African history Books

Book SynopsisA historical, spiritual, and literary portrait of a remarkable nineteenth-century African Muslim woman. This book provides a glimpse into the West African Muslim community at a pivotal point in its history.Trade Review"... this woman's intellectual contribution to a revolution, and her position at the heart of the military and organisational effort, deserves to be better known." -- Graham FurnissTable of ContentsPreliminary Table of Contents: PrefaceAcknowledgements1. Nana Asma'u and the Scholarly Islamic Tradition2. Qadiriyya Sufism: The Qur'an and the Sunna3. The Caliphate Community4. The Poetic Tradition5. Sokoto as Medina: Imitating the Life of the Prophet and Re-enacting History6. Caliphate Women's Participation in the CommunityAppendix: Poems by Nana Asma'uGlossaryNotesWorks CitedIndex

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Book SynopsisProvides a key to Egypt in all its layers - ancient and modern, Greek and Roman, and Christian and Islamic. This title gives an account of history that followed - from Greek and Roman conquests, the rise of Christianity, Arab-Muslim triumph, and Egypt's incorporation into powerful Islamic empires to Napoleon's 1798 invasion.Trade Review"Robert L. Tignor's ambitious Egypt: A Short History stretches from the Predynastic age to the present, tying the various periods together in a continuous 5,000-year narrative to create a lengthy history told in a short book... Tignor writes with an easy, assured style, and his history becomes more focused and more authoritative as it progresses. He tells us it was conceived as an alternative guidebook for discerning tourists wishing to learn about more than just pyramids and pharaohs: as such--as an enjoyable book written by someone who clearly knows and loves Egypt and the Egyptians--it serves its purpose very well."--Financial Times "[T]horough, engaging, and accessible... Concise and yet engagingly vivid, this outstanding little book should be enjoyed by any reader interested in Egypt or Middle Eastern history."--Joan W. Gartland, Library Journal "Ambitious in scope, Egypt: A Short History provides an informative and readable account for the interested general reader."--Anthony Gorman, Times Higher Education "[O]ne could not write a better account of Egypt's history--a gift from a master historian at the conclusion of his career."--Henry E. Chambers, Middle East Journal "If you love Egypt, then this book is an excellent introduction to its multi-faceted history and culture."--Ancient Egypt "Senior history Tignor presents an elegant yet accessible survey that carries readers from predynastic times to the present. Illustrated with 25 color plates, two maps, and six figures, this work aims to please the sophisticated reader whose objective is to learn the broad contours of Egyptian political, economic, and religious history... [S]tudents, tourists, travelers, and businesspersons alike will find this a useful text."--Choice "[An] excellent summation of the flow of Egyptian history."--Morris L. Bierbrier, Egyptian Archaeology "Tignor's book has arrived on bookshelves at a most fortuitous time, when the number of ... general readers seeking information about Egypt is greatly enlarged, given the extensive media coverage of the 'Arab spring' of 2011. In Egypt: A Short History, this audience will find an invaluable guide to the impulses that have stirred Egyptians in both the recent and the distant past."--Paul Sedra, Journal of World History "Clear prose, personal vignettes from his own travels to Egypt, perspectives and scenes familiar to any tourist in Cairo and Alexandria, and fine scholarship are all brought together in a book that could easily become a reference title for future generations, a title to be consulted by all those wishing to travel to that magical land."--Lavinia Stan, European LegacyTable of ContentsList of Illustrations vii Credits ix Preface xi CHAPTER ONE The Land and People 1 CHAPTER TWO Egypt during the Old Kingdom 26 CHAPTER THREE The Middle and New Kingdoms 51 CHAPTER FOUR Nubians, Greeks, and Romans, circa 1200 BCE-632 CE 80 CHAPTER FIVE Christian Egypt 105 CHAPTER SIX Egypt within Islamic Empires, 639-969 122 CHAPTER SEVEN Fatimids, Ayyubids, and Mamluks, 969-1517 146 CHAPTER EIGHT?Ottoman Egypt, 1517-1798 174 CHAPTER NINE Napoleon Bonaparte, Muhammad Ali, and Ismail: Egypt in the Nineteenth Century 196 CHAPTER TEN The British Period, 1882-1952 228 CHAPTER ELEVEN Egypt for the Egyptians, 1952-1981: Nasser and Sadat 256 CHAPTER TWELVE Mubarak's Egypt 282 CONCLUSION Egypt through the Millennia 311 Notes 321 Bibliography 327 Index 347

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Book SynopsisA pathbreaking history of modern Eritrea under postwar international administration, shedding light on issues that rock the Horn of Africa to this day.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewAfrica's First Democrats challenges several stereotypes about the workings and growth of democracy on the African continent. More than that, Africa's First Democrats opens up space for a broader rereading of African history and holds the possibility for a more extensive anti-racist and anti-colonial project that has long animated pan-African politics across the globe. -- Joshua Inwood, Pennsylvania State University * Politcal Geography *Abdi Samatar's book Africa's First Democrats is of significance to geographical studies of Africa for three main reasons: (i) its decolonial approach; (ii) its dissection of democratic political leadership and political parties; (iii) its documentation of a historical period in Somalia, when political leaders advocated a vision of a united Somalia that transcended contemporary representation of the country as a 'failed state' wracked by atavistic tribalism. -- Patricia Daley, Oxford University * Political Geography *This study is important because it draws attention to the gamut of stereotypes and wisdoms espoused by critics of African leaders. . . . We all must salute Samatar for his courage to exonerate a couple of African leaders from the court of academic vilification. * American Historical Review *Going beyond postcolonial analysis, decolonization encourages re-thinking the world from Africa, from Latin America, from indigenous places, and from marginalized academia. Samatar's book does precisely this, rethinking our concepts of statehood, democracy and leadership from Africa, and from Somalia particularly. -- Sarah Radcliffe, Cambridge University * Political Geography *Excellent.13 2014 * African and Asian Studies *Table of ContentsPreface & Acknowledgments List of Selected Dates 1. Leadership in Africa 2. Aden: From an Orphan to a Nationalist Leader 3. Abdirazak: From Camel Boy to Freedom Fighter 4. The Somali Youth League and the Nationalist Project: 1943–1960 5. The First Republic: Institutional Foundations of Democracy 1960–1964 6. The Second Republic: Democratic Trailblazing 7. The March toward Dictatorship: 1967–1974 8. Conclusion Bibliography Notes Index

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Book SynopsisDrawing on many years of African experience, John Reader has written a book of startling grandeur and scope that recreates the great panorama of African history, from the primeval cataclysms that formed the continent to the political upheavals facing much of the continent today. Reader tells the extraordinary story of humankind''s adaptation to the ferocious obstacles of forest, river and desert, and to the threat of debilitating parasites, bacteria and viruses unmatched elsewhere in the world. He also shows how the world''s richest assortment of animals and plants has helped - or hindered - human progress in Africa.

