African history Books

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisWriting inspired by four visits to Zimbabwe, her childhood home, from the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature 2007, Doris Lessing.Trade Review‘An eloquent statement, one of the strengths of this account of a nation’s tragedy is that Doris Lessing evokes not sadness but laughter. She describes this as “the marvellous African laughter born somewhere in the gut, seizing the whole body with good-humoured philosophy. It is the laughter of poor people”.’ TLS ‘Innumerable conversations - of Africans, among them poets and teachers and cooks; of whites, some of whom have “taken the Gap” to South Africa then returned, disillusioned - contribute to Doris Lessing’s picture of the new Zimbabwe. Enthralling, significant and provocative.’ Independent ‘“African Laughter” conveys a country and its people more completely than any other book I have read. It is filled with stories, anecdotes, newspaper cuttings , poems, obituaries, songs, even Doris Lessing’s synosis for a film - the cumulative effect is extraordinary. As well as a remarkable immediacy, the narrative has an irrepressible physical vigour which reflects perfectly the vitality of the Zimbabwean people.’ Daily Telegraph

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Book SynopsisAn extraordinary, passionate and personal journey into Africa’s past. ‘The most enthralling account out of Africa for years.’ Daily Mail.

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Book SynopsisA comparative history of race relations in the U.S. and South Africa seeks to explain the different paths each nation followedTrade ReviewThe history of race relations on two continents is enormously enriched by this comparative study. * C. Vann Woodward, Yale University *A stunning work, Fredrickson's book is the most important study * by farof race relations written in our time.Herbert Gutman *One of the most brilliant and successful studies in comparative history ever written...sheds new light on the entire sweep of American and South African history. * David Brion Davis, The New York Times Book Review *Thorough and interesting. Valuable background for my students. * Darcy James, Lewis Clark State College *Sophisticated, well-focused, and accessible. . . . provides exactly the context I need for a course in Apartheid. * Judiana Lawrence, St. John Fisher College *

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Book SynopsisOn November 10, 1995, the Nigerian military government under General Sani Abacha executed dissident writer Ken Saro-Wiwa along with eight other activists, and the international community reacted with outrage. The response was quick, decisive, and nearly unanimous: Nigeria is an outcast in the global village. The events that led up to Saro-Wiwa''s execution mark Nigeria''s decline from a post-colonial success story to its current military dictatorship, and few writers have been more outspoken in decrying and lamenting this decline than Nobel Prize laureate and Nigerian exile Wole Soyinka.In The Open Sore of a Continent, Soyinka, whose own Nigerian passport was confiscated 1994, explores the history and future of Nigeria in a compelling jeremiad that is as intense as it is provocative, learned, and wide-ranging. He deftly explains the shifting dramatis personae of Nigerian history and politics , arguing that `a glance at the mildewed tapestry of the stubbornly unfinished nation edifice''Trade Reviewa great work by a great writer on the grave travails of a potentially great nation * Moffat Ekoriko, The Observer *a bold and stimulating book ... required reading for anyone who wishes to examine critically the present turmoil in Africa. * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisWhen Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka''s The Open Sore of a Continent appeared in 1996, it received rave reviews in the national media. Now comes Soyinka''s powerful sequel to that fearless and passionate book, The Burden of Memory. Where Open Sore offered a critique of African nationhood and a searing indictment of the Nigerian military and its repression of human and civil rights, The Burden of Memory considers all of Africa--indeed, all the world--as it poses the next logical question: Once repression stops, is reconciliation between oppressor and victim possible? In the face of centuries long devastations wrought on the African continent and her Diaspora by slavery, colonialism, Apartheid and the manifold faces of racism what form of recompense could possibly be adequate? In a voice as eloquent and humane as it is forceful, Soyinka examines this fundamental question as he illuminates the principle duty and near intolerable burden of memory to bear the record of injustice. In so doing, hTrade Review"Inspiring and original....Soyinka's analysis of the 20th century problem of memory and forgiveness in the African world is both timely and important. Soyinka's analysis of the problem is an initial volley in what will surely become a 21st century debate." --The New York Times Book Review "Robust with extensive allusions to politics, religion, history, and, of course, literature....Soyinka's quest in this book is for true restitution for all the moral and material wrongs done to Africa, whether through slavery or colonialism, whether by the West or the East."--San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle "Powerful."--Kirkus "Robust with extensive allusions to politics, religion, history, and, of course, literature....Soyinka's quest in this book is for true restitution for all the moral and material wrongs done to Africa, whether through slavery or colonialism, whether by the West or the East."--San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle "Daunting and worthwhile....Soyinka's view through the microscope at the end of the Petri dish that is Africa is, in itself, important....It is a book that forces you to read each sentence, drink it, absorb it and move to the next."--ForeWord "Wole Soyinka's distinction as a writer and his courage as a spokesperson for democracy in Africa are unparalleled. With a vast cultural perspective enriched with poetic resonance, Soyinka stages here a dramatic representation of existence."--Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Harvard University "Powerful."--Kirkus "The Burden of Memory, the Muse of Forgiveness offers a moving and eloquent look at a handful of African nations once torn by repression."--America "Soyinka's arguments, delivered with furious eloquence, are wide in scope and should be taken seriously."--San Diego Union-Tribune "Soyinka is at all times provocative, engaging and enthusiastic in his journey to discovery. Soyinka challenges the readers with ideas, questions and continued searching as he explores the future of Africa with a close eye on its past. The Burden of Memory, the Muse of Forgiveness serves up important reminders in rebuilding nations and the spirits of its citizens." --Jason Zappe, Syndicated "Inspiring and original....Soyinka's analysis of the 20th century problem of memory and forgiveness in the African world is both timely and important. Soyinka's analysis of the problem is an initial volley in what will surely become a 21st-century debate." --Caryl Phillips, New York Times Book Review

