The African Experience: From "Lucy" to Mandela

by Kenneth P. Vickery

Course Lecture Titles
1. Finding the "Lost Continent"
2. Africa's Many Natural Environments
3. A Virtual Tour of the Great Land
4. The Cradle of Humankind
5. Crops, Cattle, Iron-Taming a Continent
6. Kinship and Community-Societies Take Shape
7. Like Nothing Else-The Ancient Nile Valley
8. Soul and Spirit-Religion in Africa
9. Ethiopia-Outpost of Christianity
10. West Africa's "Golden Age"
11. The Swahili Commercial World
12. Great Zimbabwe and the Cities of the South
13. The Atlantic Slave Trade-The Scope
14. The Atlantic Slave Trade-The Impact
15. South Africa-The Dutch Cape Colony
16. South Africa-The Zulu Kingdom
17. South Africa-The Frontier and Unification
18. South Africa-Diamonds and Gold
19. Prelude to the "Scramble for Africa"
20. European Conquest and African Resistance
21. Colonial Africa-New Realities
22. Colonial Africa-Comparisons and Change
23. The Lion Awakens-The Rise of Nationalism
24. The Peaceful Paths to Independence
25. The Congo-Promise and Pain
26. Segregation to Apartheid in South Africa
27. The Armed Struggles for Independence
28. The First Taste of Freedom
29. The Taste Turns Sour
30. The World Turns Down-The "Permanent Crisis"
31. A New Dawn? The Democratic Revival
32. The South African Miracle
33. The Unthinkable-The Rwanda Genocide
34. The New Plague-HIV/AIDS in Africa
35. Zimbabwe-Background to Contemporary Crisis
36. Africa Found

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Africa, Audiobook, Politics, Anthropology, Race

19 pages, Audio CD

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Lois · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can not reccomend this audio lecture. It's one of those TTC lectures where professors lecture on their specialty.
This profs specialty is Western & Southern Africa. Yet he wants Africans to take responsibility for colonialism and not use it as a way to not acknowledge the mess the continent is currently in.🙄😬
So, yes, it's fairly racist.
The professor is using primarily white, western, colonial sources which will be racist and biased. Not sure why he's not using the abundantly available Arabic resources which is what Western scholars use for info on Greece & Rome🤷🏽‍♀️
Plus the first 6 lectures aren't about history but about geography, flora, fauna, proto man, early man, first human societies etc.
Histories of Europe either start before Rome arrived or after the fall of Rome. None have ever started with geography and ventures through Neanderthal and cro magnon interactions. It's fucking ridiculous, annoying, eurocentric and racist as fuck.
It's not until lecture 7 on Egypt that you get to the actual history. Much of what's been said is racist, dated and cringeworthy.
None the less solid info on how Kush and Egypt developed each other and exchanged info/technology.
Also good info on the builders of ancient Egypt not being Arabic. The Arabic invasion of North Africa is AFTER the rise of Islam. At this period Egypt had lots of cultures and skin tones but the founders would be black africans🤷🏽‍♀️
Egypt is instrumental in the rise of Greece. In fact most of Greek culture is stolen 'borrowed' from the Egyptians, including God/dress. Even some of their early language. Rome of course, borrows from Greece.
So it appears that Egypt is the foundation of what is great about Europe, lol.
It's also the foundation for later Central, West & South African Kingdoms.
All roads lead to Egypt and Egypt's 'road' is the Nile. The Nile flows upstream and the founders of Egypt followed the Nile and settled in the fertile region that grew into Egypt.
So yes the basis for modern civilization in Europe is African.
Europeans have been stealing culture since the very beginning.
I knew this but did not think this racist ass prof was going to lay this out so boldly.

[André · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not a series on the "African Experience." This is a series on the history of white people in Africa, from the perspective of a white man. Some interesting history here, but not what I was looking for, and frustratingly one-sided despite the professor's attempts to remain objective.

[Linda ~ they got the mustard out! ~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Either I know a whole lot more about African history than I thought I did, or this lecturer didn't go as deep as he could have. It seemed like a lot of this was grabbed from the headlines of the last half-century and having lived through most of that, I already knew quite a bit of that. It did offer somwhat more information and gave more cultural and historical content to those headlines, so it's not a complete bust. But he really did zip right through the earliest history of our oldest continent, and I just can't believe there was that little information for him to use. It was pretty much 'blah blah Lucy blah blah Christianity blah blah slavery and now the 20th century.' The supplementary material provided with this provided a few useful maps, but was otherwise just a detailed outline of what his lectures went over.

