A History of Africa

by John Donnelly Fage, William Tordoff

A History of Africa is a thorough narrative history of the continent from its beginnings to the twenty-first century. Long established at the forefront of African Studies, this book addresses the events of the 1990s and beyond. The issues discussed

Genres: History, Africa, Nonfiction

672 pages, Paperback

First published November 12, 1978

About the author

John Donnelly Fage was a British historian who was among the earliest academic historians specialising in African history, especially of the pre-colonial period, in the United Kingdom and West Africa. Educated at Tonbridge School and Magdalene College, Cambridge from 1939, Fage's studies were interrupted by World War II. After service in the Royal Air Force in Southern Rhodesia (modern-day Zimbabwe) and elsewhere in Africa, he returned to Cambridge in 1945, where he earned his doctorate four years later

Fage taught at the new University College of the Gold Coast in Accra, Gold Coast (modern-day Ghana) in West Africa from 1949 until 1959, when he returned to the United Kingdom to take a post at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. He moved to the University of Birmingham in 1963 to establish the Centre of West African Studies (CWAS) which he directed until his retirement in 1984.

Reviews

[Huyen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm crying while reading this book, too many details, un-heard-of names, kingdoms, tribes, languages bla bla bla . I wish Fage included a summary in each chapter.

[April Raine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very dry. Not for someone without an extensive knowledge of Africa. Chapters are more thematic rather than chronological. What was most disappointing is the way the book focuses on Africa’s relationship to Europe etc. and not its own organic cultural, economic, and regional histories. European nations are the leading characters of this book, not Africa. A more appropriate title would be “A History of European Interference and Colonization of Africa.”

[Yedei · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written and material is easy to grasp.

[Ian Hefele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Want to re-read this again. I think I have it here.

[Philip Tidman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A detailed history of the African continent, from the ancient kingdoms and empires of North Africa to the post-colonial era. Well worth reading for anybody interested in Africa.

[Nicholas Whyte]

http://nhw.livejournal.com/1025592.html[return][return]I found it a pretty fascinating guide to the interlocking ebb and flow of kingdoms and empires across the continent up to the colonial period. The particular strength is in West Africa south of the Sahara, which I have been long fascinated by despite knowing very little about it, but he's good on the rest as well. Two things I was particularly interested to read about: i) The first massive external colonialist intervention, based on greed and collapsing in mismanagement and ignominious withdrawal, seems to have been the Moroccan destruction of the Songhai empire based on the Niger river in 1591, which resulted in the impoverishment of the whole of West Africa. ii) The rape of southern central Africa ("Bantuland", as Fage calls it) by slave traders at the start of the nineteenth century, and its subsequent easy penetration by European colonialists, was mainly due to the exploratory, trading and colonising efforts of Sayyid Said, the Sultan of Oman, who got so engaged with his successful African trade that he moved the seat of his Arabian sultanate to Zanzibar.[return][return]However, it's probably not the best place to start for today's reader; published in 1978, it therefore misses the crucial transitions in Zimbabwe and South Africa, and covers less than the first half (in many cases not even the first third) of most countries' post-independence history. The unresolved Rhodesia and apartheid questions I think also make it more difficult for the author to assess the colonial and post-colonial eras in the round, and of course the Portuguese and Spanish had only just disengaged. A more recent book would probably be more useful.

[アイリーン · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very detailed