African history Books

Book SynopsisIn a radical reflection, John Young contends that the US model of democracy has failed the Global South because its emphasis on the supremacy of market capitalism entails a loss of national sovereignty and a truncated notion of human rights that leaves little room for citizens' engagement or socioeconomic justice.The Global South needs democracy, but the US model does not address issues of national oppression or economic injustices by raising living standards and ensuring national sovereignty. However, the US international liberal order is increasing being challenged, and a multipolar world is emerging that provides opportunities for people in the Global South to construct systems of democracy that meet their needs rather than those of the US.Trade ReviewA brilliant exposure of the flawed theory and practice of democracy promotion as a tool of US foreign policy. Poorly practiced at home, US ‘democracy’, embedded in global capitalism produces failed states in the global south, where stronger national sovereignty is necessary to achieve authentic democracy rooted in local cultures. * Stephen McBride Professor, McMaster University, Canada *This is a captivating analysis of how the system of governance has evolved in Ethiopia, Sudan and South Sudan and the common features among them. A must read for those interested in the politics and economics of the Global South, especially the Horn of Africa. * Lam Akol *It is the most fascinating, detailed and timely book that demonstrates the global decline of Western democracy and how it lost its soul when it abandoned its core values: citizen’s engagement, accountability, and socio-economic justice and became ‘the best democracy money can buy.’ The book further demonstrates how while declining at home, western powers still export its ideals to countries in the Horn of Africa: Ethiopia, Sudan and South Sudan. Three of these countries face national self-determination claims albeit to varying degrees with Ethiopia hosting countless national liberation front’s demanding a more robust consociational arrangements. The book shows how western model of democracy is misplaced and even if the ideals were to be pursed with vigor, it is trumped by concerns with security and other regional interests as it deed in Sudan in 2019, South Sudan and Ethiopia following the protests in 2018 where popular demands for democracy got aborted. The author’s most outstanding critic however is that western democracy that grew in a different context cannot prosper in a different soil in the Horn of Africa where demands for national self-determination and socio-economic justice take center stage, more so when it is ailing at home. The book is a must read for those interested in the political developments in the Horn, be it academics, students or regional and international actors * Assefa Fiseha, Professor, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia *Table of ContentsPreface Introduction 1. Rise and Decline of US Democracy 2. Horn of Africa Relations in the Wake of US Decline 3. Ethiopia and the Challenge of Democracy 4. Sudan, the United States, and the Propagation of Democracy 5. South Sudan: Another Failed US Democracy Project Conclusion Final Words

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Book SynopsisThe Scramble for Africa astonished everyone.In 1880 most of the continent was ruled by Africans, and barely explored. By 1902, five European Powers (and one extraordinary individual) had grabbed almost the whole continent, giving themselves 30 new colonies and protectorates and 10 million square miles of new territory, and 110 million bewildered new subjects. Thomas Pakenham''s story of the conquest of Africa is recognised as one of the finest narrative histories of the last few decades.

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Book SynopsisKhulu Radebe already had had a full life before discovering at the age of 50 that he was a king. As a teenager, he teamed with other Alexandra Township youth to carry out the 1976 uprisings just prior to the Soweto rising.

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Book SynopsisFormer United States Marine Brian Steidle served for six months in Darfur as an unarmed military observer for the African Union. There he witnessed first-hand the ongoing genocide, and documented every day of his experience using email, audio journals, notebook after notebook and nearly 1,000 photographs. Gretchen Steidle Wallace, his sister, who wrote this book with Brian, corresponded with him throughout his time in Darfur. Fired upon, taken hostage, a witness to villages destroyed and people killed, frustrated by his mission's limitations and the international community's reluctance to intervene, Steidle resigned and has since become an advocate for the world to step in and stop this genocide. The Devil Came on Horseback depicts the tragic impact of an Arab government bent on destroying its black African citizens, the maddening complexity of international inaction in response to blatant genocide, and the awkward, yet heroic transformation of a formerMarine turned humanitarian. It is a gripping and moving memoir that bears witness to atrocities we have too long averted our eyes from, and reveals that the actions of just one committed person have the power to change the world.

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Book SynopsisEnvironmental Conflicts and Peacebuilding in Africa covers pressing issues of environmental politics, such as environmental activism and litigation, climate change, conservation, the challenges of coastal communities, flood prevention, and waste management. Oil subsidy removal, rule of law, and the roles of media and religion are also closely considered.This collection of essays also covers domestic security issues, such as policing, ethno-religious conflicts, local conflicts between farmers and herdsmen, and strategies of conflict resolution affecting the environment. Other issues under discussion include peacebuilding, urban machine politics, the place of children and youth in nation building, and the intersection of politics and psychology in self-determination struggles. Of vital importance to any student of modern Africa, these chapters offer a solid and detailed compendium of readings to contextualize key international relations subjects in the real world. The compendium is also a fitting tribute to the life’s work of one of the brightest scholarly minds Africa has produced.

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Book SynopsisIn this compelling history of the men and ideas that radically changed the course of world history, Lawrence James investigates how, within a hundred years, Europeans persuaded and coerced Africa into becoming a subordinate part of the modern world. The continent was a magnet for the high-minded, the philanthropic, the unscrupulous and the insane. Visionary pro-consuls rub shoulders with missionaries, explorers, soldiers, adventurers, engineers, big-game hunters, entrepreneurs and physicians.Eminent historian Lawrence James narrates how between 1830 and 1945, Britain, France, Belgium, Germany, Portugal and Italy exported their languages, laws, culture, religions, scientific and technical knowledge and economic systems to Africa. The colonial powers imposed administrations designed to bring stability and peace to a continent that seemed to lack both. The justification for emancipation from slavery (and occupation) was the common assumption that the late nineteenth-century Europe was the summit of civilization. This magnificent history also pauses to ask: what did not happen and why?Trade Review'The Second World War points back towards a colonial past in Africa, to bygone scrambles for imperial power. It also glances forward to decolonisation. This global conflict is at the centre of Lawrence James's excellent survey of African history from 1830 to 1990 . . . Empires in the Sun is a brisk, well-written and jaunty account of European empire-building in Africa . . . Intrigue and devious political calculations propel the fast-moving narrative . . . The book is a timely reminder of the complexity of international politics, and the nuanced balance of forces that have shaped our modern world' -- Kwasi Kwarteng * THE TIMES *'A brisk, colourful account of the past 200 years of African history . . . A good informative read' * EVENING STANDARD *He writes as well as ever and is a sure-footed guide. -- Edward Paice * THE SPECTATOR *[A] compelling, even-handed and masterful narrative -- Saul David * LITERARY REVIEW *

