Africa in World History

by Erik Gilbert, Jonathan T. Reynolds

This comprehensive survey is the first to provide a view of African history in the wider context of World History. The book illustrates how Africans have influenced regions beyond the continent's borders, how they have been influenced from outside, and how internal African developments can be compared and contrasted to those elsewhere in the world. Identifying and presenting key debates within the field of African history, this volume encourages students to address the many oversimplified myths regarding the continent and its people.

Genres: History, Africa, Nonfiction, Academic

480 pages, Paperback

First published October 24, 2003

Reviews

[Tom Oman · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's very difficult to cover so much ground and still maintain a captivating read. This is a quick breeze through of literally thousands of years of history. However, it does a good job of realizing Africa's role in the world as a whole, rather than a world unto itself as it is sometimes conveyed. It is unable to delve into many interesting elements of African history for need of brevity.

If you know nothing about Africa this is not a bad place to start.

[Christy Bartel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I. Finally. Understand. The. Geographic. And. Religious. And. Ethnic. Diversity. Of. Africa. Or…at least some of it.

A little.

BUT more than I did before!

It’s an entire continent, and this book covers thousands of years, going back to the start of humanity. I always think of history as a timeline in my brain that I can hang events on, but I didn’t have a metaphorical clothesline for Africa. I didn’t know where to start. This book helped me understand that Africa isn’t all savannas and giraffes, and it’s not all jungle, and it’s not all desert. There’s some Mediterranean climates in their too, and diverse crops and people and animals. My flights from Massachusetts to Florida, about 1000 miles, reveal a drastic change of climate. Flying from the North of Africa down to the South, you can experience any climate you want before eventually returning to a “Mediterranean” climate again. There’s also not one African identity. In fact, Pan African movements are very new, just as the European Union is a new invention. This book, and the course that required I read it, were so valuable! Well…ARE valuable…I’ve got my Final exam on December 16.

I also loved how some of the events coincided with my “History of America and Britain in the Middle East” class. Mostly the North Africa stuff, but also East Africa. I hadn’t realized that Swahili culture was so influenced by Arab culture! That part was interesting too because it discussed the Indian Ocean Trade, not just the Atlantic trade. Anyway, off to finish my next textbook!

[maya · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was of course a companion to two courses on Africa, along with several other books and the lecturing of my professor. I have to say that without my professor I would be mislead on many things covered in this text. Our professor would also share the transcriptions of his lectures with us to access at any point, and I noticed that the level of detail with which my professor covered the material is not missing from the text simply because of the number of pages but the efficiency and priorities of the historiography. I think this book has great passages on dispelling a lot of the misconceptions about Africa, which are caused by the lack of study in the subject in primary education and the terrible coverage of anything outside the US in US media. However, I found myself reading against the grain and cross checking the other sources for the courses. I feel the point where it went from three stars to two was the general lack of challenging narratives which don’t address neo-liberal pressures from IFIs like the IMF and the WB, and their application as a two pronged approach alongside propped up comprador regimes. Without this I think any analysis of the Global South can spin out quick, and instantly have me scrambling to books with more adequate bibliographies on the subject matter.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though this is a history textbook, the writing is far from dry. The text engages with historical occurrences from a variety of perspectives and explores issues of race, slavery, colonialism, and gender relations in the African continent. The importance of past events in shaping the contemporary world is made clear. I learned so much about the rich history of Africa.

[Caglar Bektas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kitap tam da isminin hakkını verecek bir içeriğe sahip. Modern insanın gözünde Afrika hala ya ilkel kabilelerin yaşadığı ya her yerde savaşın ve terörist grupların hakim olduğu ya da antilopların, zebraların cirit attığı egzotik bir kıtadır. Bu kitapta ise Afrika'nın binlerce yıllık katmanlı ve çok kültürlü tarihini anlatıyor. Yorucu fakat sonunda vizyonunuzu değiştiren bir kitap.

[Bart · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an surprisingly good book, surprising in that it was mandatory for a class I followed, it was however terribly expensive. The information density was very excellent, it was able to cover the entire history of the continent. Although the book became better after chapter nine, the history of Africa from 1500 AD, the early chapters where both easy to read and full of information.
The book of course contains faults. For instance saying that the genocide in Zanzibar was an riot, claiming that U.D.I. took place in 64 and claiming that it was Salazar who was overthrown in 74 in Portugal, the man had died about 5 years prior. But that should not stop you, it contains both information coupled with fun anecdotes and the personal experience pieces in each chapter. If you want to get an understanding of African history this is the book to get you started, it is also good for understanding contemporary Africa.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the textbook for my Survey of African History class. I loved the class and wish there were more classes like it at my college. It's kind of sad though how little there was to the book, what was in there was interesting to learn, but I wish it could have gone a bit more into what was going on on the continent. I know it's because it's a survey of history class, not a full on history class. It's a great book to start out with if you don't know much about African History. If you already know the basics, I still suggest the book for the bibliography in it. It has some interesting books listed. The 4 star rating is for how much I learned from the book.

[Namrirru · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my class text for African history, but I found it to be easy reading and very thorough. What I especially like is that it includes ecological and social issues that many history books neglect. It can be found used very inexpensively on amazon or barnesandnoble.com

[Mary Emily O'Hara · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent introduction to african history from an inside perspective. covers the ancient world to contemporary african politics. strongly anti-colonialist and full of direct-source readings and testimonies.