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Book SynopsisA remarkable feat of scholarship, fairness and readability, full of lively detail with a freshness of style which brings new life to the narrative' Anthony SampsonThroughout its turbulent history, South Africa has frequently been the focus of worldwide attention usually hostile. Yet prejudice and ignorance about the country are widespread. The evolution of the present-day Rainbow Nation' has taken place under conditions of sometimes extreme pressure. Since long before the arrival of the first European settlers in the seventeenth century, the country has been home to a complex and uneasily co-existing blend of races and cultures, and successive waves of immigrants have added to the already volatile mixture.Despite the euphoria which greeted the dismantling of the apartheid system and the election as President of Nelson Mandela in April 1994, South Africa's history, racial mix and recent political upheavals suggest it will not easily free itself from the legacy of its tumultuous past. NTrade Review‘A masterly synthesis of past and present scholarship historical storytelling in the grand narrative tradition’Mail & Guardian ‘Sweeping, exhaustive and masterly’Scotland on Sunday ‘Excellent… a balanced account of a very complex story’Stephen Fleming, Irish Independent ‘Vital to an understanding of modern South Africa’Publishers Weekly ‘His assessments are judicious, his opinions fair. Welsh maintains a clear narrative thread through this hugely complex story’Stephen Taylor, New York Times Book Review

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Book SynopsisThe Last Train to Zona Verde is Paul Theroux''s compelling account of his final African journey.Heading north from Cape Town, through South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Angola, Paul Theroux makes a final journey along Africa''s western edge. The end of the line is the Congo but Theroux discovers that his trip''s pleasures are tempered by a growing sense that the Africa which so long ago helped form him has vanished, along with the hopes of many of its people. Yet after 2,500 miles Theroux finds that though this will be his ultimate African adventure there are still surprises to be found by the traveller prepared to step off the beaten track.''A melancholic, farewell journey . . . Theroux does all this inimitably, and more, getting better the more detours he takes'' Evening Standard''Hard to put down, brutal honesty. Theroux proves himself a sharp observer of human foibles and a master of pithy description. The book he has crafted out of

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Book SynopsisWidely considered to be the most important biography of Nelson Mandela, Antony Sampson's remarkable book has been updated with an afterword by acclaimed South African journalist, John Battersby.Long after his presidency of South Africa, Nelson Mandela remained an inspirational figure to millions both in his homeland and far beyond. He has been, without doubt, one of the most important figures in global history. His death, on 5 December 2013 at the age of 95, resonated around the world.Mandela's opposition to apartheid and his 27 year incarceration at the hands of South Africa's all-white regime are familiar to most. In this utterly compelling book, eminent biographer Anthony Sampson draws on a fifty year-long relationship to reveal the man who rocked a continent and changed its future.With unprecedented access to the former South African president the letters he wrote in prison, his unpublished jail autobiography, extensive conversations, and interviews with hundreds of colleagues, Trade Review‘A magisterial, detailed and invaluable account of one of this century’s greatest figures … it is hard to believe that a better biography will ever be written.’ Justin Cartwright, Sunday Telegraph ‘Warmly to be welcomed, not least because it is more substantial and revealing than Mandela’s bestselling autobiography…a great leap forward in our understanding of a man who is both enigmatic and private…Anthony Sampson has carried out his difficult commission with skill and sensitivity’ Independent ‘This will be the last word on Mandela for years to come…it will be hard to improve upon this crowning conclusion to Sampson’s long career as a loving and expert chronicler of South Africa’ Evening Standard ‘Measured, detailed without a moment of tedium, incisive in its perceptions and at times, profoundly moving’ Observer

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Book SynopsisThe story of the bravest battle ever fought.

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Book SynopsisChallenging the prevailing wisdom, Straus provides substantial new evidence about local patterns of violence, using original research to assess competing theories about about the causes and dynamics of the genocide.Trade ReviewThe Order of Genocide will be an enduring contribution to our understanding of the Rwandan genocide as well as to theories of ethnic violence and genocides more generally. Although his methods and findings will certainly interest scholars of genocides, violent conflicts, and African area studies, Straus does not obscure his work in specialist language. * Nations and Nationalism *Scott Straus ranks among the finest of the scholars writing in genocide studies. The Order of Genocide is fair-minded, important, and rigorous. Drawing on more than two hundred interviews that he conducted with convicted Rwandan killers, and on many other sources, Straus builds a dynamic process model seeking to explain why and how ordinary people could be mobilized to murder their neighbors in the Rwandan genocide. * African Studies Review *Straus examines the 1994 Rwandan genocide through a social science lens... and his approach yields interesting new insights.... Particularly compelling is his comparison of killers in Rwanda with those of the Holocaust. * Foreign Affairs *Straus shows tenacity and courage in explaining the unthinkable—how otherwise ordinary people could imagine, conceive, and carry out genocide. * Genocide Studies and Prevention *Straus's study is comprehensive, thorough, and cogently and carefully argued. It is altogether an impressive work that is compulsory for specialists and invaluable for students. Straus is a former journalist and his writing is a model of clarity and economy. * Perspectives on Politics *Straus's writing is lucid, the structure of the book is well thought out, and jargon is avoided, making The Order of Genocide accessible to anyone interested in the subject. A must-read for those interested in politics and violence. * Journal of Peace Research *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Background to the Genocide 2. Genocide at the National and Regional Levels 3. Local Dynamics 4. The Génocidaires 5. Why Perpetrators Say They Committed Genocide 6. The Logic of Genocide 7. Historical Patterns of Violence 8. Rwanda's Leviathan ConclusionAppendix Index