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Book Synopsis'Extraordinary' Maaza Mengiste'Exhilarating' Elif BatumanSelam is the youngest child in a large turbulent family. Even before she is born, her omniscience animates life in a Small Town in 1980s southwestern Ethiopia. Selam and her father listen to the radio in secret as the socialist military junta that recently overthrew the government seizes properties and wages civil war in the North. The Asmelashes, once an enterprising, land-owning family, are ostracized under the new regime. In the Small Town where they live, nosy women convene around coffee ceremonies multiple times a day, the gossip spreading like wildfire.As Selam's mother, the powerful and relentlessly dignified Degitu, grows ill, she embraces a persecuted, Pentecostal God and insists her family convert alongside her. The Asmelashes stand solidly in opposition to the times, and Selam grows up seeking revenge on despotic comrades, neighbourhood bullies, and a ruthless God. Wise beyond her years yet thoroughly naive, she contends with an inner fury, a profound sadness, and a throbbing, unstoppable pursuit of education, freedom, and love.The History of a Difficult Child is about what happens when mother, God, and country are at odds, and how one difficult child finds her voice.Trade ReviewAn extraordinary novel. At once a story of a sharp-witted young girl trying to hold herself together during political upheaval, and an achingly tender tale of community, family, grief and forgiveness -- Maaza Mengiste, Booker Prize-shortlisted author of THE SHADOW KINGA major new writing talent. Not only does the novel confront history, masculinity and gender in refreshing but uncompromising ways, it also has a remarkably original voice, fresh and irreverent. Sibhat will soon be one of the most influential voices in the literature of Africa -- Chris Abani, author of GRACELANDA brilliant powerhouse of a novel, an incandescent read from an electrifying writer -- Patricia Hampl, author of THE ART OF THE WASTED DAYSelam, Mihret Sibhat's ferociously witty young narrator, depicts her family's religious and political struggles in Ethiopia in extraordinarily rich and original prose... Deeply moving as well as hilarious. A one-of-a-kind must-read debut -- Julie Schumacher, author of DEAR COMMITTEE MEMBERSAn unexpected and hilarious voice with a velocity all its own... razor-sharp. Tender and merciless, full of human and political insight. I couldn't stop turning the pages -- V. V. Ganeshananthan, author of BROTHERLESS NIGHT

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Book SynopsisAn incisive history revealing Britain’s conquest of the Kingdom of Benin and the plunder of its fabled Bronzes. The Benin Bronzes are among the British Museum’s most prized possessions. Celebrated for their great beauty, they embody the history, myth and artistry of the ancient Kingdom of Benin, once West Africa’s most powerful, and today part of Nigeria. But despite the Bronzes’ renown, little has been written about the brutal imperial violence with which they were plundered. Paddy Docherty’s searing new history tells that story: the 1897 British invasion of Benin. Armed with shocking details discovered in the archives, Blood and Bronze sets this assault in its late Victorian context. As British power faced new commercial and strategic pressures elsewhere, it ruthlessly expanded in West Africa. Revealing both the extent of African resistance and previously concealed British outrages, this is a definitive account of the destruction of Benin. Laying bare the Empire’s true motives and violent means, including the official coverup of grotesque sexual crimes, Docherty demolishes any moral argument for Britain retaining the Bronzes, making a passionate case for their immediate repatriation to Nigeria.Trade Review'A powerful and thoughtful exploration of the deep history behind the looting of some of Africa's greatest artistic treasures. If you want to understand why the Benin Bronzes must be returned to Nigeria, read this book.' -- David Olusoga, historian, broadcaster, and author of 'Black and British''This compelling account of the plunder of Benin provides a deeply disquieting snapshot of the workings of the British Empire in Africa and beyond. There is a manifestly powerful case for restitution and reparation.' -- Priyamvada Gopal, Professor of Postcolonial Studies, University of Cambridge, and author of 'Insurgent Empire''"Blood and Bronze" is a scholarly, forensic and wonderfully readable account of the circumstances leading to the fateful Benin Expedition of 1897 and the looting of the bronzes. Vivid, passionate and compelling, it deserves to be widely read--and surely will be.' -- John Darwin, Professor of Global and Imperial History, University of Oxford, and author of 'Unfinished Empire: The Global Expansion of Britain''An absorbing, original and beautifully written historical horror story. Docherty skilfully weaves a rich tale of the almost primal evil inflicted on Benin by the British Empire. Essential reading for anyone with an interest in the unvarnished truth of the "glorious" days of Empire.' -- Louise Raw, historian, broadcaster, and author of 'Striking a Light''An audacious and brave narrative about how the Benin Bronzes were looted during the colonial era and exhibited in the British Museum. Careful and lucid, "Blood and Bronze" weaves an engrossing narrative explaining how the theft of cultural artifacts is the theft of culture itself.' -- Rafia Zakaria, writer, political philosopher, attorney, and author of 'Against White Feminism''This is, hands down, the most granular and compelling account yet of the 1897 British invasion of Benin. After reading this book, I dare you to make any reasonable argument against restitution of Benin's looted treasures.' -- Chika Okeke-Agulu, Director of the Program in African Studies, Princeton University, and author of 'Postcolonial Modernism: Art and Decolonization in Twentieth-Century Nigeria''Docherty gives vivid access to a place and time we don't know but should: the resource-rich Niger Delta when the British Empire still believed its own myths. An impassioned plea to understand our colonial past in all its greed and ruthlessness--and to return the spoils of Empire to where they belong.' -- Llewelyn Morgan, Professor of Classical Languages and Literature, University of Oxford

