of the apartheid state, its authoritarian bureaucracy, and its security apparatus through one artefact, the so-called Terrorist Album. -- Lennart Bolliger * South African Historical Journal *A compelling study of the mechanics of apartheid from the inside…Dlamini tells the life history of state documents used to compel, bend, persecute, pressure, torture, and ultimately in some cases kill the opponents of the white supremacist state, the so-called Terrorist Album. This is a history of memory, of forgetting, of violence, and of state failure. -- Benjamin N. Lawrance * African Studies Review *

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Book SynopsisFor more than two millennia, African blacksmiths have transformed one of Earth's most basic natural resources into objects of life-changing utility, empowerment, prestige, spiritual potency, and astonishing artistryshaping African cultures in the most fundamental ways. Striking Iron combines interdisciplinary scholarship with vivid illustrations to offer the most comprehensive treatment to date of the blacksmith's art in sub-Saharan Africa. Interspersed throughout are photographs of more than 250 diverse works from over 100 ethnic groupsincluding tools, blades, currencies, wood sculptures studded with iron, musical instruments, and accoutrementswith field photographs documenting blacksmiths at work and objects in use. Seventeen contributors write from the disciplinary perspectives of art history, art, anthropology, archaeology, history, and astronomy, examining how the blacksmiths' virtuosity can harness powers of the natural and spiritual worlds, effect change and ensure protection, a

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Book SynopsisPatrick William Otim argues that the Acholi people of northern Uganda, who helped Europeans spread colonial rule and Christianity, were far more politically savvy than previously understood.Trade ReviewA landmark study in African intellectual history. Patrick William Otim’s Acholi Intellectuals puts the acquisition and deployment of erudition and skill at the center of the contradictions and ironies shaping this region’s political-cultural history. In accessible prose and well-chosen detail, Otim demonstrates that complex networks of elder men and women cultivated skill and ambition among a small number of exceptional Africans who reinvented power in a fractious nineteenth century, a short colonial century of administration and bureaucracy, and a later twentieth century of nationalist frictions. -- David Schoenbrun, Northwestern UniversityEngagingly and intimately written, Acholi Intellectuals reveals how Acholi cultivated talent across a broad sweep of nineteenth and twentieth century East African history, and how historical actors both seized the opportunities and navigated the perils that successive political regimes offered. Focused on the lives of healers, war leaders, and royal messengers—who became clerks, translators, converts, writers, and elders—Patrick William Otim has written a masterful study that sets a new standard for the study of exemplary individuals in African history. -- Daniel Magaziner, Yale UniversityPatrick William Otim has written a fascinating, innovative, and meticulously documented account of Acholi history. He shows that intellectuals who played major roles before conquest worked to create an Acholi-inflected version of colonial society. We were mistaken to imagine that the most important post-conquest transformations revolved around chiefs. Instead, people who were already influential in the realm of symbolism and knowledge reimagined and recreated their own society. -- Steven Feierman, University of PennsylvaniaPatrick William Otim’s definitive history of Acholi intellectuals analyzes their embodied knowledge, revealing their centrality in Acholiland’s colonial history. Deeply researched, Otim’s clear, engaging, and imaginative analysis interweaves rich sources and historiographies, yielding fresh critical insights on Acholi intellectuals’ intermediary roles within Acholiland’s politics. -- Michelle Moyd, Michigan State UniversityWith this book, Patrick William Otim becomes a leader in rethinking Uganda’s intellectual history. Drawing deeply from ethnographic and Acholi archival sources, Otim moves us beyond the political terrain of chiefs into the inner worlds of war leaders, royal messengers, public healers, poets, musicians, and aspiring historians. This work also manages to push Ugandan history writing beyond its obsession with kingdoms toward a more inclusive vision of republican history writing. Scholars and students of Ugandan and African political thought owe Otim a tremendous debt of gratitude. -- Jonathon L. Earle, Centre CollegePatrick William Otim’s evidence...refutes the division of African history into precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial periods....Otim’s work invites historians of Africa to think again about history we thought we knew. -- Holly Elisabeth Hanson, Mount Holyoke College“An important project … an impressive achievement.” -- Joel Cabrita, author of Text and Authority in the South African Nazaretha Church

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Book Synopsis.Trade ReviewThese volumes provide a rich overview of African history. Expansive in scope and rigorous in detail, they will be useful for students and researchers alike. Toyin Falola and Timothy Stapleton embarked on a massive undertaking and, with these volumes, deserve the commendation of their peers." - Christopher Tounsel, Pennsylvania State UniversityIn this exciting survey of African history, Falola and Stapleton have succeeded in bringing Africa to life with a comparative methodology that weaves together the various themes that binds this continent." - Dawne Y. Curry, University of Nebraska-LincolnFalola and Stapleton have put together a work of immense proportion for African history survey courses. I strongly recommend the text for instructors and students of African history." - Raphael Chijioke Njoku, Idaho State UniversityA History of Africa is a great text in its inclusion and discussion of North Africa as part of mainstream African History; as well as its brilliant discussion of Central, Eastern, and Southern African History. Its inclusion of debates and various interpretations of African History is commendable." - Kwaku Nti, Georgia Southern University