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Book SynopsisAlgeria sits at the crossroads of the Atlantic, European, Arab and African worlds. Yet, unlike the colonial wars in Korea and Vietnam, the Algerian war for independence has rarely been viewed as a primarily international conflict. Rather, prevailing accounts of the war interpret it as a domestic French crisis that was resolved when Charles de Gaulle granted Algeria independence. Yet, as Matthew Connelly here demonstrates, from the very start of the bloody eight year struggle, the Front de Liberation Nationale pursued self-rule on the world stage. Exploiting Cold War competition and regional rivalries, the spread of mass communications, and international and non-governmental organisations, such as human rights groups, foreign press conferences, and the United Nations, the rebels harnessed international forces to bring pressure to bear on the French government, which became obsessed with the conflict''s impact on its reputation. By winning rights and recognition from the global communityTrade Review... indispensable for any detailed study of the Algerian war. * The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History *This book must rate as one of the most important works not only on Algeria but also on decolonisation that has appeared in recent years. It is fully and meticulously researched, the chapter sequence admirably structured, and the writing, despite the complexities of the argument, clear and effective. * The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History *The book is well-written, thought provoking, thoroughly documented (67 pages of notes, 25 of bibliography), and altogether a welcome contribution to the literature on the Algerian war. Coming at a moment of re-examination of the war in France, with the recent confirmations of the practice of torture put forward by General Aussaresses and other participants in this great human drama, it is timely as well. * The Journal of North African Studies *... a well-researched and provocatively fresh account of one of the great episodes of twentieth-century decolonisation. * The Journal of North African Studies *Connelly offers a novel interpretation of the struggle between France and the Algerian nationalists, seeing it as a harbinger of the post-Cold War international system. * The Journal of North African Studies *[Connelly's] multiarchival research is impressive, especially his pioneering work in the recently available Algerian records. Above all, he has taken an innovative analytical approach, and engaging alternative to traditional diplomatic historiography. * The International History Review *