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Book SynopsisWhy is the Horn such a distinctive part of Africa? This book, by one of the foremost scholars of the region, traces this question through its exceptional history and also probes the wildly divergent fates of the Horn's contemporary nation-states, despite the striking regional particularity inherited from the colonial past. Christopher Clapham explores how the Horn's peculiar topography gave rise to the Ethiopian empire, the sole African state not only to survive European colonialism, but also to participate in a colonial enterprise of its own. Its impact on its neighbours, present-day Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia and Somaliland, created a region very different from that of post-colonial Africa. This dynamic has become all the more distinct since 1991, when Eritrea and Somaliland emerged from the break-up of both Ethiopia and Somalia. Yet this evolution has produced highly varied outcomes in the region's constituent countries, from state collapse (and deeply flawed reconstruction) in Somalia, through militarised isolation in Eritrea, to a still fragile 'developmental state' in Ethiopia. The tensions implicit in the process of state formation now drive the relationships between the once historically close nations of the Horn.Trade Review'A sharp political history''[An] important and eminently readable new book . . . masterful. . . . the book constitutes an extremely valuable tool for practitioners. Its message is a powerful one.''Christopher Clapham's book is ... an excellent introduction to the specificities of the Horn.' -- PhébéChristopher Clapham is without doubt one of the most knowledgeable experts on the Horn of Africa in the world, and this is a must-read book for anyone working in or on the region. With his characteristic wit and palpable compassion for the people who live in the Horn, Clapham shares a lifetime of keen insights on the region’s extraordinarily complex and often tragic political trajectories. -- Ken Menkhaus, Professor of Political Science, Davidson CollegeAn old master on superb form: Christopher Clapham's latest book is a work of great clarity, trenchant analysis and original insight. -- Harry Verhoeven, Assistant Professor, School of Foreign Service in Qatar, Georgetown University, and co-author of 'Why Comrades Go to War: Liberation Politics and the Outbreak of Africa's Deadliest Conflict'Christopher Clapham should be commended for synthesising a career of scholarship on the Horn of Africa into a short volume written in fluid and engaging prose. Those seeking an introduction to a region which defies easy explanation would struggle to find a better foundational text in paperback. -- Nick Branson, Africa at LSEClapham has produced a book which is simultaneously both an accessible, concise synthesis and a monument to erudite scholarship. His text thus serves as both a unique introduction to the peoples and history of the Horn and an original resource for academic and policy specialists. Clapham's refreshingly clear prose and comparative analyses replace simplistic stereotypes and received wisdom by analysing how variegated landscapes, religions, languages and livelihoods forged power and authority in the Horn of Africa. -- David Styan, Birkbeck College, University of LondonCharacteristically erudite, trenchant and provocative, 'The Horn of Africa' offers that rare combination: an enjoyably 'good read', at once informative, accessible and beautifully written; an important and lucid synthesis informed by a lifetime of extraordinary scholarship in tackling head-on the exceptionalism of this part of Africa; and a stimulating challenge to the thinking of specialists, activists, students and citizens of this complex and contested region. -- Sarah Vaughan, Honorary Fellow, University of Edinburgh‘This is a wonderful book written with great erudition and affection for the peoples and countries of the Horn of Africa, by a longstanding expert who is now enjoying emeritus creativity at the University of Cambridge’s Centre for African Studies. It is also yet another valuable contribution to regional studies from London’s excellent publisher, Hurst.’‘The distinguished political scientist and veteran Ethiopianist Christopher Clapham has written a fascinating account . . . insightful, thoughtful, and full of wisdom.''Successfully depicts the Horn of Africa as much more than the disaster zone it is widely perceived to be.'‘An accessible history of one of the most unique corners of Africa … an important book of history that is frankly a pleasure to read.’ -- H-Africa

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Book SynopsisWhy has Madagascar has failed to make any meaningful progress since independence? A mix of journalism and scholarship, the book is the result of almost nine months spent on the ground in Madagascar travelling and interviewing a wide range of political leaders at the national and local levels, including an unprecedented interview with the country’s former president, Marc Ravalomanana. The book takes as its point of departure the military coup in 2009 that replaced Ravalomanana with Andry Rajoelina, and all of the negative aftershocks that followed, as well as including chapters on the bleak economic prospects of young people across the island, the unsustainable population growth that threatens so much of its future and a unique chapter on the effects of climate change on the southern region of Madagascar, where worsening droughts have left millions in humanitarian peril.

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Book SynopsisIn this groundbreaking work, the essayist and critic Adewale Maja-Pearce delivers a mordant verdict on Nigeria’s crisis of democracy. A mosaic of ethnic and religious groups, the most populous country in Africa was fabricated by British colonizers at the turn of the twentieth century. In the years since its independence in 1960, Nigeria spent an unbroken quarter century as a military dictatorship. Yet the blessings of today’s democracy are unclear to many, especially among the more than half of the population living in extreme poverty. Buffeted by unemployment, saddled with debt, menaced by bandits and Islamic fundamentalists, Nigeria faces the threat of disintegration.Maja-Pearce shows that recent mobilizations against police brutality, sexism, and homophobia reveal a powerful undercurrent of discontent, especially among the country’s youth. If Nigeria has a future, he shows here, it is in the hands of young people unwilling to go on as before.

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Book SynopsisA rip-roaring lost worlds thriller written in the early 1900s by a pioneering black writer of black fiction. The story of Reuel is fuelled by love, betrayal and a heavy undertow of the supernatural; an impulsive medical student, he travels from Boston to Ethiopia, discovers a hidden city, ancient treasure and his own heritage. A new edition with a new introduction which considers Pauline Hopkin's development of the social and racial themes also explored by W.E.B. Du Bois. A new title in Foundations of Black Science Fiction series. FLAME TREE 451: From mystery to crime, supernatural to horror and myth, fantasy and science fiction, Flame Tree 451 offers a healthy diet of werewolves and robots, mad scientists, secret worlds, lost civilizations and escapist fantasies. Discover a storehouse of tales, ancient and modern gathered specifically for the reader of the fantastic. The Foundations titles also explore the roots of modern fiction and brings together neglected works which deserve a wider readership as part of a series of classic, essential books.

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Book SynopsisOffering an up-to-date historical perspective which should enable readers to fathom how the brutal massacres of 800,000 Rwandese came to pass in 1994, this volume includes a new chapter that brings the analysis up to the end of 1996. Gerard Prunier probes into how the genocidal events in Rwanda were part of a deadly logic - a plan that served central political and economic interests - rather than a result of primordial tribal hatreds, a notion often invoked by the media to dramatize genocide.Trade Review'Prunier's elucidation of [Rwanda's history] seems to me to be beyond praise. He has reconstructed the entire process by which a thorough modern genocide was planned.He has read all the documents. He has interviewed both perpetrators and survivors. He has anatomized the cold process of mass murder in both theory and practice.' - * Christopher Hitchens, Washington Post *'The most thorough treatment of the background to the massacres ... He presents his balanced and painstaking research with clarity and skill, and he shows how the ideological, political, and economic components of Rwanda's human time bomb slowly assembled... A former consultant to the Mitterrand government, Prunier is particularly well informed on the shameful role of the French in helping create the conditions that led to the 1994 explosion.' * Foreign Affairs *'Gerard Prunier's new history of the Rwandan genocide casts this sad moment into the black and white relief of print and commits to memory the struggle of those Rwandans who fell victim to the atrocities of last year's tragedy. His book is a fitting tribute to those who lost their lives, and an important contribution to the work of understanding the complexities of modern conflict.' * The Boston Book Review *

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Book SynopsisThere is still a great fascination with the British Empire. Opinions vary widely about Great Britain’s imperial past, and about the extraordinary characters who shaped it and were willing to sacrifice everything for it. This remarkable, engrossing true story tells of two of the British Empire’s most pivotal characters: Sir Frederick Lugard, soldier, explorer, anti-slaver and controversial first Governor-General of Nigeria, and Flora Shaw, the first colonial editor of The Times. The Passionate Imperialists recounts how they met, loved and transformed each other’s lives, and how they fought slavery and through their efforts helped improve the lives of millions of people in Africa. The story starts in India and moves to Afghanistan, Sudan, across Africa, then travels to Hong Kong and concludes with the founding of Nigeria.