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewA collection of ten of the most brilliant and important essays on ritual yet written. These papers by Victor Turner... are all seminal and distinguished. * American Anthropologist *

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Book SynopsisWednesday 22 January 1879 was one of the most dramatic days in the long and distinguished history of the British Army. At noon a massive Zulu host attacked the 24th Regiment in its encampment at the foot of the mountain of Isandlwana, a distinctive feature that bore an eerie resemblance to the Sphinx badge of the outnumbered redcoats. Disaster ensued. Later that afternoon the victorious Zulus would strike the tiny British garrison at Rorke's Drift. How Can Man Die Better is a unique analysis of Isandlwana - of the weapons, tactics, ground, and the intriguing characters who made the key military decisions. Because the fatal loss was so high on the British side there is still much that is unknown about the battle. This is a work of unparalleled depth, which eschews the commonly held perception that the British collapse was sudden and that the 24th Regiment was quickly overwhelmed. Rather, there was a protracted and heroic defence against a determined and equally heroic foe. The author reconstructs the final phase of the battle in a way that has never been attempted before. It was to become the stuff of legend, which brings to life so vividly the fear and smell the blood.

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Book SynopsisThe Gayer-Anderson Cat has been one of the most admired objects at the British Museum since its arrival in 1947. This book presents a detailed description of the cat and a discussion of its possible meaning and role in ancient times.

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Book SynopsisThis is a trilogy of Deneys Reitz's three compelling works, Commando, Trekking On and No Outspan. Since publication in 1999, it has become an outstanding seller in its own right.

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Book SynopsisIn 1977, Johnson's best-selling How Long Will South Africa Survive? offered a controversial and highly original analysis of the survival prospects of apartheid. Now, after more than two decades of the ANC in government, he believes the question must be posed again. 'The big question about ANC rule,' Johnson writes, 'is whether African nationalism would be able to cope with the challenges of running a modern industrial economy. Twenty years of ANC rule have shown conclusively that the party is hopelessly ill-equipped for this task. Indeed, everything suggests that South Africa under the ANC is fast slipping backward and that even the survival of South Africa as a unitary state cannot be taken for granted. The fundamental reason why the question of regime change has to be posed is that it is now clear that South Africa can either choose to have an ANC government or it can have a modern industrial economy. It cannot have both.'Trade ReviewWell-written and well argued, his book is at its best describing the eye-watering corruption, nepotism and gang-violence that seem to link powerful officials in Zuma's home province of KwaZulu-Natal to the wider ANC. ... That South Africa's black leaders appear to have fulfilled the worst predictions of their white supremacist predecessors makes uncomfortable reading. What surprises Johnson is how quickly they managed to do it. * The Times *Provocative polemic ... produces a devastating charge sheet against the ANC. * The Sunday Times *An immensely readable and disturbing book. Let us pray that his prophecies are this time mistaken. ...Ten years ago, Johnson would have been crucified for saying such things, but 'How Long?' was greeted by an ominous silence in South Africa, making its way on to local bestseller lists without any review attention, not even attacks from Johnson's enemies. It seems even they are reconciled to the fact that Johnson is right again: South Africa is in crisis. -- Rian Malan * The Spectator *'The Looming Crisis' confronts the Naipauline problem of post-colonial nation states: the transformation of freedom fighters into oppressors. ... the extreme prophesies in 'The Looming Crisis' do not diminish the value of Johnson's diagnosis of South Africa's problems. * Newsweek, 'The Most Important International Nonfiction Books of 2015' *An assembly of facts that illustrate and reinforce how, since the electoral victory of the ANC under Mandela in 1994, South Africa's governing apparatus has degenerated into an instrument of patronage and self-enrichment by the new black elite. * Times Literary Supplement *Johnson's newest book speaks to the corruption that now riddles the country's body politic. As a result, it is increasingly up to the country's politicians, economic and business leaders and others to explain how they, if they were in charge, would arrest the decay and reverse the process. The country clearly wants to hear such things and is increasingly hungry for solid answers. * Daily Maverick, South Africa *In 1977, Johnson was taking stock of where the apartheid state stood in relation to its likely end, and his prediction was more-or-less correct: 15 years later, it was officially dead, and South Africa had a new, democratically elected government. In the new nostradamic book, Johnson seems to be talking about a similar time frame, perhaps shortened to a decade or so, but in interviews he has given a much shorter period until we hit the wall, saying South Africa has a mere two years before it has to go begging to the International Monetary Fund for a bail-out. . . . Johnson has a great polemical gift . . . punchy * Mail & Guardian, South Africa *This book will undoubtedly be met with outrage among South Africa's political and intellectual elite. If so, it will not be because of any great deficiencies in the text, but because of the grip of ideology on the country's elite. By the same token, it will be hailed by some people in opposition circles simply because of the vigour with which it criticises not only South Africa's current government, but the entire history of the ANC since the late 1950s, as well as for its devastating critique of African nationalism more generally. -- Professor Stephen Ellis, Free University of Amsterdam, author of 'External Mission: The ANC in Exile, 1960-90'

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Book SynopsisAn engaging study into the Yoruba art of Egungun masking.