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Book SynopsisAlgeria sits at the crossroads of the Atlantic, European, Arab, and African worlds. Yet, unlike the wars in Korea and Vietnam, Algeria''s fight for independence has rarely been viewed as an international conflict. Even forty years later, it is remembered as the scene of a national drama that culminated with Charles de Gaulle''s decision to grant Algerians their independence despite assassination attempts, mutinies, and settler insurrection. Yet, as Matthew Connelly demonstrates, the war the Algerians fought occupied a world stage, one in which the U.S. and the USSR, Israel and Egypt, Great Britain, Germany, and China all played key roles. Recognizing the futility of confronting France in a purely military struggle, the Front de Libération Nationale instead sought to exploit the Cold War competition and regional rivalries, the spread of mass communications and emigrant communities, and the proliferation of international and non-governmental organizations. By harnessing the forces of nasTrade Review"In concentrating on the international dimension, Connelly weaves into his story the changing roles of the United States, Gamal Abdel Nasser's Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia; the ebb and flow of FLN relations with the soviet bloc; and much more." --Foreign Affairs"This extensively researched study will provide extremely valuable information to scholars of decolonization, and represents a major contribution to the history of what one of the belligerent parties, France, only officially recognized as a war in October 1999."--Journal of Military History'a fine new volume by Matthew Connelly...Matthew Connelly's main offering is important and new: the international dimensions of the insurgency were not tertiary or secondary, as often depicted but primary... with almost 300 pages of text and then extensive supportive notes and bibliography, this substantial book offers much to ponder...The many pleasures of this book include pen portraits of the various cities in which Bourqueney served; the descriptions of the splendour and squalor of Contstantinople and Vienna are particularly striking...It is written with zest and pace,and is packed full of insights about diplomacy across the continent as the European 'concert', and Bourqueney's career, developed and ultimately failed. * Geoffrey Hicks, University of East Anglia, Norwich,Diplomacy and Statecraft *Table of ContentsPART THREE: WAGING THE ALGERIAN WAR AS A WORLD WAR, 1956-1958; PART FOUR: WAGING THE ALGERIAN WAR AS A WORLD WAR, 1958-1960; PART FIVE: THE DOMESTICATION OF THE ALGERIAN QUESTION, 1960-1962; CONCLUSION: THE SENSE OF HISTORY

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Book SynopsisWith Christian revivals (including Evangelicals in the White House), Islamic radicalism and the revitalisation of traditional religions it is clear that the world is not heading towards a community of secular states. Nowhere are religious thought and political practice more closely intertwined than in Africa. African migrants in Europe and America who send home money to build churches and mosques, African politicians who consult diviners, guerrilla fighters who believe that amulets can protect them from bullets, and ordinary people who seek ritual healing: all of these are applying religious ideas to everyday problems of existence, at every level of society. Far from falling off the map of the world, Africa is today a leading centre of Christianity and a growing field of Islamic activism, while African traditional religions are gaining converts in the West. One cannot understand the politics of the present without taking religious thought seriously. Stories about witches, miracles, oTrade ReviewThis remarkable book urges us to recast our approach to understanding modern African history by recognizing the religious basis of African political practice. * American Historical Review *Ellis and Ter Haar's approach is not wholly original, of course. They frequently invoke the spirit of Max Weber and engage an unusually wide range of African, European, and Asian, Anglophone and Francophone scholars, but none have embraced the overall field of religious thought and political practice in the modern world so persuasively or so elegantly. This book is a critical corrective to much of the recent literature on colonialism and globalization that interprets modern African history largely in terms of alien influences and ideas and forces us to take spiritual forces and ideas as seriously as material ones. * American Historical Review *This book is a fascinating, insightful and timely contribution to our body of knowledge about the worlds most culturally-diverse, yet least- understood continent. Worlds of Power should be required reading for anyone concerned with Africa today. * Jon Lee Anderson, author of The Lion's Grave: Dispatches From Afghanistan *Worlds of Power shows how religious and supernatural ideas dominate African politics and culture, how they shape the ways that Africans both rich and poor view the world. The materials about clandestine politics, secret societies and conspiracy theories are especially intriguing - though they are handled throughout in a responsible and scholarly way. This wide-ranging and thoroughly researched book is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand modern Africa. * Philip Jenkins, author of The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity *Power in the material world, most Africans continue to believe, cannot be separated from its source in the spiritual. It is the singular genius of authors Stephen Ellis and Gerrie ter Haar that they understand the encompassing nature and centrality of this belief. [...] The clarity and accuracy of this analytical lens makes Worlds of Power one of the most important books on African religion-and, indeed, on African politics-to appear in many years. * Professor R. Scott Appleby, University of Notre Dame *Quite effective and illuminating. * Robert M. Baum, Journal of the American Academy of Religion *