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Book SynopsisTimbuktu Unbound: Islamic Texts, Textual Traditions and Heritage in West Africa is a cutting edge collection offering a reconsideration of manuscripts in Muslim West Africa. The contributors give voice to the dynamic ways in which textuality operates through technological innovations, ongoing habituated practices, and how the workings of power and authority within these communities inform these texts and their roles. To that end this book explores a number of interrelated themes: the social value of texts as objects; personal libraries as forms of investment/legacy; social practices involved in the exchange, movement and gifting of certain kinds of manuscripts; hierarchies and evaluative treatments of manuscripts, and quasi-market forces. The recent destruction and subsequent salvage operations to protect the Timbuktu manuscript libraries has highlighted their role as the quintessential exemplar of manuscript heritage in newly historicized Africa. Yet these events also underscore the prevalent narrative about Muslim West African cultural heritage - embodied in the form of manuscripts, archives and documents - as under dramatic and existential threat. This volume seeks to diverge from this dominant salvific starting point of heritage discourse - namely, that such objects are things of intrinsic value to be saved - in order to examine the more nuanced activities of diverse actors engaged in the study, preservation, acquisition, movement and, in some cases, destruction and disposal of the wide range of materials that constitutes the textual heritage of these societies.Table of ContentsTimbuktu Unbound: Islamic Texts, Textual Traditions and Heritage in West Africa.Colonialism and Book Culture: The Resistance of the Muslim Scholarly Communities in Northern Nigeria.A Treasure in Disarray: Reflections on the Institute of African Studies Arabic Manuscripts Collections.Efficacious Texts: Unraveling Nineteenth-Century Islamic Talismans in Asante (Ghana).Building Family and Community Ties Through Manuscripts.Flecks of Timbuktu on the Skin: Excavating the Unbound Aspects of a Manuscript Collection.

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Book SynopsisPass down the powerful teachings of African oral tradition by adding this luxe illustrated volume of over 50 cultural folktales to your home library.In this captivating collection of folklore from African culture, discover the stories that have been passed down through generations and continue to teach valuable lessons today through their vibrant, illustrative language. With over 50 folktales, Roots and Legends celebrates the richness of African customs and life, and champions the importance of oral tradition, a practice that rose up through the dark times of slavery and oppression.Thoughtfully curated and richly illustrated, Roots and Legends features the wonder and educational lessons of cultural stories and figures such as: Why Spiders Are Always Found in the Corners of Ceilings How the Tortoise Got Its Shell Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky How Mr. Lion Lost His Wool Brother Bear’s Big House Brer Rabbit and the Gold Mine Morning Sunrise Diddy-Wah-Diddy Uncle Monday A Ghost Story About an Aunt Farmer Mybrow and the Fairies And more! Divided into four sections (Why Things Are the Way They Are; Morals Taught through Animals Tales; Bearing Witness; and People with Unusual Powers) covering the spiritual nature of animals, people, the land and its sometimes spooky inhabitants, and more, each page is filled with timeless tales of heroes, tricksters, and everyday wisdom, and invites you to immerse yourself in the depth and beauty of African folklore.Featuring historic stories with a modern editorial review, this deluxe collectible edition includes original illustrations and an embellished, giftable package. A perfect choice for families interested in passing down African heritage through storytelling traditions, Roots and Legends will enchant readers of all ages through its beautifully illustrated and accessible collection of folklore.

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Book SynopsisIn the 1950s, Ghana, under the leadership of Kwame Nkrumah and the Convention People’s Party, drew the world’s attention as anticolonial activists, intellectuals, and politicians looked to it as a model for Africa’s postcolonial future. Nkrumah was a visionary, a statesman, and one of the key makers of contemporary Africa.Trade Review“Sterling…A much-needed work on this important period in both Ghana’s history and the history of sub-Saharan Africa…Though some of the earlier works on Nkrumah and the demise of his rule are overly critical, and argue that Nkrumah’s ideology and the socialism of the CPP were at odds with what the people wanted, Ahlman’s work is critical yet measured.…[He] bridges the gap between the overly harsh studies of the late 1960s and 1970s and the more recent sentiments of Ghanaians who believe that Nkrumahism managed to bring some benefits to Ghana.” * H-Net *“Ahlman’s trenchant and insightful book will be of considerable interest to scholars of citizenship, decolonization, early post-independence nationalism, and pan-Africanism. Ahlman’s work is suitable for both undergraduate and graduate audiences.” * African Studies Review *“The time is ripe for histories like this one that re-examine the classic moment of early postcolonial nationalism. In clear, accessible style, Ahlman sets up this account as a story that needs to be told without the baggage of a later postcolonial pessimism overdetermining the narrative. Further, he meets this challenge.”“This well-crafted study of Ghanaian life under the rule of Kwame Nkrumah and the Convention People’s Party (CPP) makes an important contribution to our understanding of a critical period in Ghana’s and Africa’s history.…Ahlman clearly succeeds in his goal of illuminating the ‘aspirations and tensions involved in living with Nkrumahism’ and reconstructing a critical period in Ghana’s history ‘without the weight of later decades.’” * Journal of Modern African Studies *“Living with Nkrumahism is an ambitious and successful book. It should be read by anyone interested in Nkrumah’s Ghana and African national developments in the 1950s and 1960s.” * Journal of Social History *

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Book SynopsisThe Algerian War lasted from 1954 to 1962. It brought down six French governments, led to the collapse of the Fourth Republic, returned de Gaulle to power, and came close to provoking a civil war on French soil. More than a million Muslim Algerians died in the conflict and as many European settlers were driven into exile. Above all, the war was marked by an unholy marriage of revolutionary terror and repressive torture.Nearly a half century has passed since this savagely fought war ended in Algeria’s independence, and yet—as Alistair Horne argues in his new preface to his now-classic work of history—its repercussions continue to be felt not only in Algeria and France, but throughout the world. Indeed from today’s vantage point the Algerian War looks like a full-dress rehearsal for the sort of amorphous struggle that convulsed the Balkans in the 1990s and that now ravages the Middle East, from Beirut to Baghdad—struggles in which questions of religion, nationalism, imperialism, and terrorism take on a new and increasingly lethal intensity.A Savage War of Peace is the definitive history of the Algerian War, a book that brings that terrible and complicated struggle to life with intelligence, assurance, and unflagging momentum. It is essential reading for our own violent times as well as a lasting monument to the historian’s art.

