A history of subnational government in Sudan from early times through to 2010. With more than 2.5 million Sudanese killed in conflicts over the past half-century, such an enquiry has become increasingly relevant and urgent. Given Sudan's pivotal position in regional conflicts, its cultural diversity, its past instability and more recent oil wealth, an understanding of subnational politics is essential to fully appreciate the dynamics behind the news emanating from Khartoum, Darfur, Southern Sudan and beyond. 416pp, USA. RED SEA PRESS.

A social history of the Sudanese working class town of Atbara and the headquarters of the Sudan railways. The towns' interest to the author was its importance as a hub of labour activism and radical politics and as a focus point for the Communist party in Sudan. He also looks at the political influence of the railway workers and how they contributed to the fall of two military regimes. Index, bib, gloss, apps, b/w illus, notes, 220pp, UK. JAMES CURREY 0852559623

An exploration of the disparate worlds of British colonial officers and the Muslim Sudanese they sought to remake into modern imperial subjects. Focusing on efforts to stop female circumcision in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan between 1920 and 1946, Janice Boddy mines colonial documents and popular culture for ethnographic details to interleave with observations from northern Sudan, where women's participation in zar spirit possession rituals provided an oblique counterpoint to colonial views. The book explores the subtle process of 'colonizing selfhood', the British women who undertook it, and those they hoped to reform. It suggests that efforts to suppress female circumcision were tied to the continuation of slavery and the rise of commercial cotton growing in Sudan, as well as to concerns about infant mortality and maternal health. Boddy traces manoeuvrings among political officers, teachers, missionaries, and medical personnel as they pursued their elusive goal, and describes their fraught relations with Egypt, Parliament, the Foreign Office, African nationalists, and Western feminists. 440pp, USA. PRINCETON U P.

This textbook in history is primarily intended for secondary schools in South Sudan. The focus is on the history of South Sudan, and is in this sense a pioneer work since it is the country's first secondary school book dealing primarily with the history of the South. Even though the focus is on South Sudan its history cannot be interpreted in a vacuum, and particularly North-South relations are discussed extensively in the book. Maps, b/w illus, 352pp, UGANDA. FOUNTAIN PUBLISHERS.

A resource for students and scholars researching the ancient African civilisation. Aspects of life discussed include military and warfare, government, language, relations with neighbouring civilizations, work and the economy, engineering and architecture, transportation, family life, life cycle events, women's roles, art, music and dance, literature, science, and religion. Includes a historical timeline of Nubian history, a glossary of Nubian terms, and a bibliography for further reading. Index, gloss, b/w illus, xx, 284pp, USA. GREENWOOD PUBLISHING GROUP.

By adding a new dimension to the ongoing scholarly and political debate about Islamism or political Islam within the context of modern politics in Africa, the Middle East and the Muslim world, this study details the development and disintegration of the Islamists' Republic in the Sudan. The Islamists' regime in the Sudan has propagated a distinctive ideology whose declared aim was to create a primary model of an Islamist state. Based on extensive field work inside and outside the regime, this book is the story of the social world of Islamism. It provides an entry point into its local and global worlds as they interact and collide with each other. Index, bib, app, 183pp, UK. ASHGATE.

Analyses the decline and fall of the Funj kingdom of Sinnar, the last of the kingdoms centred in the Nile Valley of Sudan. Between 1750 and 1850, the old social order disintegrated and the new elites could not prevent annexation of the kingdom by Egypt. Index, bib, notes, 317pp, USA. RED SEA PRESS.

Sudan's modern history has been consumed by revolution and civil war. The country attracted international attention in the 1990s as a breeding ground of Islamist terrorism and recently tensions between the prosperous centre and the periphery, between north and south, have exploded in Darfur. This book traces Sudan's history across two hundred years to show how many of the tragedies of today have been planted in its past. The story begins with the conquest of Muhammad 'Ali in 1821, and moves through the Anglo-Egyptian condominium to independence in 1956. It then focuses on Sudanese rule in the post-independence years when the fragile democracy established by the British collapsed under sectarian strife. It is these religious and ethnic divides, the author contends, in conjunction with failed leadership, which have prolonged and sustained the conflict in Sudan. Index, bib, notes, b/w photos, 331pp, UK. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS.

Sixth edition, fully revised and updated to cover the most recent developments that have occurred in Sudan over the last nine years, including: the crisis in Darfur; the ending of decades-long civil war in the South (with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in January 2005); the emergence of the Sudan as an oil-producer and exporter, and its resulting higher profile in global economic affairs, notably as a partner of China; the emergence of al-Qaeda, the relations of Sudanese authorities with Osama bin Laden (whose headquarters were in the Sudan in the 1990s), and the Sudanese government's compli-cated relations with the West. Maps, bib, index, 224pp. UK. LONGMAN.

