Glorious Age in Africa: The Story of 3 Great African Empires

by Daniel Chu, Elliott P. Skinner

A review of 800 years of African history, focusing on the empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay, and revealing the military, educational, and political supremacy during that time.

Genres: History, Africa, Nonfiction, Medieval History

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

Reviews

[Olivia ✮⋆˙]

I forgot to log in a lot of my books I read for school so I'm doing it now ✌️😞

[Dani · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book hard to read as it isn't a novel and it just tells us facts about the history. But to be fair I knew that before I went into it. On the whole I found it boring in places but there were a lot of things that were really interesting, for example I really enjoyed the legends that the people of Mali had.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Genius really said everything there is to say in his review below. Good intro for youngish readers, but needs some scaffolding re language and framing and providing useful maps.

[Rhonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book covers the history of 3 great African civilizations, from approximately 700 - 1600. This neglected history is an amazing story of civilization & high culture in Africa. While this book was written for children, I would recommend this book for everyone who enjoys history. I haven't seen the information in this book in any other world history book. There are a few problems with the book. It is not written in an easy-to-read style. The book throws unfamiliar name, after unfamiliar name. It is difficult to keep all the names straight. Some charts or an appendix would make a big difference. Also, the maps in the book are poorly reproduced and unreadable in many parts.

[Good · Rating 4 out of 5]

WARNING: This book refers to “negroes” which at the time of writing was an acceptable term; it is no longer an acceptable term in the USA nor in Africa. I would not ignore this book because of it but rather explain to a young reader that use if this term is in fact part of history and make sure they understand its negative meaning today and what are acceptable terms.

An important, easy to read book on the history of three great kingdoms in western Africa from the 8th to the 17th centuries that is often completely ignored in American schools and history books. Took one star off because maps and pictures are almost illegible.; really wish there were clear maps and pictures in color and some photographs of artifacts or areas or customs today that are unchanged.

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction to Western medieval Africa. I enjoyed learning about the history and influence of Ghana

[Katrin V · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slender volume with short history of Ghana, Mali and Songhay empires. I rated 4 stars for content , (this is not history included in most world history survey classes) less for style.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad I read it! If you like or are interested in history, especially African, give this book a try. No one should be ignorant about this time in history. :)

[Gregory · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful introduction into the early history of West Africa.

[Cecile · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brief, quick and enjoyable read. I could see this being used as an introductory college primer on Africa's history. I will look for the others in the series.

[Desiree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learned so much from this book!

[Stephanie Ziebarth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though the book is dry at times, especially in the beginning, it provides a great opportunity to acquaint oneself with much-overlooked African history. This book provided opportunities for my daughter and me to have fascinating discussions about not only African history, but how this time period in Africa fits into the overall world history we are more familiar with, as well as how slavery not only impacted Africa in the overall scheme, but how that too fits into the big picture of our world today.

[Leichty Library]

Copies: 1

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! A great little book about three ancient West African kingdoms.

[Ria]

This book was pretty amazing. I thought it would be boring (don't judge a book by it's cover, haha), but I decided I liked it after I had read it.

[Tammy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kinda interesting. I did appreciate the pronunciation helps!!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A history of three great West African empires from the 8th to the 16th centuries: Ghana, Mali, and Songhay.

[Bryan Spahr]

read for school in 5th grade

[Jeremy Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating and simple look at the early history if Africa.