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Book SynopsisThe Oxford Handbook of Modern African History represents an invaluable tool for historians and others in the field of African studies. This collection of essays, produced by some of the finest scholars currently working in the field, provides the latest insights into, and interpretations of, the history of Africa - a continent with a rich and complex past. An understanding of this past is essential to gain perspective on Africa''s current challenges, and this accessible and comprehensive volume will allow readers to explore various aspects - political, economic, social, and cultural - of the continent''s history over the last two hundred years.Since African history first emerged as a serious academic endeavour in the 1950s and 1960s, it has undergone numerous shifts in terms of emphasis and approach, changes brought about by political and economic exigencies and by ideological debates. This multi-faceted Handbook is essential reading for anyone with an interest in those debates, and inTrade Reviewthe Handbook will be of major interest to both teachers of African history and the curious general reader. And since most essays include sections on 'future directions' and subjects ripe for further investigations, prospective researchers, too, have reasons to be grateful for the appearance of this timely addition to the Oxford Handbooks series. * Giacomo Macola, History Today *the volume's essays offer a fascinating panorama of the landscape of African history as it is today: in many ways a vibrant picture of the breadth and subtlety of research. The essays often impress with their grasp of the continent as a whole, and in their coverage of interactions between politics, society, and culture ... an invaluable addition to an outstanding series. * Tim Livsey, Journal of Historical Geography *set to be a great success. * Miles Larmer, English Historical Review *Table of ContentsPART ONE: KEY THEMES IN AFRICAN HISTORY; PART TWO: THE COLONIAL ENCOUNTER; PART THREE: RELIGION AND BELIEF; PART FOUR: SOCIETY AND ECONOMY; PART FIVE: ARTS AND THE MEDIA

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Book SynopsisAs a presidential candidate, John F. Kennedy established a reputation across Africa as a sympathetic supporter of African nationalism, who if elected would realign Washington''s priorities toward the continent. Once in office, Kennedy indeed made changing the image of America in Africa a top priority of his administration, believing that the Cold War could be won or lost depending upon whether Washington or Moscow won the hearts and minds of the Third World. Africa was particularly important because a wave of independence saw nineteen newly independent African states admitted into the United Nations during 1960-61. By 1962, 31 of the UN''s 110 member states were from the African continent, and both Washington and Moscow sought to add these countries to their respective voting bloc. Kennedy feared that neglect of the newly decolonized countries of the world would result in the rise of anti-Americanism and needed to be addressed irrespective of the Cold War. Philip Muehlenbeck demonstrates how Kennedy used all means at his disposal-economic, cultural, personal-to appeal to the leaders of the developing world, including Nkrumah, Senghor, Touré, Nyerere, and Ben Bella.Drawing on archival sources from Africa, the United States, and the United Kingdom, Muehlenbeck closely examines Kennedy''s policies towards Guinea, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Egypt, Algeria, Tanganyika, and South Africa, which were to a large extent successful in winning the sympathies of its peoples, while at the same time alienating more traditional American allies. Betting on the Africans adds an important chapter to the historiography of John F. Kennedy''s Cold War strategy as well as the history of decolonization.Trade ReviewUnlike other accounts of U.S. /Africa relations, Muehlenbeck's monograph covers the entire continent. Muehlenbeck's portrait of a charismatic American president engaged with the details of African political and economic aspirations is a contribution to the study of U.S./Africa relations as well as the JFK era. * Larry Grubbs, Journal of American History *Muehlenbeck's well-researched work offers a compelling challenge to the conventional wisdom of continuity in American Cold War foreign policy toward Africa. The book's deep examination of the courtship of African leaders by President John F. Kennedy provides a unique perspective on personal diplomacy, specifically, and U.S.-African relations, generally, during one of the more volatile periods of the Cold War. A thought-provoking opening to our ongoing analysis of Kennedy foreign policy. * George White, Jr., American Historical Review *In this fine book, Muehlenbeck...makes a significant contribution to the growing literature on US policy toward Africa...A well-written, crisply argued book that scholars, students in applicable classes, and general readers with a serious interest in US foreign policy and African affairs will love. Highly recommended. * CHOICE *Challenging the conventional wisdom that judges John F. Kennedy's Africa policies to be little different from those of other American presidents, Muehlenbeck argues convincingly that JFK's strategy of personal diplomacy won the friendship of radical nationalists that other American leaders deemed lost to the Soviet camp. Based on extensive archival research, Muehlenbeck's in-depth analysis of the courtship of African leaders offers a unique window into U.S.-African relations during the early Cold War years. * Elizabeth Schmidt, author of Cold War and Decolonization in Guinea, 1946-1958 *Phil Muehlenbeck provides the most comprehensive analysis to date of Kennedy's high-profile outreach to African leaders. He challenges previous interpretations that placed the Cold War at the center of Kennedy's relations with that continent's new nations. Muehlenbeck emphasizes instead the ways in which U.S. policy toward Africa in the early 1960s responded to the imperatives of decolonization and nationalism. Kennedy's personal attention to individual African leaders, in Betting on the Africans, represents a farsighted exception to the more common pattern of American disinterest in the lands between the Mediterranean and the Cape of Good Hope. Important reading for all those interested in America's relationship with the world, in African history, and in the global history turning point of the early 1960s. * Thomas Borstelmann, University of Nebraska-Lincoln *Table of ContentsPART ONE; PART TWO