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Book SynopsisSPECIAL COMMENDATION in Africa's 100 Best Books of the Twentieth Century. The series is illustrated throughout with maps and black and white photographs.Trade ReviewA major theme of the volume, ... taken up in the first chapter, is the struggle for international trade and its implications for Africa... a worthy and worthwhile undertaking, bringing within reasonably affordable reach, a comprehensive survey which should long stand as a basic introductory text on the period. - -- Kevin Shillington * CORRUPTION & DEMOCRATISATION *Reviews of the Series: * . *... a real contribution to scholarship. - -- Roland Oliver * the TLS *The General History of Africa was launched in 1970, when an International Scientific Committee of 39 scholars was formed to oversee the writing and publication of a complete survey of the African past, from pre-history to the present. The laudable aim of the project was to break free from the straightjacket of Eurocentrism, and to provide a history that reflected a range of African views without imposing any set historical interpretation. - -- David M. Anderson * INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS *Table of ContentsThe struggle for international trade and its implications for Africa, M. Malowist; African political, economic and social structures, P. Diagne; population movements and emergence of new socio-political forms, J. Vansina; Africa in world history - the export slacve trade and the emergence of the Atlantic economic order, J.E. Inikori; the African diaspora in the old and new worlds, J.E. Harris; the Ottoman conquest of Egypt, R. Vesely; the Sudan, 1500-1800, Y.F. Hasan and B.A. Ogot,; Morocco, M. El Fasi; Algeria, Tunisia and Libya - the Ottomans and their heirs, M.H. Cherif; Senegambia from the 16th-18th century - the Wolof, Sereer and "Tukuloor", B. Barry; the end of the Songhay empire, M. Abitbol; from the Niger to the Volta, M. Izard and J. Ki-Zerbo; states and cultures of the Upper Guinean coast, C. Wondji; states and cultures of the Lower Guinean coast, A.A. Boahen; Fon and Yoruba - the Niger delta and the Cameroon, E.J. Alagao; the Hausa states, D. Laya; Kanem-Borno - its relations with the Meditteranean Sea, Bagirmi and other states in the Chad basin, B.M. Barkindo; from the Cameroon grasslands to the Upper Nile, E.M. M'Bokolo; the Kongo kingdom and its neighbours, J. Vansina and T. Obenga; the political system of the Luba and Lunda, Ndaywel al Nziem; the northern Zambesi-Lake Malawi region, K.M. Phiri, O.J.M. Kalinga and H.H.K. Bhila; Southern Zambezia, H.H.K. Bhila; Southern Africa, D. Denoon; the Horn of Africa, E. Haberland; East Africa - the coast, A.I. Salim; the Great Lakes region, 1500-1800, J.B. Webster, B.A. Ogot and J.P. Chretien; the interior of East Africa - the peoples of Kenya and Tanzania, 1500-1800. W.R. Ochieng; Madagascar and the islands of the Indian Ocean, R.K. Kent; the historical development of African societies, 1500-1800.

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Book SynopsisThe first African statesman to achieve world recognition was Kwame Nkrumah (1909-1972), who became president of the new Republic of Ghana in 1960. He campaigned ceaselessly for African solidarity and for the liberation of southern Africa from white settler rule.Trade Review“This is a biographical study of one of the most complex African leaders of the twentieth century colonial era. The book admirably traces the problems Nkrumah faced as a student and aspiring politician…. The book is a colorful biography and assists the reader in understanding the tribulations and aspirations of Third World leaders in guiding their countries through the uncertain transition from colonialism to independence.” * African Studies Quarterly *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Abbreviations 1. Kwame Nkrumah: A Transnational Life 2. Empire and a Colonial Youth 3. Diasporic Connections and Anticolonial Experimentation 4. Between Nation and Pan-Africanism: Part I 5. Between Nation and Pan-Africanism: Part II 6. Exile and an Era of Reinvention 7. Remembering Nkrumah Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisPatrice Lumumba was a leader of the independence struggle in what is today the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as the country’s first democratically elected prime minister. After a meteoric rise in the colonial civil service and the African political elite, he became a major figure in the decolonization movement of the 1950s.Trade Review“Lumumba…was a pivotal player in the history of African nationalism, in the same league as Mandela in terms of his influence. Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja provides an excellent short introduction to Lumumba’s life and historical significance.”“The contribution [Nzongola-Ntalaja makes] to the literature of Patrice Lumumba, and the Congo, is ironically not concentrating on Lumumba’s iconic Cold War death but instead placing his life and words into the proper cultural, economic, and historical context of Congolese history. …I would highly recommend [Patrice Lumumba] for students in African or Congolese politics. …[It challenges] us not to dwell on his death but breathe life into his words, because the questions Patrice Lumumba raised about self-determination then are still relevant for all of us today.” * African Studies Quarterly *

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Book SynopsisThomas Sankara, often called the African Che Guevara, was president of Burkina Faso, one of the poorest countries in Africa, until his assassination during the military coup that brought down his government. Although his tenure in office was relatively short, Sankara left an indelible mark on his country’s history and development.Trade Review“Thomas Sankara: An African Revolutionary will serve as an excellent introduction to Sankara and the revolution in Burkina Faso and explain why Sankara continues to be so widely admired throughout Africa and beyond.”“…[A] fascinating read about a leader who not only led a revolution to free his people … but also lived a simple and humble life, uncorrupted by the power of the office he held.” * Africa Renewal *“Harsch’s book helps us understand why [Sankara's] ideas are still very much alive. It's a good read and well worth the price.” * The Bullet *

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Book SynopsisAn account of the golden trade of the Moors, and a source book on Saharan trade routes, caravan organization and Sudanese history. The author covers anthropology and economic geography as well as history, as he examines and explores the hot little towns, sharp traders and the brutal rulers. He seeks to encourage and inspire a generation of scholars to discover more about parts of Africa still surprisingly little known to the outside world.

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Book SynopsisWhen the Republic of Guinea gained independence in 1958, one of the first policies of the new state was a village-to-village eradication of masks and other ritual objects it deemed 'fetishes'. This book intends to understand why this program was so important to the state and examines the complex role it had in creating a unified national identity.Trade Review"Unmasking the State is an engaging and insightful work that constitutes an important contribution to African studies, political and religious anthropology, and the study of iconoclasm. Mike McGovern artfully weaves an edifying tapestry of the demystification programs launched by Sekou Toure in the 1960s among Loma-speaking people of Guinea, West Africa. This is a well-argued and timely book." (David Berliner, University of Brussels)"