The lecturer, Prof. Vickery, spoke clearly and was easy to follow along with. He had this weird, kind of awkward laugh that would pop up when talking about sensitive or difficult subjects, or even just randomly, and since this is Africa we're talking about, there's a lot of sensitive and difficult subjects. I'm a bit perturbed by the reviews calling him racist though. Just because he's a white guy talking about Africa, that doesn't make him racist. However, having seen those criticisms before starting this, I did listen with a sharpened ear for what they might have been referring to and I can't say that I heard anything of the sort. He's clearly very passionate about his research and his work, he provided source materials from Africans as well as Europeans who were encountering these cultures for the first time. He would have done a disservice, I believe, to curtail or edit out the language that was used in historical times or used culturally by the African people themselves. He stated several times throughout that he did not agree with the views of the colonizers or how they impacted the cultures they came into contact with, and he expanded on how that derailed Africa's growth over the centuries and still impacting it today. But he's an educator and it's his job to be as objective and impartial as possible, so perhaps some thought he was less successful - or maybe too successful? - at that than others. I do understand the desire to have a lecture series about Africa from the perspective of Africans, as I have that desire myself. No matter how long Prof. Vickery might have lived there, his experiences, and thus his relation to the material, will be different from someone who grew up there. So I am currently in search of just such a series and have a couple on my Audible wishlist to get to at some later point.

[David L. Dallaire · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, I confess I grabbed this off the shelf somewhat impulsively thinking it was a good long history book on a topic I've not spent much time on and was perfect for a lot of driving I had to do on an East Coast business trip. Turns out I grabbed a 36 lecture college course...which was AMAZING. I'm going to pick up more of these.

At some point, the course intersected with my own training in Soviet Studies and US Foreign policy especially during the post-colonial era, but there were so many other things to learn I'm motivated to go deeper too...

If you like history, then this is worth the time, especially as a way to pass time in the car to absorb it with fewer distractions.

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here’s a wonderful overview of mostly Sub-Saharan African history from the dawn of humanity to the present day. That’s a heck of a lot of material to cover and Vickery does a masterful job of exploring the highlights of early human existence, Africa in the pre-colonial period, the colonial period, and the post-colonial struggles. Vickery also struggles for balance in his presentation, so this is neither overly romantic nor overly negative. All in all, it’s a fascinating overview of huge continent and the people who inhabit it.

If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great overview of the history of Sub-Saharan Africa. He left me wanting to learn even more about this fascinating land that most of the world knows too little about.

[Kari Whitesell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very thorough review of African history. It takes you through the history of the people, and the land before borders were formed by the Europeans who took over during the early 1900's. It covers events surrounding the "Scramble for Africa," when many European leaders wanted the resources there, and they wanted the natives to perform the hard labor to get it for them. It also covers the difficult subjects of slave trade, the Rwanda genocide of 1994 and the effects of HIV/AIDS.

This professor has a deep love of southern Africa, and has devoted decades of his life studying and living there. He respectfully covers hard subject matter in an interesting way. I listened to these lectures in the car. I have always had an interest in the continent, and I now have a greater understanding of its history and current events. I highly recommend this course.

[Joe Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an intro level college course taught in a solid manner. The early lectures on geography are compelling. The lectures on the overall history of Africa are less polished and fairly content light, however those covering a specific area and especially on South Africa are much better. As the course comes to modern times, the quality improves as I suspect we approach closer to the instructor's areas of knowledge and expertise.

As an armchair historian who has watched far too many history courses, I was a bit disappointed that the course didn't rise to the highest levels of presentation and learning. Still since my knowledge of sub-Saharan Africa was nil, I did learn quite a bit and it was worth the 18 hours.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is such a joy to listen to these series when the lecturers are so clearly passionate about their chosen subject of study. This one was phenomenal.

[Allana · Rating 4 out of 5]

"We don't have the right to give up hope. Life has been given to us, it is a gift from God.... I don't have the right not to hope." André Sibomana

I listened to this course about 10 years ago and decided to relisten because it's hard to retain 18 hours of course material listened to over train rides and dirty dishes. My knowledge of African history before this course was mostly limited to popular knowledge but this felt like a decent introduction into the course material.

[Juan Rivera · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like to have some culture to have learned from life in several countries of the world. But I confess: I know nothing of Africa and I have read very little.

To remedy this I bought the course "The African Experience: From 'Lucy' to Mandela" written by The Great Courses narrated by Professor Kenneth P. Vickery. Excellent the book and opened my eyes on many things:

- Africa is a huge continent, with great diversity in climate, fauna and flora. However it is not very suitable for agriculture, only 3% of the continent has quality land, it is surprising how the human being can live there.
- The slave trade was something that marked the life of the continent. Probably for every million people sent, four died. Imagine the size of the problem.
- Each country has a different history, in general there are problems and opportunities, you can not mention Africa as a whole, but a set of totally different countries.
- Africa has long been seen by Westerners as a place to exploit, material resources and people. This little has changed.
- The problem of AIDS is a pandemic, in some countries the level of infection is 30% ... incredible.
- Angola is one of the countries with a very violent recent history. When my friend Philip Reese comments on situations of his life over there, I feel the crudeness of his moments of life, the desperation lived in all its heyday.
- When in the 60s of the last century many countries became very independent, a new Africa emerged, but soon after corruption turned it into a failed continent. There are opportunities today. It is better to be optimistic than pessimistic.
- In some countries the massacres (the Congo when it was dominated by War, Rwanda, etc.) were much worse than that of the Jews. A real tragedy.