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Book SynopsisHow much did the British Empire cost, and how did Britain pay for it? Taxing Colonial Africa explores a source of funds much neglected in research on the financial structure of the Empire, namely revenue raised in the colonies themselves. Requiring colonies to be financially self-sufficient was one of a range of strategies the British government used to lower the cost of imperial expansion to its own Treasury. Focusing on British colonies in Africa, Leigh Gardner examines how their efforts to balance their budgets influenced their relationships with local political stakeholders as well as the imperial government. She finds that efforts to balance the budget shaped colonial public policy at every level, and that compromises made in the face of financial constraints shaped the political and economic institutions that were established by colonial administrations and inherited by the former colonies at independence.Using both quantitative data on public revenue and expenditure as well as aTrade ReviewIt is rare to come across a book of such high quality, especially for an author's first monograph. Colonial fiscal policy is not the most glamorous of topics. But Gardner convincingly argues that taxation tells us much about the nature and purpose of Britain's African empire. * Nicholas J. White, The Economic History Review *Table of ContentsPreface ; 1. An Introduction to the Problem of Colonial Taxation ; PART I: BUILDING A SELF-SUFFICIENT EMPIRE IN AFRICA, 1885-1913 ; 2. Building Colonial States in Africa ; 3. Fiscal Foundations of the African Colonial State ; PART II: CRISIS MANAGEMENT IN COLONIAL PUBLIC FINANCE ; 4. From Complement to Conflict: Trade Taxes, 1914-38 ; 5. Collective Action and Direct Taxation, 1918-1938 ; 6. The Failure of Africa's 'New Deal'? ; PART III: FROM SELF-SUFFICIENCY TO NATION-BUILDING ; 7. 'Cash, Competence and Consent': Building Local Governments ; 8. Fiscal Policy and Regional Integration, 1945-63 ; 9. Fiscal Consequences of Decolonization ; Bibliography