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Book SynopsisIn 1896 a massive Ethiopian army routed an invading Italian force and brought Italy’s conquest of Africa to an end. In defending its independence, Ethiopia cast doubt on the assumption that all Africans would fall under the rule of Europeans, and opened a breach that would lead to the continent’s painful struggle for freedom from colonial rule.Trade ReviewJonas’s lucidly woven account masterfully repositions the role of contingency in the unfolding of history and uses the little-known battle to stand for the audacious imperial quest for glory unleashed by Western powers in the ‘scramble for Africa.’ …His remarkable cast of characters and insightful prose will be of interest to scholars of African history and issues related to counterinsurgency. -- Brian Odom * Library Journal *On March 1, 1896, near the town of Adwa, in Ethiopia, an African army convincingly struck down the colonizing Italian army in a battle that decisively shaped not only the contours of Ethiopia but also its future and that of the continent. As University of Washington historian Jonas so deftly observes in this nimble and artfully crafted work, the events at Adwa cast doubt upon Europeans’ unshakeable certainty that Africans would eventually fall under their rule. Jonas draws vibrant portraits of the personalities at the center of these events, from the shrewd Ethiopian monarch Menelik and his bold, aggressive wife, Taytu Betul, to the unfortunate Italian general Oreste Baratieri, the leader of the defeated Italian forces. As Jonas points out, the African victory at Adwa commenced the crumbling of European dominance of Africa; Ethiopia thus became a source of pride and lineage often indistinguishable from Africa itself, and writers such as W.E.B. Du Bois based their own model African states on Ethiopia. Weaving a colorful account from the stories of a dazzling array of characters, Jonas skillfully recreates this now mostly forgotten event that determined the color of Africa. * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *Jonas offers the first comprehensive study of one of the most important events in modern African history. He brilliantly brings to life the story of Ethiopian leaders, Italian military officials, and quirky European advisors and observers. Written in a wonderfully evocative and lively style, this book firmly establishes the Battle of Adwa’s place in world history and will appeal to a broad readership. -- Jonathan Miran, author of Red Sea Citizens

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Book SynopsisThe origins of most of the west’s Special Forces can be traced back to the Long Range Desert Group which operated across the limitless expanses of the Libyan Desert, an area the size of India, during the whole of the Desert War from 1940 – 1943. After the defeat of the Axis in North Africa they adapted to serve in the Mediterranean, the Greek islands, Albania, Yugoslavia and Greece. They became the stuff of legend. The brainchild of Ralph Bagnold, a pre-war desert explorer, featured, in fictional terms in The English Patient, who put all of his expertise into the creation of a new and, by the standards of the day, highly unorthodox unit. Conventional tactical thinking shunned the deep heart of the vast desert as it was thought to be a different planet, a harsh, inhospitable wilderness where British forces could not possibly survive even less operate effectively. Bagnold, Pat Clayton and Bill Kennedy Shaw created a whole new type of warfare.Using specially adapted vehicles and the techniques they’d learned in the‘30s, recruiting only men of the right temperament and high levels of fitness and endurance, the first patrols set out bristling with automatic weapons. The 30-cwt Chevy truck and the famous Jeep have become iconic, the LRDG, in a dark hour, was the force which took the fight to the enemy, roving over the deep desert – a small raider’s paradise, attacking enemy convoys and outposts, destroying aircraft and supplies, forcing the Axis to expend more and more resources protecting their vulnerable lines.Their work was often dangerous, always taxing, exhausting and uncomfortable. They were a new breed of soldier. The Axis never managed to equip any similar unit, they never escaped their fear of the scorching wilderness. Once the desert war was won they transferred their skills to the Mediterranean sector, re-training as mountain guerrillas, serving in the ill-fated Dodecanese campaign, then in strife torn Albania, Yugoslavia and Greece, fighting alongside the mercurial partisans at a time the Balkans were sliding towards communist domination or civil war.In addition LRDG worked alongside the fledgling SAS and they established, beyond all doubt, the value of highly trained Special Forces, a legacy which resonates today.Trade ReviewEnthralling’ is the word I am looking for. Highly recommended. * War History Online *Very absorbing book * Gun Mart *