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Book SynopsisIn this gripping graphic novel, a Jewish journalist encounters an extension of the horrors of the Holocaust in North Africa. In the lead-up to World War II, the rising tide of fascism and antisemitism in Europe foreshadowed Hitler's genocidal campaign against Jews. But the horrors of the Holocaust were not limited to the concentration camps of Europe: antisemitic terror spread through Vichy French imperial channels to France's colonies in North Africa, where in the forced labor camps of Algeria and Morocco, Jews and other "undesirables" faced brutal conditions and struggled to survive in an unforgiving landscape quite unlike Europe. In this richly historical graphic novel, historian Aomar Boum and illustrator Nadjib Berber take us inside this lesser-known side of the traumas wrought by the Holocaust by following one man's journey as a Holocaust refugee. Hans Frank is a Jewish journalist covering politics in Berlin, who grows increasingly uneasy as he witnesses the Nazi Party consolidate power and decides to flee Germany. Through connections with a transnational network of activists organizing against fascism and anti-Semitism, Hans ultimately lands in French Algeria, where days after his arrival, the Vichy regime designates all foreign Jews as "undesirables" and calls for their internment. On his way to Morocco, he is detained by Vichy authorities and interned first at Le Vernet, then later transported to different camps in the deserts of Morocco and Algeria. With memories of his former life as a political journalist receding like a dream, Hans spends the next year and a half in forced labor camps, hearing the stories of others whose lives have been upended by violence and war. Through bold, historically inflected illustrations that convey the tension of the coming war and the grimness of the Vichy camps, Aomar Boum and Nadjib Berber capture the experiences of thousands of refugees through the fictional Hans, chronicling how the traumas of the Holocaust extended far beyond the borders of Europe.Trade Review"Comprehensive and cinematic, Boum's and Berber's incisive graphic novel illuminates a forgotten and essential story of Holocaust refugees in North Africa."—David Kushner, author of Easy to Learn, Difficult to Master and Masters of Doom"Based on extensive archival research, Undesirables powerfully depicts how the experience of Jews and Muslims in both Europe and North Africa was an inseparable part of World War II and the Holocaust."—Daniel Schroeter, co-editor of Jewish Culture and Society in North Africa"Undesirables connects the histories of Jews and North Africans, of antisemitism and racism, of the Holocaust and colonialism in the twentieth century in innovative and surprising ways. It is an eye-opening book in the literal sense of the word."—Michael Brenner, American University, Washington DC and University of Munich"Vivid in word and image, Aomar Boum's and Nadjib Berber's rewarding graphic novel introduces readers to a lesser-known chapter from the Holocaust and the relentless stench of antisemitism. Undesirables powerfully portrays the raw horror of the period in its intelligent and expressive historical account."—Samantha Baskind, Distinguished Professor of Art History, Cleveland State University"Berber's black-and-white artwork has a throwback noir feel, thick with period details.This in-depth graphic history brings a shameful period to broader awareness."—Publishers Weekly"While the willing cooperation of Vichy with Nazis is well known, their activities in North Africa in running their own system of labour, effectively concentration, camps is not.... [Undesirables] is both an accessible and an important addition to our understanding of the history of Jews in North Africa."—Mike Cushman, Jewish Voice for Labour"Undesirables offers opportunities to both reimagine Holocaust experience and appeal to different audiences through the multimodality of the comics form. The volume is an essential tool for prompting conversation on the impact of the Nazi Regime outside of Europe as much as on the role of comics and graphic novels in the historiography of World War II."—Elizabeth "Biz" Nijdam, EuropeNowTable of Contents1. PART I: GERMANY – FRANCE - ALGERIA 2. PART II: THE SAHARAN CAMPS

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Book SynopsisConcise history of Namibia from its origins until its independence.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewHeywood has written a complete and focused account of Queen Njinga…Njinga of Angola seamlessly knits together the complete set of sources on the Queen, which include missionary accounts, letters, colonial records, previous histories of Angola and Dutch West India Company records…Heywood has cleared away the noise of [the] mostly fantastical accounts and assembled as straight a biography as is possible. Indeed, Njinga of Angola, which took nine years of research, sets out to replace interpretation and sensationalism with facts…Heywood preserves all of the complexity of Njinga and her politics in a book that provides the most complete and foundational history of Queen Njinga. -- Delinda J. Collier * Times Literary Supplement *Maintaining independence in the face of colonial encroachment, the seventeenth-century African queen Njinga fascinated Europeans…This fine biography attempts to reconcile her political acumen with the human sacrifices, infanticide, and slave trading by which she consolidated and projected power. * New Yorker *In her biography of this fascinating character, Linda Heywood seeks to blow away the smoke of infamy and adulation. She reveals a figure no less protean in life than her reputation has proved to be in the three and a half centuries since her death—an individual who overstepped boundaries of religion, gender and nationhood…Like its subject, Heywood’s book defies simple categorization, mixing anthropology, gender studies and history…This stimulating biography of a queen and resistance leader offers a timely reminder that gender fluidity is not something unique to the present age. -- David Gelber * Literary Review *Over her decades-long reign in the 17th century in central Africa, Queen Njinga was by far the most successful of African rulers in resisting Portuguese colonialism, argues Heywood. What’s more, as this detailed and engaging study with walk-on parts for Vatican plotters, Dutch traders and Brazilian slavers shows, she rivaled Elizabeth I and Catherine the Great for political nous and military prowess. Tactically pious and unhesitatingly murderous; a ‘subverter of gender norms,’ in the inevitable formulation; a national heroine in today’s Angola; a commanding figure in velvet slippers and elephant hair ripe for big-screen treatment; and surely, as our social media age puts it, one badass woman. -- Karen Shook * Times Higher Education *Queen Njinga of Angola has long been among the many heroes whom black diasporians have used to construct a pantheon and a usable past. Linda Heywood gives us a different Njinga—one brimming with all the qualities that made her the stuff of legend but also full of all the interests and inclinations that made her human. A thorough, serious, and long overdue study of a fascinating ruler, Njinga of Angola is an essential addition to the study of the black Atlantic world. -- Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of Between the World and MeNjinga’s time has come. Heywood tells the fascinating story of arguably the greatest queen in sub-Saharan African history, who surely deserves a place in the pantheon of revolutionary world leaders, male and female alike. -- Henry Louis Gates, Jr.Heywood gives us a biography well worthy of its complex subject: an insightful portrait of the person, smoothly narrated, with an eye for telling details, and solidly historical in its thoughtful probing of the currents in the African and Portuguese worlds Njinga skillfully navigated for more than four decades. This welcome book is a good read and a great story. -- Joseph C. Miller, author of The Problem of Slavery as HistoryHeywood offers a complex and layered narrative that significantly enhances our knowledge about Njinga, the memorable ruler who defied colonial power in seventeenth-century central Africa. In addition to being a tour de force of historical analysis that will mesmerize scholars, this powerful and moving book will delight Njinga’s many admirers, for the African queen occupies a vital place both in the national identity of Angola and in the memory of people of African descent in the Americas. -- Roquinaldo Ferreira, author of Cross-Cultural Exchange in the Atlantic World[Njinga] was powerful, committed, and brilliant in her manipulation of the situations and people around her…A necessary introduction to this pivotal figure in African and world history. -- Jacob Ivey * H-Net Reviews *Historically, various authors have demonized Njinga or downplayed the importance of her reign. Heywood, however, does a beautiful job of clearly depicting her subject and setting the context for her decisions. More than simply providing facts, the author humanizes Njinga, turning her into a sympathetic figure. In the end, it is clear that she is to be appreciated in both African and world history…A great book for any history buff By taking up the mantle to write such a biography, Heywood ensures that Njinga will not be forgotten. -- Sonnet Ireland * Library Journal *Njinga’s consummate skills as charismatic ruler, warrior, and diplomat enabled her to survive and eventually triumph over her foes, securing peace and making her a potent national symbol for modern Angolans. Heywood tells a thrilling story of pitched battles mixed with truces, internecine conflicts, strategic migrations, hair­-raising escapes, and deft international relations, including allying with the Dutch against Portugal…Njinga is among the best biographies of any African. It deserves a wide readership. -- T. P. Johnson * Choice *Heywood [has] meticulously stitched together academic sources, contemporary documents, and details passed down through oral traditions to create a fully fleshed-out portrait of Njinga and her accomplishments. -- Anne Thériault * Longreads *