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Book SynopsisThis new study offers a fresh interpretation of apartheid South Africa. Emerging out of the author''s long-standing interests in the history of racial segregation, and drawing on a great deal of new scholarship, archival collections, and personal memoirs, he situates apartheid in global as well as local contexts. The overall conception of Apartheid, 1948-1994 is to integrate studies of resistance with the analysis of power, paying attention to the importance of ideas, institutions, and culture. Saul Dubow refamiliarises and defamiliarise apartheid so as to approach South Africa''s white supremacist past from unlikely perspectives. He asks not only why apartheid was defeated, but how it survived so long. He neither presumes the rise of apartheid nor its demise. This synoptic reinterpretation is designed to introduce students to apartheid and to generate new questions for experts in the field.Trade ReviewThis work is a first-rate, clearly written account of a bizarre 20th century political experiment. * Alexander du Toit, Times Higher Education *As a lecturer on modern South African history, I will find this book extremely valuable. It provides a strong, textured historical narrative and simultaneously engages critically in key conceptual debates. It is impressively up-to-date and draws on an immensely wide range of literature, much of which is helpfully laid out in a bibliographical annexure ... the book stands in any context as an important work of synthesis with a coherent, and sometimes controversial, set of arguments. * Clive Glaser, South African Historical Journal *Dubow's history emphasizes ideas and contexts, from global realities like the Cold War to philosophical, theological, and theoretical debates. It is a superb, easily readable, book that offers a comprehensive historical overview and nuanced analysis. * Fran Buntman, American Historical Review *Apartheid 19481994 is relevant for a broad audience. * Melanie Boehi, H-Soz-Kult *Table of ContentsPreface ; 1. The Apartheid Election, 1948 ; 2. The Consolidation of Apartheid ; 3. Sharpeville and its Aftermath ; 4. Apartheid Regnant ; 5. The Opposition Destroyed ; 6. Cracks within the System ; 7. The Limits and Dangers of Reform ; 8. A Balancing of Forces ; 9. Conclusion

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Book SynopsisA new analysis of the conflict considered a precursor to the World Wars and the originator of South African apartheid.

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Book SynopsisWinston Churchill wrote five books before he was elected to Parliament at the age of twenty-five. The most impressive of these books, The River War tells the story of Britain’s arduous and risky campaign to reconquer the Sudan at the end of the nineteenth century. More than half a century of subjection to Egypt had ended a decade earlier when Sudanese Dervishes rebelled against foreign rule and killed Britain’s envoy Charles Gordon at his palace in Khartoum in 1885. Political Islam collided with European imperialism. Herbert Kitchener’s Anglo-Egyptian army, advancing hundreds of miles south along the Nile through the Sahara Desert, defeated the Dervish army at the battle of Omdurman on September 2, 1898. Churchill, an ambitious young cavalry officer serving with his regiment in India, had already published newspaper columns and a book about fighting on the Afghan frontier. He yearned to join Kitchener’s campaign. But the general, afraid of what he would write about it, refused to have him. Churchill returned to London. With help from his mother and the prime minister, he managed to get himself attached to an English cavalry regiment sent to strengthen Kitchener’s army. Hurriedly travelling to Egypt, Churchill rushed upriver to Khartoum, catching up with Kitchener’s army just in time to take part in the climactic battle. That day he charged with the 21st Lancers in the most dangerous fighting against the Dervish host. He wrote fifteen dispatches for the Morning Post in London. As Kitchener had expected, Churchill’s dispatches and his subsequent book were highly controversial. The precocious officer, having earlier seen war on two other continents, showed a cool independence of his commanding officer. He even resigned from the army to be free to write the book as he pleased. He gave Kitchener credit for his victory but found much to criticize in his character and campaign. Churchill’s book, far from being just a military history, told the whole story of the Egyptian conquest of the Sudan and the Dervishes’ rebellion against imperial rule. The young author was remarkably even-handed, showing sympathy for the founder of the rebellion, Muhammad Ahmed, and for his successor the Khalifa Abdullahi, whom Kitchener had defeated. He considered how the war in northeast Africa affected British politics at home, fit into the geopolitical rivalry between Britain and France, and abruptly thrust the vast Sudan, with the largest territory in Africa, into an uncertain future in Britain’s orbit. In November 1899, The River War was published in “two massive volumes, my magnum opus (up to date), upon which I had lavished a whole year of my life,” as Churchill recalled later in his autobiography. The book had twenty-six chapters, five appendices, dozens of illustrations, and colored maps. Three years later, in 1902, it was shortened to fit into one volume. Seven whole chapters, and parts of every other chapter, disappeared in the abridgment. Many maps and most illustrations were also dropped. Since then the abridged edition has been reprinted regularly, and eventually it was even abridged further. But the full two-volume book, which is rare and expensive, was never published again—until now. St. Augustine’s Press, in collaboration with the International Churchill Society, brings back to print in two handsome volumes The River War: An Historical Account of the Reconquest of the Soudan unabridged, for the first time since 1902. Every chapter and appendix from the first edition has been restored. All the maps are in it, in their original colors, with all the illustrations by Churchill’s brother officer Angus McNeill. More than thirty years in the making, under the editorship of James W. Muller, this new edition of The River War will be the definitive one for all time. The whole book is printed in two colors, in black and red type, to show what Churchill originally wrote and how it was abridged or altered later. For the first time, a new appendix reproduces Churchill’s Sudan dispatches as he wrote them, before they were edited by the Morning Post. Other new appendices reprint Churchill’s subsequent writings on the Sudan. Thousands of new footnotes have been added to the book by the editor, identifying Churchill’s references to people, places, writings, and events unfamiliar to readers today. Professor Muller’s new introduction explains how the book fits into Churchill’s career as a writer and an aspiring politician. He examines the statesman’s early thoughts about war, race, religion, and imperialism, which are still our political challenges in the twenty-first century. Half a century after The River War appeared, this book was one of a handful of his works singled out by the Swedish Academy when it awarded Churchill the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953. Now, once again, its reader can follow Churchill back to the war he fought on the Nile, beginning with the words of his youngest daughter. Before she died, Mary Soames wrote a new foreword, published here, which concludes that “In this splendid new edition…we have, in effect, the whole history of The River War as Winston Churchill wrote it—and it makes memorable reading.”Trade Review“…a towering work of scholarship and one of the most remarkable books to appear in many, many years.” —Andrew Roberts in The Wall Street Journal “Students of the thought and action of Winston Churchill, the preeminent statesman of the twentieth century, have reason to be grateful for James W. Muller’s Herculean efforts to make the original version of The River War available again. We discover a young soldier and writer who was a philosophically-inclined historian recounting great battles but also thinking about the enduring problems of war, empire, race, and freedom. The tyrannically-minded will be tempted to censor and cancel Churchill’s challenging insights. But the reader who opens himself to Churchill’s monumental work will discover a partisan of Western civilization who can admire the immense courage of the Sudanese Dervishes and who criticizes, like Burke and Macaulay before him, the excesses of empire shorn of mercy and restraint.” —Daniel J. Mahoney, Augustine Chair, Assumption University “There is always more to learn from Winston Churchill. James W. Muller’s carefully edited version of The River War gives today’s readers a chance to read Churchill’s eyewitness account, written at age twenty-four, of one of the world’s last cavalry battles at Omdurman in 1898, and his chilling look ahead to the twentieth century and the potentials of Muslim fanaticism.” —Michael Barone, Founding co-author, The Almanac of American Politics“To read The River War is to enter the mind of a brilliant, seemingly fearless young man destined to become one of history’s most unforgettable figures. Until now, however, it has been difficult even to find, let alone to own, an unabridged edition and to read Winston Churchill’s story as he intended to tell it. James W. Muller has not only given readers the original, two-volume book, carefully, thoroughly, and thoughtfully edited, but has written a deeply insightful introduction that adds immeasurable value to a treasured piece of history.” —Candice Millard, Author of Hero of the Empire“This book sets a new standard for Churchill scholarship and in doing so tells us much about how Churchill used his words and actions to launch his career.” —Allen Packwood, Director, Churchill Archives Centre“I have waited thirty years to hold these volumes in my hands, and it has been well worth the wait. Winston Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, and readers of these volumes will see why. Among Churchill’s books, The River War is in penetration, grandeur, and verve second only to Marlborough: His Life and Times. Now, thanks to Jim Muller’s critical edition, we have the original with its maps and illustrations; notes identifying nearly everyone mentioned in the text; a clear indication of everything the author subsequently dropped, and everything he added to the later, abbreviated editions; and the newspaper articles in draft and as published on which it was based. These volumes are a triumph.” —Paul A. Rahe, Charles & Louise Lee Chair in the Western Heritage, Hillsdale College