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Book SynopsisThis title includes a new Foreword by WM. Roger Louis. On 26 July 1956, the British Empire received a blow from which it would never recover. On this day, Egypt's President Gamal Abdul Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal Company, one of the gems of Britain's imperial portfolio. It was to be a fateful day for Britain as a world power. Britain, France and Israel subsequently colluded in attacking Egypt, ostensibly - in the case of Britain and France - to protect the Suez Canal but in reality in an attempt to depose Nasser. The US opposition to this scheme forced an ignominious withdrawal, leaving Nasser triumphant and marking a decisive end to Britain's imperial era. In this, the seminal work on the Suez Crisis, Keith Kyle draws on a wealth of documentary evidence to tell this fascinating political, military and diplomatic story. Including new introductory material, this revised edition of a classic work will be essential reading for anyone interested in the history of the twentieth century, military history and the end of empire.Trade Review"'[Suez] has the quality of making everything that has come before... look like a pamphlet off the top of a partisan's head' - Roy Jenkins, Sunday Times"Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Swing-Door of the British Empire 2. A Jewish State 3. Eden and Nasser 4. Arms and the Dam 5. Turning Against Nasser 6. Code-Word 'De Lesseps' 7. Plotting Nasser’s Downfall 8. A Matter of Timetables 9. Musketeer 10. The First London Conference 11. Keightley in Command 12. The Birth of the SCUA 13. Musketeer Revise 14. The Israeli Factor 15. Taking it to the UN 16. Two Frenchmen at Chequers 17. Sèvres, Conference of Collusion 18. A Parachute Drop at the Mitla 19. Ultimatum 20. The Die is Cast 21. World Opinion Speaks 22. France’s War 23. Slow March to Suez 24. The Empire Strikes Back. Phase I: 5 November 1956 25. The Empire Strikes Back. Phase II: 6 November 1956 26. Picking up the Pieces 27. Forced to Quit 28. Last Stands and New Doctrines 29. The End of the Suez Conflict 30. Suez 1991-2001 31. Epilogue Appendices Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn the early 1960s, the city of Durban consolidated racially circumscribed group areas with brutal intensity. In the tiny enclave of Wentworth, designated a Coloured area, newly relocated residents made their homes and sought work in the numerous heavy industries that proliferated on its edges. As people built places of worship and newborn friendships reached across fences and staircases, soccer became the game of choice. Rudimentary pitches were marked out, cool drinks staked and the game unfolded with a mixture of delicate touches and bruising tackles. By the early 1970s, Wentworth’s ability to spawn soccer talent, headlined by the glamorous Leeds United, grew into the stuff of legend. Ashwin Desai digs deep into this history, bringing to life those who inspired and played the game when Wentworth was nothing more than a jumble of shacks and whitewashed blocks of flats, watched over by plumes of smoke from local factories that blackened the sky and slowly poisoned the body. The book’s power comes from its ability to keep its focus on soccer while situating the game in the broader social relations, as geography and history, spatial and temporal meld into a beguiling narrative. Page after page reveals writing of haunting power and sensitivity as memories are cajoled from ageing soccer legends and the interior lives of families are illuminated. It is an evocative exemplar of how community history should be brought to life.

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Book SynopsisThis unique book is the first ever written in isiZulu by a Zulu author. Magema Fuze wrote it in the early 1900s, and published it privately in 1922 under the title Abantu Abamnyama, Lapa Bavela Ngakona.In this fascinating work, the author gives his views on racial origins and differences, and describes the settlement of the black people throughout Natal. He records the traditional customs of the Zulu people, and gives an overview of Zulu history during the turbulent period of the nineteenth century, from the perspective of the black people who lived through it. Integrated with this is Bishop Colenso's account of Natal history, which Fuze reproduces and comments on. Of added interest is Hlonipha Mokoena's foreword that offers insightful commentary on the contextual realities and challenges of the time.

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Book SynopsisThis edited volume aims to problematise and rethink the contemporary European migrant crisis in the Central Mediterranean through the lens of the Black Mediterranean. Bringing together scholars working in geography, political theory, sociology, and cultural studies, this volume takes the Black Mediterranean as a starting point for asking and answering a set of crucial questions about the racialized production of borders, bodies, and citizenship in contemporary Europe: what is the role of borders in controlling migrant flows from North Africa and the Middle East?; what is the place for black bodies in the Central Mediterranean context?; what is the relevance of the citizenship in reconsidering black subjectivities in Europe? The volume will be divided into three parts. After the introduction, which will provide an overview of the theoretical framework and the individual contributions, Part I focuses on the problem of borders, Part II features essays focused on the body, and Part III is dedicated to citizenship.Table of Contents1. Preface. Cristina Lombardi-Diop 2. Introduction. Ida Danewid, Gabriele Proglio, Angelica Pesarini, Camilla Hawthorne, Timothy Raeymaekers, P. Khalil Saucier Giulia Grechi, and Vivian Gerrand Part I: Borders 3. When the Mediterranean Became Black. Diasporic Hopes of (Post)Colonial Accounts. Angelica Pesarini 4. Fanon in the Black Mediterranean. Gabriele Proglio 5. Colonial Cultural Heritage and Embodied Representations Giulia GrechiPart II: Bodies 6. Carne Nera. P. Khalil Saucier 7. Impermanent territories: The Mediterranean crisis and the (Re-)production of the Black subject. Timothy Raeymaekers 8. “These Walls Must Fall”: The Black Mediterranean andthe Politics of Abolition. Ida DanewidPart III: Citizenship 9. L’Italia Meticcia? The Black Mediterranean and the Racial Cartographies of Citizenship. Camilla Hawthorne 10. Reimagining citizenship in the Black Mediterranean: From Jus Sanguinis to Jus Soli in contemporary Italy? Vivian Gerrand 11. The Habesha Italians: The Black Mediterranean and the second-generation condition. Giuseppe Grimaldi