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Book SynopsisExam Board: EdexcelLevel: AS/A-levelSubject: HistoryFirst teaching: September 2015First exams: Summer 2016 (AS), Summer 2017 (A-level)Give your students the best chance of success with this tried and tested series, combining in-depth analysis, engaging narrative and accessibility. Access to History is the most popular, trusted and wide-ranging series for A-level History students.This title:- Supports the content and assessment requirements of the 2015 A-level History specifications- Contains authoritative and engaging content- Includes thought-provoking key debates that examine the opposing views and approaches of historians- Provides exam-style questions and guidance for each relevant specification to help students understand how to apply what they have learntThis title is suitable for a variety of courses including:- Edexcel: Option 2F.2: South Africa, 1948-94: From apartheid state to 'rainbow nation'

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Book SynopsisThe gripping and definitive account of the Day of Infamy, the attack on Pearl Harbor that led to the United States' entry into the Second World War.Trade ReviewIn this brilliant mix of history and emotion, Craig Nelson has managed to combine grueling research with masterful reporting in order to capture the long and the short, the overview and the detail, of that infamous day in a paradisal land of orchids and jacaranda. It has taken seventy-five years, but now, finally, the Pearl Harbor book has been written -- Jim deFilippi, author of MULES OF MONTE CASSINO and MURKACraig Nelson has completely retold the epic story of Pearl Harbor. Using his skills as a reporter and a literary stylist, he not only deftly paints the fleeting image - an enemy pilot waving as he flies by, a cup of coffee trembling on a table while outside a war commences - but a world roiled in titanic struggle ... This book has a thousand poignant and unforgettable moments. You'll read Pearl Harbor and want to pass it to a friend -- Doug Stanton, author of HORSE SOLDIERS and IN HARM'S WAYWith lively prose and many astute insights, Nelson chronicles the Japanese-American political jockeying before moving on to the action, where he does not disappoint. Battle descriptions are socially acceptable historical porn, so readers' eyes will be glued to the page as Nelson weaves archival research, interviews, and personal experiences from both sides into a blow-by-blow narrative of destruction liberally sprinkled with individual heroism, bizarre escapes, and equally bizarre tragedies * KIRKUS REVIEWS *

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Book SynopsisTrapped in History tells how the British colonised Kenya and how African nationalism arose under Jomo Kenyatta. It describes the terrifying first attacks by the guerrilla freedom fighters known as Mau Mau. Though defeated, the Mau Mau hastened the end of British rule in Kenya. Trapped in History explores the effect the uprising on the author, who grew up as a child in the Kenya colony.The book is both a history, as well as a memoir, of the end of Empire.

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Book SynopsisMoroccan Other-Archives investigates how histories of exclusion and silencing are written and rewritten in a postcolonial context that lacks organized and accessible archives. The book draws on cultural production concerning the “years of lead”—a period of authoritarianism and political violence between Morocco’s independence in 1956 and the death of King Hassan II in 1999—to examine the transformative roles memory and trauma play in reconstructing stories of three historically marginalized groups in Moroccan history: Berbers/Imazighen, Jews, and political prisoners. The book shows how Moroccan cultural production has become an other-archive: a set of textual, sonic, embodied, and visual sites that recover real or reimagined voices of these formerly suppressed and silenced constituencies of Moroccan society. Combining theoretical discussions with close reading of literary works, the book reenvisions both archives and the nation in postcolonial Morocco. By producing other-archives, Moroccan cultural creators transform the losses state violence inflicted on society during the years of lead into a source of civic engagement and historiographical agency, enabling the writing of histories about those Moroccans who have been excluded from official documentation and state-sanctioned histories. The book is multilingual and interdisciplinary, examining primary sources in Amazigh/Berber, Arabic, Darija, and French, and drawing on memory studies, literary theory, archival studies, anthropology, and historiography. In addition to showing how other-archives are created and operate, El Guabli elaborates how language, gender, class, race, and geographical distribution are co-constitutive of a historical and archival unsilencing that is foundational to citizenship in Morocco today.Table of ContentsPreface | ix Note on Transliteration | xiii List of Abbreviations | xv Introduction | 1 1. (Re)Invented Tradition and the Performance of Amazigh Other- Archives in Public Life | 26 2. Emplaced Memories of Jewish- Muslim Morocco | 63 3. Jewish- Muslim Intimacy and the History of a Lost Citizenship | 89 4. Making Tazmamart a Transnational Other- Archive | 115 5. Other- Archives Transform Moroccan Historiography | 150 Conclusion | 177 Acknowledgments | 189 Notes | 193 Bibliography | 253 Index | 281

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Book SynopsisHistory is rife with tales of fighting women. More often than not, these stories prove more legend than history. Dating back to the Amazons of ancient Asia Minor, myths of fierce, autonomous women of martial excellence abound. And yet, the only thoroughly documented Amazons in world history are the women warriors of Dahomey, an eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Western African kingdom. Once dubbed a "small black Sparta," residents of Dahomey shared with the Spartans an intense militarism and sense of collectivism. Moreover, the women of both kingdoms prided themselves on bodies hardened from childhood by rigorous physical exercise. But Spartan women kept in shape to breed male warriors, Dahomean Amazons to kill them. Originally palace guards, the Amazons had evolved by the 1760s into professional troops armed mainly with muskets, machetes and clubs. Theoretically wives of the king and quartered in his palaces, they were sworn to celibacy on pain of death. In compensation they enjoyed a semi-sacred status and numerous privileges, including the right to own slaves. By the 1840s their numbers had grown to 6,000. The Amazons served under female officers and had their own bands, flags and insignia: they outdrilled, outshot and outfought men, became frontline troops and fought tenaciously and with great valour till the kingdom's defeat by France in 1892. The product of meticulous archival research, Amazons of Black Sparta is defined by Alpern's gift for narrative and will stand as the most comprehensive and accessible account of the woman warriors of Dahomey.Trade ReviewAlpern draws together the available material on this peculiar institution into an interesting and readable book. The author's meticulous literary and archival research indicates that these females were indeed formidable warriors in the turbulent nineteenth-century era of the slave trade and subsequent European colonial conquest ... Alpern's work is an informative study. -- W. Arens, ChoiceAlpern does very well in assembling most of the evidence about these intimidating women whose courage impressed even the Foreign Legion. He produces a very detailed picture from a wide variety of European and African sources. He provides a readable narrative of Dahomean military history from the state's origins to its defeat by France in 1892, ... [and] a mass of information on what these women wore, ate and sang, how they were recruited, trained and mobilised. -- Richard Rathbone, The TimesAlpern has written an impressively comprehensive study covering all aspects of this extraordinary military force - he describes them in fascinating detail - Altogether he has made an important scholarly contribution to the history of nineteenth-century West Africa in which the Amazon achievement has until now been scarcely mentioned. -- Christopher Fyfe, Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History… and today they [the Amazons] exist as no more than footnotes to history. Only one scholarly work has been written about these women, Amazons of Black Sparta by Stanley B. Alpern. -- Stieg Larsson, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s NestA succint, yet comprehensive, survey of the history of Dahomey. ... Alpern is by no means the first writer to give an account of the Amazons of Dahomey. Yet, his is by far the most detailed and most convincing. ... Truly, Alpern's portrait of the Amazons is a well deserved encomium to the courage and dedication of these intrepid women warriors. ... [and] the feather in the cap of this extremely well-written book is [its] remarkable empathy. -- Africa Review of Books

