An impressive and readable biography of the continent, describing its prehistory, geology and the emergence of humans and early societies. The author also discusses the impact of trade and foreign influences especially the demand for ivory and slaves. Several sections are also devoted to the coming of settlers, colonialism and the eventual creation of independent states. Index, bib, notes, maps, xii, 803pp, UK. PENGUIN BOOKS, 0140266755

Now in paperback. Detailed examination of the continent since 1945. Argues that imperialism has cast a long shadow and differentiates between external pressures to control Africa and the internal failures of its leadership. Assesses whether twenty-first century Africa can promote its own recovery and renaissance. Index, bib, notes, abbrev, b/w photos, 1028pp, UK. ATLANTIC BOOKS.

This is a concise but sweeping account of the African past, its peoples, and their institutions. The book attempts to provide an overview of African history without getting bogged down in details and data. This approach is very useful for general readers who seek to gain an under-standing of the major trends and developments, and for teachers who plan to supplement this text with primary sources depending on the emphasis of the course. 250pp, USA. MARKUS WIENER PUBLICATIONS INC.

This fourth edition has been revised to cover events in the whole of Africa up to 1991. Index, maps, bib, 388pp, UK. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 0521429706

These text books are at the cutting edge of current thinking in African studies. Organised into clear, historical boundaries, the first volume deals with African geography and historiography before 1885. Each author deals with different periods and societies to provide a detailed overview of the continent from its earliest inhabitants to the kingdoms of West Africa and the States of East and Central Africa, Ethiopia and North Africa. Volume five, the final part in the series covers the issues of modern Africa, and its place in a globalised world. Each volume is illustrated with b/w photos and maps with clear notes and sources. Each chapter ends with review questions and recommendations for further reading. Volume 1: Index, xvi, 451pp, USA. CAROLINA ACADEMIC PRESS.

See above The second volume addresses the varied pre-colonial experience in Africa and focuses culture as a means to reclaim a common heritage. Themes are therefore divided various cultural institutions such as kinship patterns, music, religion, medicine and science, architecture, literature and politics. Index, xxiii, 332pp, USA. CAROLINA ACADEMIC PRESS.

Volume three analyses Euro-African relations and the impact of colonial dominance on these institutions. Also analysed are the various forms of African resistance and response to invasion and the rise of African nationalism. In this volume a chapter is devoted to each region to set out the major events in chronological order. Index, xxiii, 448pp, USA, CAROLIAN ACADEMIC PRESS.

The fourth volume assesses the last decades of colonial rule and their long term legacy on peace and stability. The theme of nationalism is the main theme as are the rapid reforms which marked independence across the continent. The role and contribution of women in the fight for independence is also assessed. Index, xxvi, 541pp, USA, CAROLINA ACADEMIC PRESS.

2003 Paperback

Over 500 reproducible maps, timelines, drawings and charts which detail the broad range of human experience in Africa, from prehistory to the present. BNS, 298pp, USA. FACTS ON FILE, 0816051399

Revised and expanded edition of this classic general introduction to African history. 11 figs, 14 maps, notes, refs, index, xviii, 425pp, UK. SIMON & SCHUSTER, 0684826674

Essential reading for anyone interested in the African continent and the diversity of human history, this Very Short Introduction looks at Africa's past and reflects on the changing ways it has been imagined and represented. Key themes in current thinking about Africa's history are illustrated with a range of fascinating historical examples, drawn from over five millennia across this vast continent. Index, 165pp, UK. OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS.

Invaluable volume on a little explored subject, the long history of relations between Africa and Russia that goes back at least three centuries, a complex, sometimes contradictory, and constantly changing relationship marked by mutual curiosity and idealism, various contacts and exchanges, and revolutionary solidarity during the tumultuous years of colonialism and the cold war. It brings together an interdisciplinary team of leading Russian, African, and Western scholars. Index, bib, b/w illus, 410pp, USA. AFRICA WORLD PRESS

This collection of essays on pre-colonial sub-Saharan African military history is drawn from a number of academic journals and includes some which are considered milestones in African historiographical discourse, as well as others which, while lesser known, provide an introduction to the understudied field of pre-colonial African military history. Selected contents: The wars of August: diagonal narrative in African history, Robert W. Harms; 'He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage': the horse in the Central Sudan, Humphrey J. Fisher; Archers, musketeers and mosquitoes: the Moroccan invasion of the Sudan and the Songhay resistance (15911612), Lansiné Kaba; Portuguese musketeers on the Zambezi, Richard Gray; The art of war in Angola, 15751680, John K. Thornton; Horses, firearms, and political power in pre-colonial West Africa, Robin Law; The impact of the Atlantic slave trade on the societies of the Western Sudan, Martin A. Klien; The sacred musket: tactics, technology and power in 18th-century Madagascar, Gerald M. Berg; Sources of conflict in Southern Africa c 180030: the 'Mfecane' reconsidered, Elizabeth A. Eldredge; 'The character and objects of Chaka': reconsideration of the making of Shaka as 'Mfecane Motor', Carolyn Anne Hamilton; Firearms in South Central Africa, Anthony Atmore, J.M. Chirenje and S.I. Mudenge; Professional warriors in 19th-century Yoruba politics, J.F.A. Ajayi; Production and reproduction of warrior states: Segu Bembara and Segu Tukolor, c 17121890, Richard L. Roberts; Firearms and princely power in Ethiopia in the 19th century, R.A. Caulk; 'For God, Emperor and Country': the evolution of Ethiopia's 19th-century army, John Dunn; War and militarism in pre-colonial Buganda, Richard Reid; War, famine and pestilence in late pre-colonial Tanzania: a case for a heightened mortality, Juhani Koponen. 548pp, UK. ASHGATE.