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Book SynopsisRaises questions about what is distinctive about veiling in Africa and what religious histories or practices are reflected in particular uses of the veilTrade Review[T]he value of this volume is in its detailed coverage of veiling manifestations in Africa, which indeed fills a descriptive gap. It also explores diverse meanings of veiling, which are added to our understanding of the phenomenon. May 2016 * Africa *This is an exciting and strong collection of original research on women's—and men's—veiling practices in a range of African Muslim settings and the social and religious discourses that accompany changes in dress over time. Taken as a whole, it offers a fascinating overview of African Muslim interpretations of theological debates about 'the veil' and gender relations in Muslim societies while illustrating some of the particular accommodations adopted by African women. * International Journal of African Historical Studies *Overall, Veiling in Africa represents a valuable perspective on a less investigated topic that could be very interesting and novel for Western audiences. And, finally, it should be mentioned that in addition to the general readers, this volume could be of interest to anthropologists, psychologists, and sociologists as well as students of these fields who are interested in both African studies and Islamic cultural practices. * African Studies Quarterly *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Veiling/Counter-Veiling in sub-Saharan Africa Elisha Renne Part I. Veiling Histories & Modernities1. Veiling, Fashion and Social Mobility: A Century of Change in Zanzibar Laura Fair 2. Veiling Without Veils: Modesty and Reserve in Tuareg Cultural Encounters Susan Rasmussen 3. Interwined Veiling Histories in Nigeria Elisha Renne Part II. Veiling & Fashion4. Religious Modesty, Fashionable Glamour, and Cultural Text: Veiling in SenegalLeslie Rabine 5. Modest Bodies, Stylish Selves: Fashioning Virtue in Niger Adeline Masquelier 6. "Should a Good Muslim Cover Her Face?" Pilgrimage, Veiling, and Fundamentalisms in Cameroon José C. M. van Santen Part III. Veiling/Counter-Veiling7. Invoking Hijab: The Power Politics of Spaces and Employment in NigeriaHauwa Mahdi 8. "We Grew Up Free but Here We Have to Cover Our Faces": Veiling among Oromo Refugees in Eastleigh, Kenya Peri M. Klemm 9. Vulnerability Unveiled: Lubna's Pants and Humanitarian Visibility on the Verge of Sudan's Secession Amal Hassan Fadlalla List of Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisUsing South African cinema as a lens through which to view cultural changes resulting from the end of apartheid in 1994, this title examines how media transformed the meaning of race and nation during this period and argues that, as apartheid was disbanded and new racial constructs allowed, South Africa quickly sought a new mode of representation.Trade Review"... an important and pathbreaking contribution to film studies and to the literature on South African cinema.... No monograph or piece of individual scholarship of this kind exists on cinema in postapartheid South Africa." —Sean Jacobs, University of MichiganTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. The Burdens of Representation2. State and Market Enter the Race3. The Moment of Truth: Screening the Truth and Reconciliation Commission4. Community and Pandemic: Cinematic Interventions in STEPS for the Future5. Quo Vadis? Counter-Cinema in South Africa Today6. The Dialectic of Reconciliation in De Voortrekkers and Come See the BioscopeNotesFilmographyIndex

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisMarcus Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association in 1914. He was one of the first black leaders to encourage black people to discover their cultural traditions and history, and to seek common cause in the struggle for true liberty and political recognition. This book discusses his philosophy and opinions.Table of ContentsAn Introduction to the Second Edition, Part 1, Chapters1-V; Part 2, Chapters 1-III