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Book SynopsisThis cohesive account of Egypt’s millennia-long past offers readers a sure guide through the corridors of Egypt’s past, from the mysterious predynastic kingdoms to the nation-state of the twenty-first century. The author addresses central issues such as how Egyptian history can be treated as a whole and how the west has shaped prevailing images of it, both through direct contact and through the lens of western scholarship. Drawing on current historical scholarship and his own research, Jason Thompson has written a remarkable work of synthesis and concision, offering students, travelers, and general readers alike an engaging one-volume narrative of the extraordinarily long course of human history by the Nile. This updated paperback edition contains new material on the 25 January Revolution, the rise and fall of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the new era of President Sisi.Trade Review"“Intended to offer travelers especially a basic background in Egyptian history, Thompson’s survey fluidly relates thousands of years of time. . . . An excellent introduction to Egyptian history.”—Gilbert Taylor, Booklist, ""A remarkable work of synthesis, cohesion, and understanding.""—Al-Ahram Weekly, ""[An] excellent summation of the flow of Egyptian history.""—Egyptian Archaeology, ""[The] dearth of comprehensive histories is answered handsomely by Thompson's survey.""—Saudi Aramco World"Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Preface Chronology Maps 1. The Gift of the Nile 2. The Birth of Egyptian Civilization: Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt 3. The Old Kingdom 4. The First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom 5. The Second Intermediate Period and the New Kingdom 6. The Third Intermediate Period and the Late Period 7. Ptolemaic Egypt 8. Egypt in the Roman Empire 9. Coptic Egypt 10. The Advent of Islam 11. The Fatimids and Ayyubids 12. The Mamluks 13. Egypt in the Ottoman Empire 14. The Birth of Modern Egypt 15. Mid-Nineteenth-Century Egypt 16. The British Occupation of Egypt 17. The Parliamentary Era 18. Nasser 19. Sadat 20. Mubarak 21. Postscript to Revolution Notes Recommended Reading Image Sources

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Book SynopsisKEVIN SHILLINGTON trained history teachers at the University of Botswana in the 1980s. His years of teaching experience in Africa have included African History at school and university level. He holds an MA and PhD in African History from the University of London, UK, is the author of many books on African history and is a renowned authority in this field.Trade ReviewHistory of Africa remains the best introductory textbook on the market. This comprehensive and engaging overview of African history takes the reader on a fascinating journey from human origins to the present. * Professor Alicia Decker, Pennsylvania State University, USA *One of the most comprehensive and incisive treatments of African history. Lucid and coherent, it conveys the complexities and diversity of the African historical experience. Students, scholars and general readers will find this narrative engaging and compelling. * Dr Bonny Ibhawoh, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada *A clear, readable narrative of the entire span of the continent's history, augmented by the best maps and illustrations of any textbook. * Professor Lisa A. Lindsay, University of North Carolina at Chapel-Hill, USA *Shillington's History of Africa remains as relevant as ever. Starting with the origins of humankind and authoritatively guiding readers to the present day, this is a superb account of a vast story, tenaciously placing Africa's peoples at its centre. * Dr Wayne Dooling, SOAS, University of London, UK *The standard textbook on the subject. Readable and comprehensive, the latest edition has numerous colour photos, and has been thoroughly updated. * Professor Hakim Adi, University of Chichester, UK *The best edition of Shillington yet. * Professor Paul Landau, University of Maryland at College Park, USA *Table of ContentsIntroduction SECTION ONE: EARLY AND LATER PRE-HISTORY 1 Early prehistory of Africa 2 Later prehistory: farming and pastoralism in tropical Africa and Ancient Egypt SECTION TWO: EARLY IRON AGE 3 The impact of iron in north and west Africa 4 The Early Iron Age in central, eastern and southern Africa SECTION THREE: RELIGION AND EMPIRE IN NORTHERN AND WESTERN AFRICA 5 North Africa to 1000 CE 6 Trans-Saharan trade and the kingdom of ancient Ghana 7 Islam and the Sudanic states of west Africa SECTION FOUR: RELIGION, TRADE AND CHIEFTAINCY IN EASTERN, CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AFRICA 8 Eastern Africa to the sixteenth century 9 Later Iron Age states and societies of central and southern Africa to the sixteenth century 10 Trading towns of the east African coast to the sixteenth century SECTION FIVE: WEST AFRICA IN THE ERA OF THE SLAVE TRADE 11 The Atlantic slave trade, sixteenth to eighteenth century 12 West African states and societies, to the eighteenth century SECTION SIX: STATE RENEWAL AND FORMATION IN NORTH, EAST, CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AFRICA 13 North and north-east Africa to the eighteenth century 14 Central and eastern Africa to the eighteenth century 15 Southern Africa to the eighteenth century SECTION SEVEN: THE NINETEENTH CENTURY BEFORE THE EUROPEAN ‘SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA’ 16 West Africa in the nineteenth century 17 The ending of the Atlantic slave trade 18 Christian Missions, new States and pre-colonial ‘nationalism’ 19 Central and east Africa in the nineteenth century 20 Pre-industrial southern Africa in the nineteenth century 21 North and north-east Africa in the nineteenth century SECTION EIGHT: THE CHALLENGE OF CULTURAL AND POLITICAL IMPERIALISM, LATE-NINETEENTH CENTURY 22 Colonial conquest and African resistance in east, north-central and west Africa 23 Industrialisation, colonial conquest and African resistance in south-central and southern Africa SECTION NINE: THE IMPACT AND NATURE OF COLONIAL RULE, 1890-1945 24 Consolidation of empire: the early period of colonial rule 25 Africa between the wars: the high tide of colonial rule 26 The Second World War and Africa SECTION TEN: THE OVERTHROW OF COLONIALISM 27 The winning of independence (1) 28 The winning of independence (2) 29 The winning of independence (3) SECTION ELEVEN: AFRICA SINCE INDEPENDENCE 30 African responses to the colonial legacy 31 The challenges and dilemmas of development: debt and international aid 32 Contemporary Africa Further Reading Index.