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Book SynopsisExpanded third edition of this key text on the complex underlying conditions of the civil war from the 1960s to the present day, including a new chapter on the current wars in Sudan's new south and South Sudan. Sudan's post-independence history has been dominated by political and civil strife. Most commentators have attributed the country's recurring civil war either to an age-old racial divide between Arabs and Africans, or to recent colonially constructed inequalities. This book attempts a more complex analysis, briefly examining the historical, political, economic and social factors which have contributed to periodic outbreaks of violence between the state and its peripheries. In tracing historical continuities, it outlines the essential differences between the modern Sudan's first civil war in the 1960s and today, including an analysis of the escalation of the Darfur war, implementation of the 2005 peace agreement and implications of the Southern referendum in 2011 and the new war in Sudan's new south and South Sudan. The author also looks at the series of minor civil wars generated by, and contained within, the major conflict, as well as the regional and international factors - including humanitarian aid - which have exacerbated civil violence. This introduction is aimed at students of North-East Africa, and of conflict and ethnicity. It is essential reading for those in aid and international organizations who need a straightforward analytical survey which will help them assess the prospects for a lasting peace in Sudan. Douglas H. Johnson is an independent scholar and former international expert on the Abyei Boundaries Commission.Trade ReviewFor readers interested in really engaging with the historical depth of the conflicts in Sudan and South Sudan, The Root Causes of Sudan's Civil Wars by Douglas H Johnson should be required reading. * AFRICA AT LSE BLOG *A third edition of what is rightly regarded as a classic work...useful for people who need a reliable and astute summary of war-related events. * SUDAN STUDIES *Table of ContentsPreface to Expanded 3rd Edition The Historical Structure of North-South Relations British Overrule 1899-1947 Nationalism, Independence & the First Civil War 1942-72 The Addis Ababa Agreement & the Regional Governments 1972-83 The Beginning of the Second Civil War 1983-85 - Interlude The Momentum of Liberation 1986-91 The SPLA Split: Surviving Factionalism The Segmentation of SPLA- United & the Nuer Civil War Multiple Civil Wars The War Economy & the Politics of Relief Comprehensive Peace or Temporary Truce? Epilogue: War in Sudan's New South and New War in South Sudan

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Book SynopsisThis is the book which marked Frederick Forsyth's transition from journalist to author. A record of one of the most brutal conflicts the Third World has ever suffered, it has become a classic of modern war reporting. But it is more than that. It voices one man's outrage not only at the extremes of human violence, but also at the duplicity and self-interest of the Western Governments ' most notably, the British, who tacitly accepted or actively aided that violence.

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Book SynopsisThe Bang-Bang Club was a group of four young war photographers, friends and colleagues: Ken Oosterbroek, Kevin Carter, Greg Marinovich and Joao Silva, war correspondants during the last years of apartheid, who took many of the photographs that encapsulate the final violent years of racist white South Africa.Trade ReviewThis is the most honest account I have read of what it feels like to be a war photographer and what drives such brave, some would say reckless, individuals to risk their lives. * Daily Mail *A splendid book, devastating in what it reveals -- Archbishop Desmond TutuWhat distinguishes this account is its honesty-. A gripping book where emotions are laid bare- [Marinovich and Silva] confront the basic ethical and moral issues which most of us rarely have to think about as we glide along in our conformable Western lives. * Yorkshire Post *a compelling account of what it is like to be a war correspondent in one's own country... [a] superbly told story * Independent on Sunday *a device of searing pain- as painful a loss of innocence as any I have read anywhere- powerful and heartbreaking- Not for the faint-hearted, and not for the beach, The Bang-Bang Club is a must, though. * The Times *

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Book SynopsisImmaculée Ilibagiza grew up in a country she loved, surrounded by a family that she cherished.But in 1994 her idyllic world was ripped apart as Rwanda descended into bloody holocaust. Immaculée's family was brutally murdered during a killing spree that lasted three months and claimed the lives of nearly a million Rwandans. Incredibly, Immaculée survived the slaughter. For 91 days, she and seven other women huddled silently together in the cramped bathroom of a local pastor while hundreds of machete-wielding killers hunted for them.The triumphant story of this remarkable young woman's journey through the darkness of genocide will inspire anyone whose life has been touched by fear, suffering and loss. Following the transformation of her life in the ten year's since Left to Tell's first publication, this new edition of her bestselling memoir reflects on her spiritual transformation since those dark days.Trade ReviewImmaculee's searing account of her ordeal and survival is a moving testament to the indestructibility of the human spirit. The Times To have witnessed such horror, to have endured such agony and to have survived intact is almost beyond comprehension. The Daily Telegraph Rwanda's answer to Anne Frank. Catholic Times