Updated edition. In a vast and all-embracing study of Africa, from the origins of mankind to the AIDS epidemic, John Iliffe refocuses its history on the peopling of an environmentally hostile continent. Africans have been pioneers struggling against disease and nature, and their social, economic and political institutions have been designed to ensure their survival. In the context of medical progress and other twentieth-century innovations, however, the same institutions have bred the most rapid population growth the world has ever seen. Index, bib, notes, 367pp, UK. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS.

Considers the history and structural problems of the nation state, and its failure to find roots in Africa and Europe. Index, notes, xi, 355pp, UK. JAMES CURREY PUBLISHERS, 0852557000

Reissue. First published in 1969, this reissued classic volume attempts to describe the sophistication of ancient African societies and cultures such as the Akan and the Yoruba that were shattered by the slave trade and imperialism. This wide ranging work looks at what is understood about the African past, its social systems, beliefs and religions and how these have developed and changed over time. Index, bib, notes, refs, 367pp, UK. JAMES CURREY PUBLISHERS, 085255799X

Now in paperback. Covers human history from early times to the present, economic, social and political change. Maps, b/w illus, index, xii, 339pp, UK. PHOENIX PRESS, 1842120123

An acclaimed history of the poor of Sub Saharan Africa, beginning in the monasteries of thirteenth century Ethiopia and ending in the South African resettlement sites of the 1980s. Argues that most very poor Africans have been incapacitated for labour, bereft of support, and unable to fend for themselves in a land rich economy. Only recently has there emerged the new poverty of those excluded from access to productive resources. Index, notes, bib, ix, 387pp, UK. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 0521348773

An alternative history of the Cold War from the perspective of impoverished Third-World people includes coverage of such topics as the 1927 Brussels conclave of the League Against Imperialism and the launch of the Third World project during the 1955 conference in Indonesia. Index, notes, b/w photos, 364pp, USA. NEW PRESS.

Information on many aspects of life in Africa: history, geography, economics, politics, studies of regions, peoples, personalities as well as an overview of the continent. Gloss, index, 1600pp, USA/UK. FITZROY DEARBORN PUBLISHERS.

A revised edition of the comprehensive encyclopedia on African history with a broad cultural and geographic sweep, covers African history from ancient times to the present. The first three volumes are completely revised and updated editions of the three-volume Encyclopedia of African History and Culture (Facts On File, 2001), with two brand-new volumes added to complete the expansive coverage. In-depth, heavily cross-referenced A-to-Z entries Each volume includes 40-50 black and white photographs and 10-15 maps. BNS, 2176pp, USA. FACTS ON FILE.

Addresses the lack of research on events in Africa during the First World War. This work cites nearly two thousand articles, archives, books, journals, and government and public records related to the topic, which are subject to four indices providing comprehensive cross references. 181pp, USA. EDWIN MELLEN PRESS.

First published in 1972, and frequently reprinted, this is a substantial one volume history. It ranges from pre historic times up to the 1970s. Its strength lies in its continuous coverage up to the post World War Two period. This 2002 reprint includes a 32pp b/w photo section, chronological tables and revised notes. Text in French. Index, bib, maps, notes, 763pp, France. HATIER.

Fourth edition of this acclaimed single volume study. B/w ill, maps, index, viii, 653pp, UK. ROUTLEDGE.

The classic study of the history of African cities from antiquity to modern times, from Kumasi to Zimbabwe, from Timbuktu to Sofala. Updated translation by Mary Baker from the original 1993 French edition. Index, bib, notes, 414pp, USA. MARKUS WIENER.

An accessible introduction for students and general readers. The opening chapter on geography and climate frames the discussion, demonstrating how the environment has shaped the societies and cultures of those living in the region. Follows with the rise of states and empires in the classical period, the slave trade within Africa and beyond to the Americas, and the European conquest. The concluding section focuses on Africa in as it gained independence and searched for a new identity beyond colonialism. 418pp, UK. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS.

First published account of the role played by ideas of honour in African history from the fourteenth century to the present day. It argues that appreciation of these ideas is essential to an understanding of past and present African behaviour. Before European conquest, many African men cultivated heroic honour, others admired the civic virtues of the patriarchal householder, and women honoured one another for industry, endurance, and devotion to their families. 430pp, UK. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS.

Provides substantive entries on 36 watershed events that shaped the history of the continent from the pre-historic past to the dawn of the 21st century. BNS, 368pp, USA. GREENWOOD, 0313313237

What is the just measure of Western obligations to Africa? As Africans and their supporters mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in the United States and Great Britain, the question becomes increasingly salient. Calls for reparations for the evils of slavery, as well as for past colonial and current economic and political abuses, can be heard across Africa and the African diaspora. This study analyses the reparations movement from the perspectives of law, philosophy, political science, and sociology. While acknowledging the brutal background of the slave trade and colonialism, and the mistreatment of the peoples of Africa, Howard-Hassmann finds that the complexity of this history, along with facts of the contemporary situation, weakens the case for financial compensation, although she does recommend acknowledgment of, and apologies for, some actions. Index, bib, notes, 257pp, USA. UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA PRESS.

From the early seventeenth century, North America and Africa have maintained many contacts. This volume traces these reciprocal relationships showing how American missionaries, traders, prospectors, miners, educators, soldiers of fortune, scientists and other pioneers have helped shape modern Africa. The authors also look at the important impact made by Africa on the United States through trade and immigration and through the influence of Africans on the arts, agriculture and many other facets of American life. Index, bib, notes, app, b/w illus, xiv, 450pp, UK. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 052133751X