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Book SynopsisCosmopolitan Africa, 1700-1875, offers an alternative interpretation of the 175 years leading up to the formal colonization of Africa by Europeans. In this brief and affordable text, author and series editor Trevor R. Getz demonstrates how Africans pursued lives, constructed social settings, forged trading links, and imagined worlds that were sophisticated, flexible, and well adapted to the increasingly global and fast-paced interactions of this period. Getz''s interpretation of a cosmopolitan Africa is based on careful reading of Africans'' oral histories and traditions, written documents, and images of or from the eighteenth century. Examining this time period from both social and cultural perspectives, Cosmopolitan Africa, 1700-1875, helps students to re-envision African societies in the time before colonization.Table of ContentsSeries Introduction ; Introduction ; Chapter 1: Ordering their worlds ; A Place to begin ; Spirit power and state power in Burganda ; Xhosa worlds: homestad, neighborhood, kingdom, ancestors ; Matriclans and entrepreneurs in the making of the Asante state ; Titles and lineages in Igbo-speaking societies ; Imperial Tunis ; Reigning in greed and anarchy in BaKongo and Jaga state and society ; Feature: Beatriz of Saint Anthony ; Chapter 2: Global Africa in an oceanic era ; An Oceanic era ; Mediterranean Africa ; Atlantic Africa ; Indian Ocean Africa ; Feature: The Chronicles of Pate and 19th century Swahili identity ; Chapter 3: Spiritual belief and practice in cosmopolitan Africa ; African <"world>" and African <"traditional>" religions ; African Islam in the eighteenth century ; African Christianity and Protestant evangelism ; Feature: The Xhosa Cattle-Killing ; Chapter 4: African economies and the industrial revolution ; Production and productivity in late eighteenth century Africa ; Africans and the industrial revolution ; Settlers, peasants, and plantations ; Feature: Muhammad Ali's Egypt ; Chapter 5: Africans write back ; Men and women in the middle? ; Egyptian intellectuals on France and Islam ; The Abbe Boilat ; James Africanus Horton ; The <"educated men>" of the Fante Confederation ; Jan Tzatzoe in Britain ; Towards colonialism?

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Table of ContentsChapter 1: Political Democratization ; Chapter 2: Africa and the Global Economy ; Chapter 3: Modernity and Tradition ; Chapter 4: Health, Healing and Cultural Autonomy ; Chapter 5: Sexuality, Gender and Human Rights ; Chapter 6: African Security in a Post-9/11 World

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Book SynopsisThe last several decades have seen the emergence of a remarkable phenomenon: a Jewish rebirth that is occurring throughout Africa. A variety of different ethnic groups proclaim that they are returning to long-forgotten Jewish roots, and African clans trace their lineage to the Lost Tribes of Israel. Africans have encountered Jewish myths and traditions in multiple forms and various ways. The context and circumstances of these encounters have gradually led, within some African societies, to the elaboration of a new Jewish identity connected with that of the Diaspora. This book presents, one by one, the different groups of Black Jews in western, central, eastern, and southern Africa and the ways in which they have used and imagined their oral history and traditional customs to construct a distinct Jewish identity. It explores the ways in which Africans have interacted with the ancient mythological sub-strata of both western and African ideas of Judaism. It particularly seeks to identifyTrade Reviewshines a wide and revealing spotlight on these unrecognized groups and how they came to construct their Jewish identity ... Bruder's research provides a more vivid and complete picture of the practices and community life of present-day Judaizing groups in the many countries she investigates. * Journal of Religion in Africa *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION; LOST TRIBES IN TWENTY-FIRST-CENTURY AFRICA; PART I: PREHISTORY; PART II: BLACK JUDAISM: GENESIS; PART III: AFRICA, JUDAISM, AND AFRICAN "JEWS"; EPILOGUE: ANCIENT MYTHS AND MODERN PHENOMENA; NOTES; BIBLIOGRAPHY; INDEX

