Description
Book SynopsisThe new, fully-updated edition of the acclaimed textbook covering 200 years of African history
A History of Modern Africa explores two centuries of the continent's political, economic, and social history. This thorough yet accessible text help readers to understand key concepts, recognize significant themes, and identify the processes that shaped the modern history of Africa. Emphasis is placed on the consequences of colonial rule, and the links between the precolonial and postcolonial eras. Author Richard Reid, a prominent scholar and historian on the subject, argues that Africa's struggle for economic and political stability in the nineteenth century escalated and intensified through the twentieth century, the effects of which are still felt in the present day.
The new third edition offers substantial updates and revisions that consider recent events and historiography. Greater emphasis is placed on African agency, particularly during the colonial perio
Table of Contents
List of Maps xiv
List of Plates xv
Acknowledgements for the Third Edition
Acknowledgments for the Second Edition xvii
Acknowledgments xviii
1 Introduction: Understanding the Contours of Africa's Past 1
A Brief History of the Study of Africa 5
Land 8
People 12
Part I Polity, Society, and Economy: Ingenuity and Violence in the Nineteenth Century 17
2 Western Transitions: Slave Trade and "Legitimate" Commerce in Atlantic Africa 23
States and Societies during the Atlantic Slave Trade 24
"Illegal" Traffic: The Nineteenth-Century Slave Trade 28
Mineral and Vegetable: "Legitimate" Commerce 32
Change and Continuity in Forest and Savannah 35
3 Eastern Intrusions: Slaves and Ivory in Eastern Africa 42
Commercial Horizons: Slaves and Ivory 43
Maritime Empire: Zanzibar 48
Statehood, Conflict, and Trade (1): The Lacustrine Zone 52
Statehood, Conflict, and Trade (2): Northeastern Africa 59
4 Southern Frontiers: Colony and Revolution in Southern Africa 65
African State and Society to around 1800 65
War, Revolution, and the Zulu Impact 67
Cape Colonialism: White Settlement and the “Native Question” 71
Voortrekkers: White Communities in the Interior 74
Balances of Power to around 1870 75
Part II Africa and Islam: Revival and Reform in the Nineteenth Century 77
5 Revival and Reaction: North African Islam 81
Old and New Identities: Brotherhoods of the Desert 81
Trade and Conflict in the Mediterranean World: Ottoman and European Frontiers 82
Changing Society (1): The Maghreb 86
Changing Society (2): Egypt 89
6 Jihad: Revolutions in Western Africa 94
Islam in Western Africa to the Eighteenth Century 94
The Wandering Fulani 96
Prophets and Warriors 97
7 The Eastern Crescent: The Islamic Frontier in Eastern Africa 103
Swahili Islam: Coastal Frontiers in the Nineteenth Century 103
Islam in the Central East African Interior 105
Cross and Crescent in Northeast Africa 106
Islam on the Nile 108
Part III Africa and Europe: Commerce, Conflict and Co-option, to c.1920 113
8 The Compass and the Cross 119
Interested Gentlemen and Learned Bodies: Explorers and Exploration 119
Creeping Hegemony and the Invention of Africa 123
European Missionary Activity in Africa to around 1800 125
Evangelical Humanitarians: Missionary Revival 126
The Christian Impact on Culture, State, and Society 129
Mission and Empire 134
9 "Whatever Happens …": Towards the Scramble 139
Africa and Theories of Imperialism 140
Race and Culture 142
Disorder and Civilizing Violence: Political and Economic Justifications 145
10 Africans Adapting: Conquest and Partition 150
Explaining the "Conquest" 150
Spears and Water: Violent Resistance 155
Histories Old and New: Colonialism and Historical "Knowledge" 165
Realities Old and New: Colonialism and Political "Knowledge" 168
Bush Wars and Distant Shadows: Africa in Global War 175
Part IV Colonialisms 183
11 "Pax Colonia"? Empires of Soil and Service 189
Monopolies on Violence 190
Slaves and Labor 193
Cash Crops 194
White Settlement 199
Industry 201
Social Change and Emergent Crisis 204
Hearts and Minds 207
Environment and Medicine 210
12 Hard Times: Protest, Identity, and Depression 218
Making Tribes 218
Emergent Protest in the Islamic World 221
Salvation and Resistance: The African Church 223
Class and Tribe: The Industrial Complex 224
Cash Crops, Rural Crises, and Peasant Protest 227
Other Voices 230
13 Battles Home and Away: Africa in Global War (Again) 236
The War in the Continent 236
Shifts in Politics and Society 241
Part V The Dissolution of Empire 245
14 The Beached Whale: Colonial Strategies in the Postwar World 251
Postwar Africa and the International Climate 252
Economic Policies and Visions, c. 1945–50 253
Political Plans, c. 1945–50 256
15 Conceiving and Producing Nations 259
The Widening Horizons of Belonging 260
Tensions and Transitions: From Political Consciousness to Political Parties 261
Irresistible Force and Immovable Object: Nationalists and Settlers 268
A Time of Contrasts 273
16 Compromising Conflict: Routes to Independence 276
Debate and Debacle: "Constitutional" Transfers of Power 276
Violence: Growth, Form, and Impact 286
From Suez to Sharpeville, and Beyond: The End of High Imperialism 291
Part VI Legacies, New Beginnings, and Unfinished Business 297
17 Unsafe Foundations: Challenges of Independence 303
Building the Nation (1): Economy and Society 303
Building the Nation (2): Polity 310
Political Stability and Islam 316
Crowded House: Africa and the Cold War 320
18 Violence and the Militarization of Political Culture 328
The Military in African Politics 328
The Politics and Cultures of Insurgency 332
New Wars, Old Problems, and Expanding Military Horizons 337
19 Rectification, Redemption, and Reality: Issues and Trends in Contemporary Africa 339
Africa and the Contemporary World 339
Democracy and Authoritarianism: Trends in Governance 343
Body and Mind 352
Contemporary Economics: Assessing "development" and "growth"” 355
Further Reading 363
Index 365