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Book SynopsisThe gruesome history of the Congo–Océan Railway, a forgotten chapter in the story of colonial AfricaTrade ReviewIf such a shockingly large number of people had been worked to death building a railroad in Europe or the United States, it would be as notorious as the worst deeds of Hitler or Stalin. J. P. Daughton puts this little-known tragedy on the record in a searing, unforgettable and necessary way’ -- Adam Hochschild, author of King Leopold’s GhostMasterful ... What makes it so compelling is the divide it exposes between the intentions of colonial bureaucrats, some of whom genuinely seemed to think they were lifting Africans out of poverty, and the grim reality that they enabled. The application of “modern” government to conquered people could be almost as savage as plunder, Mr Daughton shows -- The EconomistMeticulously researched, vividly narrated and devastatingly compelling, The Violence of Empire provides a significant contribution to the mounting evidence that lays bare the self-deceiving lie at the heart of empire, that of the “civilising mission”. J. P. Daughton details the horrific abuse carried out by the colonial regime upon the African population during the construction of the Congo-Océan railroad, from forced labour to torture and murder, and finds evidence not just of African suffering but also African resistance’ -- Aminatta Forna, author of The Devil that Danced on the WaterDaughton tells this awful tale with great authority … As he so convincingly demonstrates, [the Congo-Océan’s] construction was a story of dreadful suffering that dragged on for many years and costs tens of thousands of African lives -- Barnaby Phillips, TLSIn this tour de force of historical research, J. P. Daughton tells the horrifying story of the Congo-Océan railroad, a massive, ill-conceived construction project whose French overseers doomed some 20,000 African workers to die. This story, revealing as it does France’s imperial hubris and callous disregard of human suffering, should have been told a long time ago. But it has been buried by bureaucrats, overlooked by historians and made invisible to those who chose not to see. We owe Daughton a great debt for bringing it to light and for masterfully adding a new chapter to the tragic history of Central Africa under European colonial rule -- Edward Berenson, author of The AccusationSailing with J. P. Daughton into the French empire’s heart of darkness is a visceral, haunting and memorable experience. The Violence of Empire will stand alongside Adam Hochschild’s King Leopold’s Ghost as a chilling testament to the crimes of European “civilisation” -- Marcus Rediker, author of The Slave Ship

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Book SynopsisIn this groundbreaking study, Jacob A. Tropp explores the interconnections between negotiations over the environment and an emerging colonial relationship in a particular South African context—the Transkei—subsequently the largest of the notorious “homelands” under apartheid.InTrade Review“Jacob A. Tropp has written an impressive history of the state’s capture of forest resources in the Transkei, between 1880 and 1930.... His book’s central question is how a reading of the social interactions surrounding environmental access can reshape historical understanding.” * American Historical Review *“Tropp’s detailed case study of the KwaMatiwane area of the Transkei...is a major contribution to the historiography of the region.” * H-SAfrica *“This environmental history is a multi-layered social history that is deeply concerned with issues of politics, culture, and gender.”“A fascinating study of African responses to the colonial restrictions on access to designated government forests.”“Elegantly argued and lucidly written, this book illustrates the uneven process of dispossession that Africans suffered at the hands of a divided colonial administration.”

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Book SynopsisIn this groundbreaking study, Jacob A. Tropp explores the interconnections between negotiations over the environment and an emerging colonial relationship in a particular South African context—the Transkei—subsequently the largest of the notorious “homelands” under apartheid.InTrade Review“Jacob A. Tropp has written an impressive history of the state’s capture of forest resources in the Transkei, between 1880 and 1930.... His book’s central question is how a reading of the social interactions surrounding environmental access can reshape historical understanding.” * American Historical Review *“Tropp’s detailed case study of the KwaMatiwane area of the Transkei...is a major contribution to the historiography of the region.” * H-SAfrica *“This environmental history is a multi-layered social history that is deeply concerned with issues of politics, culture, and gender.”“A fascinating study of African responses to the colonial restrictions on access to designated government forests.”“Elegantly argued and lucidly written, this book illustrates the uneven process of dispossession that Africans suffered at the hands of a divided colonial administration.”

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Book SynopsisFollowing times of great conflict and tragedy, many countries implement programs and policies of transitional justice, none more extensive than in post-genocide Rwanda. Placing Rwanda''s transitional justice initiatives in their historical and political context, this book examines the project undertaken by the post-genocide government to shape the collective memory of the Rwandan population, both through political and judicial reforms but also in public commemorations and memorials. Drawing on over two decades of field research in Rwanda, Longman uses surveys and comparative local case studies to explore Rwanda''s response both at a governmental and local level. He argues that despite good intentions and important innovations, Rwanda''s authoritarian political context has hindered the ability of transnational justice to bring the radical social and political transformations that its advocates hoped. Moreover, it continues to heighten the political and economic inequalities that underliTrade Review'Timothy Longman is one of the few contemporary scholars to have conducted research in Rwanda before and after the genocide in 1994. In this accessible and much-needed book, Longman documents how post-genocide ruling elites have instrumentalized memory and justice in the aftermath of genocide, distorting events, silencing alternative accounts, and crafting a historical narrative that serves the interests of those in power. Longman complements his national-level analysis with powerful and nuanced community-based and individual accounts of life since the genocide. The book is a sobering, well-informed account that raises profound questions about the post-genocide model in Rwanda. Anyone interested in understanding contemporary Rwanda and politics after genocide more generally would do well to read this book.' Scott Straus, University of Wisconsin, Madison'Memory and Justice in Post-Genocide Rwanda is a compelling and provocative critique of the Rwandan Patriotic Front's claim that it has used trials, re-education camps, curricular reform, and public memorials and commemorations solely to reunify a deeply divided nation. If you want to understand the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide without putting on rose-tinted glasses - and even if you don't - you should read this book.' Eric Stover, University of California, Berkeley'A critically rich and interwoven text, reflecting the complexity of lived experiences in the wake of conflict and violence.' Andra le Roux-Kemp , Africa TodayTable of Contents1. Introduction: the meaning of Murambi; Part I. Creating What You Are Afraid Of: The Rwandan Patriotic Front's Transitional Justice Program: 2. Rewriting history in post-genocide Rwanda; 3. Symbolic struggles; 4. Justice as memory; 5. From violent repression to political domination: transitional justice, political reform and development; Part II. Popular Narratives: 6. Political reform in three Rwandan communities; 7. Popular narratives of memory and history; 8. Politics by other means: popular opinion about 'transitional justice'; 9. Conclusion: 'we pretend to live together': assessing the impact of transitional justice mechanisms in Rwanda.