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Book SynopsisAfrica In Stereo examines the role that African American music has played in the pan-Africanist imagination since the end of the nineteenth century.Trade ReviewAfrica in Stereo raises the bar with new insights into both the sonic and visual realms of art. Transcriptions, performance, poetry, print and new media formats elucidate how Africans on the continent and in the diaspora have been engaged in a continuous dialogue and exchange of cultural particulars throughout the twentieth century. A major contribution is the author's willingness to move beyond a particular village or ethnic group (conventional units of ethnographic analysis) and focus instead on South Africa, Senegal and Ghana, drawing from an interesting array of archival materials to highlight and tease out the forces that made the impulse towards solidarity between Africa and the diaspora possible. * Mumbua Kioko, Volume! The French journal of popular music studies *Meticulously researched, historically and politically exigent, and adventurous in its archival reach, Africa in Stereo is a path-breaking book that pulsates to the beat of literary, visual, sonic and cultural studies. Tsitsi Jaji has built a bold new sound system for diaspora studies that challenges us to listen closely to the crosscurrents of African aesthetic technologies that forge and inform our modern world. * Daphne Brooks, author of Bodies in Dissent: Spectacular Performances of Race and Freedom, 1850-1910 *This book is unique in its attentiveness to the intricacies, significances and pleasures of listening, notation and reading. It recasts - with great subtlety and eloquence - our understanding o fthe sonic, visual, and literary practices used by Africans in the elaboration and pursuit of pan-Africanism at home and abroad. * Bhekizizwe Peterson, author of Monarchs, Missionaries, and African Intellectuals *Table of ContentsTable of Contents ; One: Stereomodernism And Amplifying The Black Atlantic ; Two: Sight Reading: Early Black South African Transcriptions of Freedom ; Three: Negritude Musicology: Poetry, Performance and Statecraft in Senegal ; Four: What Women Want: Selling Hi-Fi in Consumer Magazines and Film ; Five: "Soul to Soul": Echo-locating Histories of Slavery and Freedom from Ghana ; Six: Pirate's Choice: Hacking into (Post-)Pan-African Futures ; Epilogue: Singing Songs ; Bibliography ; Notes

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Book SynopsisThis book advances research into the government-forced labor used widely in colonial Kenya from 1930 to 1963 after the passage of the International Labor Organization’s Forced Labour Convention.Table of ContentsWerengeka's Anxiety Forced Labor and Colonial Development in Africa The Juridical Foundation of Government Forced Labor 'Making the Lazy Nigger Work:' European Settlers, the State and Forced Labor, 1895-1919 The Northey Forced Labor Crisis, 1919-1921 Interlude: Forced Labor Bounded, 1921-1925 Normalizing Force: Archdeacon Walter Owen and the Issue of Communal Labor, 1920-1930

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Book SynopsisA report on development economics in action, by a crucial player in Nigeria's recent reforms.Corrupt, mismanaged, and seemingly hopeless: that's how the international community viewed Nigeria in the early 2000s. Then Nigeria implemented a sweeping set of economic and political changes and began to reform the unreformable. This book tells the story of how a dedicated and politically committed team of reformers set out to fix a series of broken institutions, and in the process repositioned Nigeria's economy in ways that helped create a more diversified springboard for steadier long-term growth. The author, Harvard- and MIT-trained economist Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, currently Nigeria's Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance and formerly Managing Director of the World Bank, played a crucial part in her country's economic reforms. In Nigeria's Debt Management Office, and later as Minister of Finance, she spearheaded negotiations with the Paris Club that l

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Book SynopsisThe Hausa are one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa, with populations in Nigeria, Niger and Ghana. The large body of scholarship on Hausa society has assumed the subordination of women to men. This work challenges the notion that Hausa women are pawns in a patriarchal Muslim society.

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Book SynopsisBritish colonial expansion led to the display of many valuable African artifacts in Britain. This analysis covers the ways in which African peoples and their material culture were represented, the justifications for imperial expansion; and the effects this had on racial stereotyping.Table of ContentsMaterial culture at the crossroads of knowledge - the case of the Benin "bronzes"; voices in the wilderness - critics of empire; aesthetic pleasure and institutional power; the spectacle of empire 1 - expansionism and philanthropy at the "Stanley and the African" exhibition; the spectacle of empire 2 - exhibitionary narratives; temples of empire - the museum and its publics; containing the continent - ethnographies on display; "For God and For England" - missionary contributions to an image of Africa; national unity and racial and ethnic identities - the Franco-British exhibition of 1908; conclusion; epilogue - inventing the "Post-Colonial".

