Synopses & Reviews
As the world's second largest continent, Africa is home to a treasure trove of history. The geographical range of its environments and landscapes are only exceeded by – and inextricably intertwined with – the stunning diversity of its people, languages, and cultures. Much of Africa's variety is reflected in the dynamic historical events that transpired over the last 200 years. During this period the continent's population incorporated vastly different systems of polity, economies, and belief systems.
A History of Modern Africa recounts the full breadth of the last two centuries of African history. Author Richard Reid takes us on a thought-provoking and illuminating journey through the slave trade and colonization to the rise of Islam, struggles for independence, and beyond. Readers will see how Africa's rich diversity began to re-emerge during the post-colonial era – and discover the contrasting periods of despair and hope that emerged with it: the comforting dullness of Botswana and genocidal horrors of Rwanda; the bureaucratic routine of Ghanaian elections and violent political upheavals of Zimbabwe. Throughout these landmark events, Reid is ever sensitive to the richness and variety of Africa's people and societies, cultures, and cosmology. A History of Modern Africa is an essential recounting of the turning points of Africa's past and the myriad strands of African culture that will shape its future.
Review
"This is a comprehensive, appealing and highly-accessible history of modern Africa which portrays the continent's turbulent past and contested present in all its variety and complexity. Its combination of sound scholarship, clear writing and humane understanding make it an important contribution to understanding of recent African history."
Bill Nasson, University of Cape Town"This is the book for which I have been waiting. The author has done all of us a great service in providing such an effective teaching tool."
Richard Waller, Bucknell University
Review
"A number of introductions to African history aimed at the undergraduate and general reader have appeared in recent years. Reid's text stands out among these as an invaluable teaching-tool due to its concise but appealing tone, its clear style, and its sensitive treatment of Africa's often tumultuous past and contested present-day experiences. This is an excellent introduction to Africa for the student reader." (History
, 2010)"This book stands as a remarkable achievement andwill be the choice volume on modern African history for some time to come." (
International Affairs, April 2010)
Synopsis
A History of Modern Africa recounts the full breadth of historical events that have shaped the last two centuries of the African continent.
- Stresses the diversity of Africa’s rich variety of people, societies, cultures and religious beliefs
- Provides a thought-provoking and illuminating journey through the slave trade and colonization to the rise of Islam, struggles for independence, and beyond
- Puts the colonial era into proper perspective in relation to events that occurred before it and since
- Wide-ranging in scope, it provides a framework for understanding such events as the genocidal horrors of Rwanda and the recent troubles in Zimbabwe and Kenya
About the Author
Richard Reid is Lecturer in the History of Africa at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He is the author of Political Power in Pre-Colonial Buganda: Economy, Society and Welfare in the Nineteenth Century (2002), and War in Pre-Colonial Eastern Africa (2007), as well as numerous articles on the nineteenth- and twentieth-century history of east and northeast Africa.
Table of Contents
Part I: Polity, Society and Economy in the Nineteenth Century:.
1. Changing Patterns of International Trade (1): Slave Trade and Legitimate Commerce in Atlantic Africa.
2. Changing Patterns of International Trade (2): the Slave and Ivory Trades of Eastern and Northeastern Africa.
3. Revolution, Colony and Frontier in Southern Africa.
Part II: Africa and Islam in the Nineteenth Century:.
4. New Challenges in North Africa.
5. Islamic Revolution in West Africa.
6. The Spread of Islam in Eastern Africa.
Part III: Africa and Europe in the Nineteenth Century:.
7. The Missionary Frontier.
8. Africa Explored.
9. Conquest and Partition: Prelude, Motive and Practice.
Part IV: Consolidating Colonialisms:.
10. Colonial Rule: Aims and Impact.
11. Resistance and Adaptation.
12. Partition Complete: Africa in Global War (1).
Part V: Colonial Apex:.
13: ‘Pax colonia’? Economy and Society in the 1920s.
14. Depression, Protest and Identity.
15. The Edifice under Strain: Africa in Global War (2).
Part VI: The Dissolution of Empire:.
16. Colonial Strategies: the Post-war World.
17. Nationalism and Identity.
18. Conflicts and Compromises: Processes of Decolonisation.
Part VII: Legacy and Unfinished Business:.
19. Africa and the Cold War.
20. Quests for Stability: the Challenges of Independence.
21. Governance and Development: the Contemporary Age.
Index