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Book SynopsisBetween the years 1964 and 1974, Ethiopian post-secondary students studying at home, in Europe, and in North America produced a number of journals. In them, these students explored the relationship between social theory and social change within the project of building a socialist Ethiopia. Ethiopia in Theory examines the literature of this student movement, together with the movement 's afterlife in Ethiopian politics and society, in order to ask a vital question: what does it mean to write today about the appropriation and indigenisation of Marxist and mainstream social science ideas in an Ethiopian and African context? And, further, what does the archive of revolutionary thought in Africa teach us about the practice of critical theory more generally?Trade Review"This superb book will transform all discussions concerning the production of knowledge. Ranging through the archives, moving across philosophy and critical theory, and traversing social history, Ethiopia in Theory frames a stunningly original account of the Ethiopian student movement of the 1960s and '70s as a site for the production of radical social science. Rather than the mere reception of revolutionary theory in an African context, Zeleke shows us the dynamics of its generation. There is truly nothing in the literature that comes close to the depth of this multi-leveled, interdisciplinary study. Zeleke 's outstanding book deserves the widest possible readership in social history, African studies, post-colonial analysis, and Marxist and critical theory in general." --David McNally, Cullen Distinguished Professor of History, University of Houston, author of Monsters of the Market: Zombies, Vampires and Global CapitalismTable of ContentsForeword by Donald L. DonhamAcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsNote on CitationsIntroductionPart 1 Knowledge Production and Social Change in Ethiopia1 The Children of the Revolution: Toward an Alternative Method2 Social Science Is a Battlefield: Rethinking the Historiography of the Ethiopian Revolution3 Challenge: Social Science in the Literature of the Ethiopian Student Movement4 When Social Science Concepts Become Neutral Arbiters of Social Conflict: Rethinking the 2005 Elections in Ethiopia5 Passive Revolution: Living in the Aftermath of the 2005 ElectionsPart 2 Theory as Memoir6 The Problem of the Social Sciences in AfricaBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisThe rise and fall of the business of slave trading - by a bestselling historianTrade ReviewA 'darkly compelling history of the trade'. * MAIL ON SUNDAY *The most impressive single volume history of the subject. Combining grand narrative sweep with vivid, telling detail, Thomas provides an elegant synthesis of contemporary accounts and modern scholarship * LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS *

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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 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 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 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 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 SynopsisIn The Last Resort, journalist Douglas Rogers tells the eye-opening, harrowing and, at times, surprisingly funny story of his parents' struggle for survival in war-torn Zimbabwe.Trade ReviewThis vibrant, tragic and surprisingly funny book is the best account yet of ordinary life - for blacks and whites - under Mugabe's dictatorship. * New York Times *So do we really need another memoir by a white Zimbabwean? The surprising answer is yes, if it's as good as Douglas Rogers' The Last Resort. A ripping yarn, for sure. But it is in the nuance Rogers brings to Zimbabwe that he truly excels. It moves beyond memoir to become a chronicle of a nation. There is black and white, yes, but much more in the shades and tones of their mix - and it is in exploring them that Rogers, too, finds his art. * Time Magazine *A gorgeous, open-hearted book. Rogers manages to do the vital work of taking race out of Zimbabwe's story and putting the heart and humanity back into it. A must read for anyone who really wants to understand the extraordinary decency of ordinary ZimbabweansThe man who taught me how to breathe.'

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Book SynopsisThe first full account of an African secession that introduced the modern mercenary ‒ and killed the head of the United Nations

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Book SynopsisIn Jihād in West Africa during the Age of Revolutions, a preeminent historian of Africa argues that scholars of the Americas and the Atlantic world have not given Africa its due consideration as part of either the Atlantic world or the age of revolutions.Trade Review“This book represents … a career-spanning synthesis of Lovejoy’s most influential work, as well as a challenging and original argument about the importance of ‘mainstreaming’ the history of the West African jihadist movements of the eighteenth and nineteenth century into broader accounts of the ‘Age of Revolutions’ in the Atlantic world.…Jihād in West Africa During the Age of Revolutions will undoubtedly become the standard reference in the field.” * Journal of Islamic Studies *“Jihād in West Africa is a hugely compelling book, prompting Africanists, Atlanticists and specialists of revolutionary Europe and the Americas to reconsider established paradigms and break from the silos imposed by a mixture of cultural divides, rigid geographic parameters and different linguistic specializations.” * Journal of Global Slavery *“Paul Lovejoy makes an original and important contribution to several major historiographies—of Africa, Islam, the Atlantic World, the Atlantic slave trade, slavery in the Americas, and the comparative history of slavery. Jihād in West Africa during the Age of Revolutions is grounded in deep research in both primary and secondary sources, and perhaps most importantly, in a professional lifetime spent thinking deeply and creatively about these topics.”

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Book SynopsisA lyrical investigation both powerful and transcendent' CHIGOZIE OBIOMAAcutely observed, hauntingly rendered and deeply affecting' AMINATTA FORNABoth epic and intimate' MARGO JEFFERSONAn astonishing search for a missing person, the hidden tragedies of war and the truth of Nigeria's history.Emmanuel Iduma never met his uncle, his father's favourite brother and the man for whom he is named. The elder Emmanuel left home in 1967 to fight in the Biafran War and was not seen again. The war lasted for three years, with young Igbo men volunteering to fight for a breakaway republic in the chaotic wake of British decolonization. Around one hundred thousand others who fought in the war share a fate like Emmanuel's uncle, though there are no official records of these losses. The tensions that gave rise to the conflict remain live, threatening sometimes to bubble over. In this landscape, there are no monuments or graves. Instead, a collective remembering that remains, for the most part, silent.I ATrade Review‘A thorough and thoughtful reporter, Iduma explains how it has become taboo in Nigerian culture to discuss the war, and uses his family’s own tragedy to tell the devastating story of a country that has not been allowed to properly mourn its dead. I Am Still With You is a deeply felt eulogy for those who were lost and a sobering reflection on the shame that comes with silence’ Time Magazine, The 100 Must-Read Books of 2023 ‘A lyrical investigation into the nature of being, history, the collective memory of Biafra – a dark chapter in world history. Iduma writes with such startling clarity that the book ultimately becomes both powerful and transcendent’ Chigozie Obioma, Booker Prize-shortlisted author of The Fishermen and An Orchestra of Minorities ‘A genre-defying work, I Am Still with You is a quest, both spiritual and real, a travelogue, a memoir, and a history of Biafra … Acutely observed, hauntingly rendered, and deeply affecting – a masterful achievement’ Aminatta Forna, author of The Devil That Danced on the Water ‘Iduma confronts and contemplates the wounds left by the Biafran war: death on a mass scale; deaths in his family; griefs, angers and questions that still plague the living. I Am Still With You is both epic and intimate. It gives us the beauties and consolations of an ethnical imagination’ Margo Jefferson, author of Negroland ‘In clear, elegiac prose, Iduma’s search leads to an affecting conclusion’ New Statesman ‘Iduma’s quietly brilliant new book … blends travelogue, reportage, criticism, memoir, and history in a hypnotic tale’ Vulture, Best Books of 2023 ‘An immersive memoir … Iduma’s unraveling of the past is bound to leave readers eager to uncover their own family secrets’ Publishers Weekly

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