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Book SynopsisPrior to the Six-Day War, Israel was a darling of the international left, vocally opposed to apartheid and devoted to building alliances with black leaders in newly independent African nations. South Africa, for its part, was controlled by a regime of Afrikaner nationalists who had enthusiastically supported Hitler during World War II. But after Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories in 1967, the country found itself estranged from former allies and threatened anew by old enemies. As both states became international pariahs, a covert—and lucrative—military relationship blossomed between these seemingly unlikely allies. Based on extensive archival research and exclusive interviews with former generals and high-level government officials in both countries, The Unspoken Alliance tells a troubling story of Cold War paranoia, moral compromises, and startling secrets.

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Book SynopsisIn April-May 1994, 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis were massacred by their Hutu fellow citizens--about 10,000 a day, mostly being hacked to death by machete. In Machete Season, the veteran foreign correspondent Jean Hatzfeld reports on the results of his interviews with nine of the Hutu killers. They were all friends who came from a single region where they helped to kill 50,000 out of their 59,000 Tutsi neighbors, and all of them are now in prison, some awaiting execution. It is usually presumed that killers will not tell the truth about their brutal actions, but Hatzfeld elicited extraordinary testimony from these men about the genocide they had perpetrated. He rightly sees that their account raises as many questions as it answers.Adabert, Alphonse, Ignace, and the others (most of them farmers) told Hatzfeld how the work was given to them, what they thought about it, how they did it, and what their responses were to the bloodbath. Killing is easier than farming, one says. I

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Book SynopsisA memoir that chronicles the exploits of a flamboyant Jewish family, from its bold arrival in cosmopolitan Alexandria to its defeated exodus three generations later.Trade Review"It Is Mr. Aciman's great achievement that he has re-created a world gone forever now, and given us an ironical and affectionate portrait of those who were exiled from it." The New York Times Book Review"

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Book SynopsisA portrait of modern Africa. It offers an exploration of how, and whether, the past can be laid to rest.Trade Review"A keenly reported private detective story and...a vivid prism for examining some of the largest themes in Africa's history." - The New York Times Book Review"

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Book SynopsisThis book provides an overview of the history, culture, and society of Namibia, a country on which little information in English exists.Namibia is a sizeable and significant country in southern Africa that is little known to the outside world.Table of ContentsSeries Foreword by Toyin Falola Author's Note Preface Acknowledgments List of Acronyms Chronology 1 Introduction 2 Religion and Worldview 3 Literature and the Media 4 Arts and Architecture 5 Cuisine and Dress 6 Gender Roles, Marriage, and Family 7 Social Customs and Lifestyle 8 Music, Dance, and Performance 9 Tourism and the Natural Environment Glossary of Commonly Used Terms in Namibia Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis work offers the first one-volume comprehensive military history of modern South Africa.Trade ReviewThe publication of A Military History of South Africa: From the Dutch-Khoi Wars to the End of Apartheid is most definitely going to be exciting for scholars and students of African military history because it arguably marks one of the few times that a comprehensive military history of an African country from the earliest time possible to the present has been published. . . . Stapleton thus successfully provides his readers with an illuminating study of warfare and military structures in the evolution of the South African society from the seventeenth century to the end of apartheid. * Canadian Journal of African Studies *In all, this is a book written by someone who greatly enjoys his subject. Although explicitly a military history, this fluidly written work is more than merely military history and will appeal to a broad range of readers interested in African and South African history. With its chronologically ordered, compact and well balanced chapters, the book is ideally suited for teaching and will form a welcome addition to any reading list on South African history. * Journal of Military History *Essential for large libraries in South Africa. Summing Up: Recommended. Academic and larger public libraries with African studies collections. Undergraduates and general readers. * Choice *

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Book SynopsisA riveting, beautifully crafted account of Libya after Qadhafi

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisA deeply engrossing portrait of what life physically felt like. . . . [An] intimate picture. . .of early Kenya. -[London] Times Literary Supplement

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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 Synopsis

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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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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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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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