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Book SynopsisWith its emphasis on the dynasty''s concern for control of the sea both the Mediterranean and the Red Sea and the Nile, this book offers a new and original perspective on Ptolemaic power in a key period of Hellenistic history. Within the developing Aegean empire of the Ptolemies, the role of the navy is examined together with that of its admirals. Egypt''s close relationship to Rhodes is subjected to scrutiny, as is the constant threat of piracy to the transport of goods on the Nile and by sea. Along with the trade in grain came the exchange of other products. Ptolemaic kings used their wealth for luxury ships and the dissemination of royal portraiture was accompanied by royal cult. Alexandria, the new capital of Egypt, attracted poets, scholars and even philosophers; geographical exploration by sea was a feature of the period and observations of the time enjoyed a long afterlife.Table of ContentsPreface; In memoriam F. W. Walbank Christian Habicht; 1. Introduction Kostas Buraselis and Dorothy J. Thompson; 2. The Ptolemaic League of Islanders Andrew Meadows; 3. Callicrates of Samos and Patroclus of Macedon: champions of Ptolemaic thalassocracy Hans Hauben; 4. Rhodes and the Ptolemaic kingdom: the commercial infrastructure Vincent Gabrielsen; 5. Polybius and Ptolemaic sea power Andrew Erskine; 6. Ptolemaic grain, seaways and power Kostas Buraselis; 7. Waterborne recruits: the military settlers of Ptolemaic Egypt Mary Stefanou; 8. Our academic visitor is missing: Posidippus 89 (A-B) and 'smart capital' for the thalassocrats Paul McKechnie; 9. Aspects of the diffusion of Ptolemaic portraiture overseas Olga Palagia; 10. Ptolemies and piracy Lucia Criscuolo; 11. The Nile police in the Ptolemaic period Thomas Kruse; 12. Hellenistic royal barges Dorothy J. Thompson; 13. Eudoxus of Cyzicus and Ptolemaic exploration of the sea route to India Christian Habicht; 14. Timosthenes and Eratosthenes: sea routes and Hellenistic geography Francesco Prontera; 15. Claudius Ptolemy on Egypt and East Africa Klaus Geus.

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Book SynopsisThe birthplace of modern humans, Africa, has the highest genetic diversity in the world, yet it remains vastly understudied. With biomedical research increasingly focused on human variation, studying the large population size and number of mutations in African genomes could unravel the complexity of phenotypic traits underlying the biology of our species and hold huge potential for scientific and medical advances. An initial chapter ''conceptualizes Africa'', providing relevant terminology. The first section covers genetic history and population structure. The next section looks at the genetic basis of common infectious diseases, such as leishmaniasis, malaria and tuberculosis, with a final part considering common non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, heart disease and cancer. Gene environment interaction under globalization and the burden of diseases of lifestyle are included. For researchers and graduate students in biological anthropology, genetic anthrTrade Review'The Genetics of African Populations in Health and Disease makes great strides to remedy this knowledge gap … this excellent volume is likely to be of interest to a broad range of geneticists and medical professionals.' Joseph Lachance, The Quarterly Review of Biology'The scope of the contributions varies widely, from studies of single diseases (e.g., breast cancer, visceral leishmaniasis) to broad surveys (e.g., orphan diseases of North Africa, evolution of disease resistance). The first and final essays review the state and development of genetics research and medicine in Africa. Common themes include public health infrastructure, transition from agrarian to urban lifestyles, pharmacogenomics, genetic diversity, and the dearth of research on African populations.' R. M. Denome, ChoiceTable of Contents1. Reflections on conceptualizing Africa for biological studies with a historical component: a small essay Shomarka Omar Y. Keita; 2. History and genetics in Africa: multidisciplinary efforts Shomarka Omar Y. Keita and Muntaser E. Ibrahim; 3. Disease, selection, and evolution in the African landscape Muntaser Ibrahim and Endashaw Bekele; 4. Genetic susceptibility to visceral leishmaniasis Hiba S. Mohamed, Muntaser E. Ibrahim and Jenefer M. Blackwell; 5. Genetics of infection in Sub-Saharan Africa: what can the study of Mendelian immunodeficiency disorders contribute? Melanie Newport; 6. Pharmacogenomics and infectious diseases in Africa: an evolutionary perspective Jennifer L. Baker, Daniel Shriner, Amy R. Bentley and Charles N. Rotimi; 7. A glimpse into pharmacogenomics in Africa Collet Dandara and Alice Matimba; 8. Genomics of cardiometabolic disorders in Sub-Saharan Africa Sally N. Adebamowo, Fasil Tekola-Ayele, Adebowale A. Adeyemo and Charles N. Rotimi; 9. Breast cancer in African populations Konduru S. Sastry and Lotfi Chouchane; 10. Socio-biological transition and cancer: prospects for Africa Sulma Mahmoud, Khalid O. Alfarouk, Ahmed M. Elhassan, Kamal Hamad and Muntaser E. Ibrahim; 11. The genetic epidemiology of orphan diseases in North Africa Lilia Romdhane, Olfa Messaoud, Rym Kefi, Afaf Tiar, Ahlem Amouri, Mourad Mokni, Neji Tebib, Mohamed Zghal, Abdelhamid Barakat, Ahmed Houmeida, Mariem Bozguiya, Mohamed Othman, Ghada El Qameh and Sonia Abdelhak; 12. Birth defects and genetic disease in Sub-Saharan Africa Ambroise Wonkam; 13. Neurogenetic disorders in Africa: hereditary spastic paraplegia: a case study Liena E. O. Elsayed, Ammar E. M. Ahmed and Giovanni Stevanin.