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Book SynopsisFULLY REVISED AND UPDATED The massacre of 1 million Rwandan Tutsis by ethnic Hutus in 1994 has become a symbol of the international community's helplessness in the face of human rights atrocities. It is assumed that the West was well-intentioned, but ultimately ineffectual. But as Andrew Wallis reveals in this shocking book, one country - France - was secretly providing military, financial and diplomatic support to the genocidaires all along. Based on new interviews with key players and eye-witnesses, and previously unreleased documents, Walliss' book tells a story which many have suspected, but never seen set out before. France, Wallis discovers, was keen to defend its influence in Africa, even if it meant complicity in genocide, for as French President Francois Mitterrand once said: "in countries like that, genocide is not so important". Wallis's riveting expose of the French role in one of the darkest chapters of human history will provoke furious debate, denials, and outrage.Trade ReviewAndrew Wallis's analysis of France's role in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda is furiously hard-hitting and thoroughly researched… His book is needed as a record. * Alex Duval Smith, The Independent *Powerful. Wallis produces plentiful evidence that some French officers were training the Hutus how to capture and tie up prisoners, how to slit their bellies so that their bodies wouldn't float... There is no part of the French past that needs honesty and a clear break more than this. * The Sunday Times *This book indicates the influence exerted by an ex-colonial power as a permanent member of the Security Council. On the difficult road that so many developing countries must travel towards the rule of law and human rights, as in the case of Rwanda, this interference and less than helpful involvement in the denouement of a civil war and genocide by different levels of the French Government is a reflection of self-interest and inept use of what should have been the moral authority of a world power. France could have led the charge to reinforce the UN mission through direct support to the Franco-African nations that were ready to come and stop the human catastrophe and civil war. The French government instead chose to intervene on the side of one off the most ruthless and destructive group of genocidaires in world history. * Romeo Dallaire, Commander of UNAMIR peace-keeping force in Rwanda, 1993-1994 *Through the quality of his sources and the rigour of his analysis, Andrew Wallis renders France's complicity in the Rwandan Genocide undeniable. * Mehdia Ba, author of 'Rwanda, Un Genocide Francais' *Wallis leaves no stone unturned in his determination to build his case for complicity. Silent Accomplice sets out a very convincing case against France. The facts, quite frankly, represent an indictment that at some point will have to be answered. * John Honderich, Literary Review of Canada *Table of ContentsAbbreviations and glossary Preface Map of Rwanda 1. A Policy of Bad Habits 2. Invasion and Intervention 3. Civil War and Peace Talks 4. Militia, Massacres and Arusha 5. Retreat 6. Arming the Genocide 7. Operation Turquoise 8. Bisesero and Withdrawal 9. Burying Genocide 10. Smokescreens and the Search for Truth Conclusion Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisReveals the theatricality of early colonial encounter and how it continues to influence Congolese and Belgian understandings of history todayTrade ReviewAllen Roberts uses . . . [the] assassination to explore the encounter between late nineteenth-century European and Congolese, specifically Tabwa, cultures. There is no scholar more familiar with Tabwa culture, art, and customs, as revealed in his many writings over the last few decades. But Roberts proves equally adept in describing a European culture steeped in an arrogant worldview that it claimed to be 'scientific' and progressive but was often little more than a justification for European conquest.March 2014 * Jrnl of African History *Ultimately, this is an excellent, well-crafted meditation on the collision of colonial and indigenous worlds, and how the indigenous world has enfolded and come to its own terms with an irruption that invading world has largely never understood. . . . Highly recommended. * Choice *At the end of the day, A Dance of Assassins makes a compelling case for the necessity of ethnography—quality ethnography—in the interpretation of history as a means of opening the past to a more equitable exchange of voices and the 'what-might-have-beens.' It is also, as John Mack notes in his endorsement, a 'veritable page-turner.' * African Arts *[The]broader themes [of this book] conjure up a bitter and dramatic sense of the colonial past, still contested and poorly understood by both Belgians and Congolese. It imaginatively shows how much may be learned by examining the colonial record from a combination of African and European (and other) points of view. It also suggests how material culture may teach us to fashion new analyses. * Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute *A Dance of Assassins . . . is a deeply engaging account of the complex struggles that connected the lives of Europeans and Africans in the earliest days of the colonial encounter in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Elegantly written, this book challenges prevailing thinking about colonization and its effects on Africans and Europeans. * H-Net Reviews H-AfrArts *"A Dance of Assassins" is an engaging, vigorously researched historical ethnography that uses a set of micro-level events and interactions to reveal the complexity and nuances of the early colonial encounter in what would become the Belgian Congo. This book would be of interest to upper-level undergraduates, graduate students, and scholars in African Area Studies, Anthropology, History, Museum Studies, and even Performance Studies. * Anthropos *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart I. The "Emperor" Strikes Back1. Invitation to a Beheading 2. A Conflict of Memories3. Histories Made by Bodies4. Tropical Gothic5. Storms the HeadhunterPart II. Remembering the Dismembered6. The Rise of a Colonial Macabre7. Art Évo on the Chaussée d'Ixelles8. Lusinga's Lasting Laughs9. Composing Decomposition10. Defiances of the DeadAppendix A: Some Background on Our ProtagonistsAppendix B: A Note on IllustrationsGlossaryNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisStructure, Meaning and Ritual in the Narratives of the Southern San analyses texts drawn from the Bleek and Lloyd Archive - arguably one of the most important collections for the understanding of South African cultural heritage and in particular the traditions of the /Xam, South Africa's 'first people'. Initially appearing in a now rare 1986 edition and here re-issued for the first time, the doctoral thesis on which the book is based became the catalyst for much scholarly research.The book offers an analysis of the entire corpus of /Xam narratives found in the Bleek and Lloyd collection, focusing particularly on the cycle of narratives concerning the trickster /Kaggen (Mantis). These are examined on three levels from the 'deep structures' with resonances in other areas of /Xam culture and supernatural belief, through the recurring patterns of narrative composition apparent across the cycle, and finally touching on the observable differences in the performances by the various /Xam collaborators. The exposition of the connections between these levels is cogently argued and richly supported by detailed reference to the ethnographic record specific to the /Xam. The work also contains two supporting ethnographic appendixes relating to beliefs and practices concerning shamans and girls' puberty observances.Hewitt's text remains the only comprehensive and detailed study of /Xam narrative, and it has become itself the object of study by researchers and Ph.D candidates in South Africa, the UK, Canada and elsewhere. This new edition at last makes Hewitt's important work more widely available. It will be a welcome addition to the recently burgeoning literature on the place of the /Xam hunter-gatherers in the complex history of South African culture and society.Trade ReviewRoger Hewitt's 'centrally important thesis... was the first to recognize the significance of the [Bleek and Lloyd] archive and give us the inaugural scholarly introduction to it. Pippa Skotnes, director of the Bleek and Lloyd archive This remains a remarkable work of scholarship. Andrew Bank, historian, University of the Western Cape