Highlights the richness of photographic sources for the study of one European colonial entity in Africa, the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Photographs from the extraordinary Sudan Archive of the University of Durham illustrate important aspects of the colonial experience and provide both important information in their own right and essential context for the study of the period. An introductory essay surveys the era, the documentary sources for its study, and the nature of the photographic record. 394pp, NETHERLANDS. E J BRILL.

Personal account of the colonial period in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and the agricultural practices of the Zande and Nuba people. The author worked on a variety of agricultural development projects and also lectured at Khartoum University. B/w ill, app. bib, index, xv, 160pp, UK. ITURI. 1872142605

A new history of Sudan focusing on the rise of Islam since 1881 and the social and political consequences. Index, bib, notes, maps, 252pp, UK. HURST.

Now in paperback. The British campaigns in the Sudan in the closing years of Queen Victoria's reign are an epic tale of adventure more thrilling than any fiction. Evoking images of broken squares, jammed Gatling guns, ferocious 'Fuzzy Wuzzies', British gunboats on the Nile, the Camel Corps, and the charge of the 21st Lancers at Omdurman, the story also brings together a cast of larger-than-life characters - Gordon, Wolseley, Kitchener, Gladstone, Churchill, the Mahdi, the Khalifa 'Abdallahi, and many others. 480pp, UK. PENGUIN BOOKS.

On 26 January 1885, a Sudanese Islamic revolutionary army entered Khartoum. The ensuing slaughter involved the beheading of British officer General Charles Gordon. This new biography recognises the Mahdi's role as the charismatic leader of a movement seeking to free his people. Ranges across issues such as the spread of militant Islam to the Sufi dress codes and the Nile boat building industry. Index, bib, notes, glossary, app, chronology, 16 b/w plates, xxv, 386pp, UK. SUTTON PUBLISHING.

Study of the emergence of a Sudanic kingdom based almost entirely on primary sources: Arabic documents from the Mahdist Archives and British and French colonial records. Analyses the complex process of state formation and the structure of the Mahdist state, with particular reference to the role of Islam, long-distance trade and slavery. Index, bib, apps, notes, 365pp, UK. KEGAN PAUL INTERNATIONAL.

1985 0710300905 Hardback

Deng Majok succeeded his father Kwol Arob as Paramount Chief of the Ngok Dinka of Abyei in 1943 and reigned until his death in 1969. He is widely recognised as one of the most prominent tribal leaders who contributed effectively to the maintenance of peace, security and stability in Sudan, where warrior African and Arab tribes clash over scarce natural resources. Written by his son, a UN special advisor on the prevention of genocide, this is an intimate portrait of the amn and his times. 338pp, USA. RED SEA PRESS.

Now available in paperback. A new synthesis of the archaeology of Nuba and the Sudan providing an up-to-date review, drawing on the results of latest research, as well as developing new interpretative frameworks. Index, bib, b/w photographs & illus, xii, 348pp, UK . ROUTLEDGE.

Concise cultural, geographic, ethnographic, political reference guide to Africa's largest country. Bib, gloss, 160pp, USA. IUNIVERSE.COM

Explores the process of emancipation and the development of wage labour in the Sudan under British colonial rule. Focuses on the fate of ex-slaves in Khartoum and on the efforts of the colonial government to transform them into wage labourers. He probes into what colonial rule and city life meant for slaves and ex-slaves and what the city and its people meant for colonial officials. Index, bib, gloss, notes, maps, tables, 276pp, USA. TEXAS UNIVERSITY PRESS.

1996 0292776942 Hardback

Political history of Southern Sudan, from Fashoda to the present day. Index, bib, notes, extensive apps, 324pp, USA. AFRICA WORLD PRESS.

A catalogue illustrating over 320 treasures of ancient Sudan from the National Museum in Khartoum. Includes essays and entries by over fifty scholars covering the last 200,000 years. The collection ranges from Palaeolithic stone tools, Pharaonic statues and Christian wall paintings to armour of the early Islamic period. Key items highlight the contrast between the world view of many Sudanese cultures. Illustrated with colour images and maps. Index, bib, gloss, diags, 336pp, UK. BRITISH MUSEUM PRESS

Major bibliography which brings together all references to works on Sudan from 1850 to 2000. Organised according to topics. In two volumes. Vol 1: 496pp, vol 2: 624pp, UK. IB TAURIS.