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Book SynopsisDecolonizing Christianity traces the dramatic transformation of Christianity from its position as the moral foundation of European imperialism to its role as a radical voice of political and social change in the era of decolonization. As Christians renegotiated their place in the emerging Third World, they confronted the consequences of racism and violence that Christianity had reinforced in European colonies. This book tells the story of Christians in Algeria who undertook a mission to ''decolonize the Church'' and ensure the future of Christianity in postcolonial Algeria. But it also recovers the personal aspects of decolonization, as many of these Christians were arrested and tortured by the French for their support of Algerian independence. The consequences of these actions were immense, as the theological and social engagement of Christians in Algeria then influenced the groundbreaking reforms developing within global Christianity in the 1960s.Trade Review'Fontaine's monograph is clearly intended for historians of French colonialism, but should be read by anyone concerned with the development of global Christianity in the second half of the twentieth century, ecumenicalism, Christian-Muslim relations, the ethical and moral dilemmas facing Christians during politically divisive times, and the ways in which Christianity has been and can be appropriated for different purposes.' Bradley Rainbow Hale, Fides et Historia'Decolonizing Christianity is a most welcome addition to histories of empire, religion, and politics. It is a must-read for historians of France and Algeria, scholars of the new imperial history, and social and intellectual historians interested in contextualizing Christianity.' Minayo Nasiali, French History'Decolonizing Christianity is a detailed and well-researched book, which clearly succeeds in demonstrating the importance of Christianity to debates about Algerian independence on a whole host of levels. Its range is, quite simply, impressive: it moves seamlessly between Algeria, France, Vatican II and the World Council of Churches, covering Catholics and Protestants, metropole and periphery, procolonial and anti-colonial Christians. Its scholarship is equally strong: the large quantity of archival evidence is supported by twenty oral interviews, and extensive reading of the relevant anglophone and francophone historiography.' Sam Brewitt-Taylor, The Journal of Ecclesiastical History'Darcie Fontaine's Decolonizing Christianity examines the history of Christianity in colonial Algeria, and the ramifications of decolonization on a local and global scale. It alternates between close historical details, as it narrates the lives of individual Christians living in Algeria, and broad theoretical discussion, as it shows how decolonization drove reforms of 'global Christianity' in the twentieth century. Balancing a challenging combination of minute detail and broad debate, this work paints a compelling and well-articulated portrait of decolonization and Christianity that will be of interest to a wide range of readers.' Erin Twohig, Contemporary French Civilization'Decolonizing Christianity demonstrates the deep ties between religion and politics in France and its North African colony, as well as the reciprocal nature of theological debates across the Mediterranean. But if the book adds to a growing literature on religion and decolonisation, it makes an equally important intervention into the history of Algerian independence. Fontaine is careful not to recreate a totalising narrative of Christians' engagement in the war; in so doing, she offers a more complex and pluralistic history of Christian activism, the broader settler community, and the young Algerian state's attitude toward its religious minorities.' Terrence G. Peterson, The Journal of North African Studies'In tracing the relationship between religion and politics across a broad timeframe while simultaneously connecting developments in Algeria to those within metropolitan France and global Christianity, Fontaine draws together geographical and chronological frames of analysis usually kept separate. This allows her to fulfil her stated objective of 'provincializing Christianity' without decontextualising it. However, the most compelling sections of the book are the ones that tell the story on the ground in Algeria. This reflects the archive-based fieldwork and oral histories Fontaine undertook in Algeria, which add much to her original and engaging study.' Clare Eldridge, Modern & Contemporary France'The book's merits are its details and its descriptions of a wide array of Christian organizations. The author's archival research is especially commendable.' Phillip. C. Naylor, The American Historical Review'Decolonizing Christianity offers a compelling look at the decades surrounding Algeria's independence that makes excellent use of private Algerian archives and contributes to a growing body of literature on Christianity's encounter with the end of empire, at an institutional and individual level.' Naomi Davidson, The Journal of Modern HistoryTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Christianity and French Algeria; 2. Christianity on trial: the battle to define Christian morality; 3. The metropolitans respond: the conflicts of politics and conscience; 4. The religious politics of independence; 5. Inventing postcolonial Christianity; Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisIn October 1967, early in the Nigerian Civil War, government troops entered Asaba in pursuit of the retreating Biafran army, slaughtering thousands of civilians and leaving the town in ruins. News of the atrocity was suppressed by the Nigerian government, with the complicity of Britain, and its significance in the subsequent progress of that conflict was misunderstood. Drawing on archival sources on both sides of the Atlantic and interviews with survivors of the killing, pillaging and rape, as well as with high-ranking Nigerian military and political leaders, S. Elizabeth Bird and Fraser M. Ottanelli offer an interdisciplinary reconstruction of the history of the Asaba Massacre, redefining it as a pivotal point in the history of the war. Through this, they also explore the long afterlife of trauma, the reconstruction of memory and how it intersects with justice, and the task of reconciliation in a nation where a legacy of ethnic suspicion continues to reverberate.Trade Review'This book is a significant contribution to a neglected aspect of the war's history … I strongly recommend it for scholars and institutions that are interested in human rights and the history of the Nigeria–Biafra War.' Arua Oko Omaka, War in HistoryTable of ContentsList of illustrations; List of maps; Acknowledgements; Prologue; 1. The road to war and massacre; 2. What happened at Asaba; 3. Causes and consequences; 4. Surviving the occupation; 5. Reclaiming memory in an age of new media; 6. Trauma, identity, memorialization, and justice; Sources consulted.