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Book SynopsisThe First Ethiopians explores the images of Africa and Africans that evolved in ancient Egypt, in classical Greece and imperial Rome, in the early Mediterranean world, and in the early domains of Christianity. Inspired by curiosity regarding the origins of racism in southern Africa, Malvern van Wyk Smith consulted a wide range of sources: from rock art to classical travel writing; from the pre-dynastic African beginnings of Egyptian and Nubian civilisations to Greek and Roman perceptions of Africa; from Khoisan cultural expressions to early Christian conceptions of Africa and its people as 'demonic'; from Aristotelian climatology to medieval cartography; and, from the geo-linguistic history of Africa to the most recent revelations regarding the genome profile of the continent's peoples. The research led to a startling proposition: western racism has its roots in Africa itself, notably in late New-Kingdom Egypt as its ruling elites sought to distance Egyptian civilisation from its African origins. Kushite Nubians, founders of Napata and Meroe who, in the eighth century BC, furnished the Black rulers of the twenty-fifth Dynasty in Egypt, adopted and adapted such dynastic discriminations in order to differentiate their own 'superior' Meroitic civilisation from the world of 'other Ethiopians'. In due course, Archaic Greeks, who began to arrive in the Nile Delta in the seventh century BC, internalised these distinctions in terms of Homer's identification of 'two Ethiopias', an eastern and a western, to create a racialised (and racist) discourse of 'worthy' and 'savage Ethiopians'. Such conceptions would inspire virtually all subsequent Roman and early medieval thinking about Africa and Africans, and become foundational in European thought. The book is richly illustrated and concludes with a survey of the special place that Aksumite Ethiopia - later Abyssinia - has held in both European and African conceptual worlds as the site of 'worthy Ethiopia', as well as in the wider context of discourses of ethnicity and race.Trade Review... an original and interesting contribution to the scholarship on European views on Africa. Particularly valuable is its detailed discussion of Egyptian and Classical texts dealing with northeast Africa and their relationship to later European racial discourse. The book is well written and likely to appeal to a broad academic and non-academic audience. - Stanley Burstein, California State University, Los Angeles

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Book SynopsisThe 1955 Asia-Africa conference (the ""Bandung Conference"") was a meeting of 29 Asian and African nations that sought to draw on Asian and African nationalism and religious traditions to forge a new international order that was neither communist nor capitalist, and led six years later to the non-aligned movement. Few would dispute the notion that the inaugural meeting in 1955 was a watershed in international history, but there is much disagreement about its long-term legacy and its significance for present-day international affairs. Was it a post-colonial ideological reaction to the passing of the age of empire or an innovative effort to promote a new regionalism? Were its principles of peaceful coexistence a rhetorical flourish or a substantive policy initiative? Did the Conference help define North-South relations? And in what way did the Conference contribute to the regional order of contemporary Asia?The authors in the present volume argue that the Bandung Conference had a lasting normative influence on the contemporary regional order of Asia, and that it underlies the diplomatic principles and loosely defined normative framework that characterize present-day Asian international relations.

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Book SynopsisDraws on research in archeology, anthropology, linguistics and on historiography. This book charts the development of Ethiopian peoples and their society, placing emphasis on the African origins of Ethiopian civilization.Trade Review"Clear, balanced and well informed, drawing on the latest sources to valuable effect, especially in references to archaeological work." Times Literary Supplement "Richard Pankhurst's contribution to The Peoples of Africa series will be a useful tool for students and general readers who are new to Ethiopian history." Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies "The Ethiopians makes an excellent introduction to the fascinating past of Ethiopia." Danny Yee's Book Reviews - For the full text of this review please visit: http://dannyreviews.com/h/Ethiopians.html "... excellent, based on current scholarship, factual and replete with the type of generalizations necessary for a good tertiary study." Journal of African HistoryTable of ContentsList of Plates. List of Maps. Series Editor's Preface. Table of Dates. Maps. 1. Prehistory and Geography. 2. Punt, Pharaohs and Ptolemies, the Aksumite Kingdom, and the Coming of Christianity. 3. The Zagwé Dynasty, Lalibala Churches, and Solomonic 'Restoration'. 4. Life in the Middle Ages, Contacts with Muslim Neighbours and Far-off Christians. 5. Ahmad ibn Ibrahim, Oromo Migration, and Ottoman Seizure of Massawa. 6. The Move of Capital North-West, and the Roman Catholic Interlude. 7. The Rise and Fall of Gondar. 8. The Early Nineteenth-Century, and the Advent of Téwodros II. 9. Yohannes, Menilek, and the European Powers. 10. Beginnings of Modernisation, Menilek, Iyasu, Zawditu, and Haile Sellassie. 11. Invasion, Occupation, and Liberation. 12. Restoration and Revolution. Bibliography. Index.

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Book Synopsis"White Hunters" is the story of 70 years of African adventure, danger and romance. It recreates the legendary big-game safaris led by Selous and Bell and the daring ventures of early hunters into unexplored territories.

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