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Book SynopsisIn Ritual Sites and Religious Rivalries in Late Roman North Africa, Lander examines the rhetorical and physical battles for sacred space between practitioners of traditional Roman religion, Christians, and Jews of late Roman North Africa. By analyzing literary along with archaeological evidence, Lander provides a new understanding of ancient notions of ritual space. This regard for ritual sites above other locations rendered the act or mere suggestion of seizing and destroying them powerful weapons in inter-group religious conflicts. Lander demonstrates that the quantity and harshness of discursive and physical attacks on ritual spaces directly correlates to their symbolic value. This heightened valuation reached such a level that rivals were willing to violate conventional Roman norms of property rights to display spatial control. Moreover, Roman Imperial policy eventually appropriated spatial triumphalism as a strategy for negotiating religious conflicts, giving rise to a new form of spatial colonialism that was explicitly religious.Table of ContentsIntroduction. Scaffolding; 1. Foundational assumptions; 2. Christian perceptions of communal places; 3. Internecine Christian contestation; 4. Christian supersession of traditional Roman temples; 5. Christian supersession of synagogues; Conclusion. Ritual spatial control, authority, and identification.

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Book SynopsisHasan al-Turabi (19322016) was seen as one of the most influential figures in modern Sudanese history and politics. This book, based on extensive research and a thorough analysis of al-Turabi''s own writings, provides a comprehensive study of the upbringing, ideas and political career of the Islamist intellectual and political leader. Balancing hostile and favourable accounts of al-Turabi, it challenges assumptions of the ''Marxist'' or ''Fascist'' dynamics underpinning Islamism, arguing that its colonial and post-colonial origins define the nature of Islamism''s message. By encouraging readers to move away from generic models and limited readings of Islamism, Willow Berridge opens new and vital research for the understanding of Islamic politics across the Middle East and Africa. It makes for an ideal read for both undergraduate and postgraduate students focusing on the modern Sudanese state, and those challenging core debates on democracy, the Islamic State and Jihad.Table of ContentsIntroduction: conflicting representations of al-Turabi; 1. Early life and education, 1932–1964; 2. Charisma and its limitations, 1964–1989; 3. Salvation Regime, 1989–1999: 'one-man show'?; 4. Between liberalism and totalitarianism: al-Turabi's Western influences; 5. Reformer or radical? Islamic and Islamist influences; 6. Between global and defensive jihad; 7. The Islamic state: sharia, nationalism and non-Muslim rights; 8. Al-Turabi's Islamist democracy: a valid blueprint?; 9. Champion of the marginalised? The decentralisation strategy; 10. Legacy: Turabism, post-Islamism and neo-fundamentalism.

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