As the book ends by saying, if you've ever thought about knowing Africa, do not stop doing it, there is much to learn. I hope I can do it one day.

[Fate's Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was as non-cringey as I could hope for from a non-African lecturer. His discussions are frank, honesty, respectful, and admiring without glossing over the realities of colonialism and the lingering damage done across the continent. I learned a ton annoy a contingent whose history seems mostly neglected in the West. I would absolutely recommend this course.

[R. August · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview and introduction to the history of the continent. At times a little too fluid, as I found myself at some point in history without quite understanding how I got there exactly, but given the scope of the subject matter this can be forgiven.

[Christine B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned many things. I wish he had several more courses going into more specifics on many of the different nations of sub-Saharan Africa. The Great Courses needs more African history overall.

[Victor N · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent style and approach to teaching the subject, but this was far too short to get any meaningful picture of the history of sub-Saharan Africa.

[RWM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read the other reviews and am puzzled by the descriptions of the professor. One reviewer mentioned they picked up the book from the library- though it is a audio/video series. This makes me wonder if they actually listened to it. I have a completely different impression.

This is a deeply respectful series of lectures from a scholar who committed his life to educating others about Africa’s history. His message is realistic but hopeful.

I listened to his lectures over about 3 months while reading: 1. Africa's Geography: Dynamics of Place, Cultures, and Economies. Benjamin Ofori-Amoah and 2. Africa in World History: From Prehistory to the Present. Gilbert E & Reynolds JT.

All elaborate on prehistory to post-colonial periods. I thought all authors under emphasized the impact of the political and religious imperialism (Jihads of the Word and the Sword) of Islam and how West Africa and the Swahili coast might have developed differently without its dominance.

I learned a lot about Mali, Ghana, Songhai and the impact of the Bantu migration. Also the interaction between Oman, Iraq and India with the east coast of Africa.

He detailed the tragic history of indigenous, middle eastern and Indian as well as Atlantic slavery and some of the long term effects on African development in modern history.

He was highly critical of the Portuguese and (possible the worst) Belgians in the Congo.

He appropriately labeled and condemned the ‘systemic racism’ of N and S Rhodesia as well as South Africa.

The story of colonial settlers and their impact of the original inhabitants is similar to that of the Hittites, Assyrians, Romans, Spanish in Central and South America, British expansion in Ireland and Turks in Armenia. Mostly bad.

This is a sensitive and accurate lecture series that is better to sip over time than to binge. Listen and make your own decision.

[Umar Farooq · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book introduced me to a whole new world. I tended to think of sub-saharan Africa as a monolith plus South Africa. In the very first chapters I got rather surprised to know for the first time the Victoria Falls, the Sahel, the balad-us-Sudan and the Zimbabwe plateau, the tropical forests of Congo and the grasslands of Zambia, the Kilimanjaro mountain and the dragon mountains. I spent hours looking at Google maps to get a feel of how vast and beautiful this region is. After all, Africa covers 24% of land mass of the Earth. And then it goes on to introduce people throughout history, some with kings and dictators but some with true democracy I didn't read about anywhere else. A place of so many contrasts. Where everyone loves freedom yet the struggle doesn't seem to end. Where some of the bravest people reside, often standing against some of the most oppressive regimes. These regimes are from all races, from South African Apartheid and Belgian Congo to Mugabe and Nguema.
The author is deeply in love with Zambia and narrates some heart warming personal accounts. One powerful point about these lectures is his vast personal experience in Africa. He also goes into detail of the current perils Africa is facing like the HIV epidemic and shows us hope as in cases of Senegal and Uganda in how they are recovering.
It was a marvelous introduction to mother Africa, the land of the hopeful who never give up, the most human virtue of all.

[Brian Childs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been working with a team from South Africa and I realized that despite loving history, I know little about African history, especially before colonialism. Having listened to a number of great The Great Courses series this seemed like a great place to start.
Compared to other Great Courses series, it seemed that this one suffered from having too much ground to cover in too little time. Topics that could be entire books, like the history of Ethiopia are condensed into half an hour or 60 minutes. As a result, some of the sections felt superficial and there were times I felt like I wasn't learning much more than what I already knew.
That said, I learned a lot and there were many interesting anecdotes that stuck with me. The African slave trade and history of South Africa were particularly strong areas.
Coincidentally, I visited The African American History Museum shortly after finishing the series. The experience was greatly enhanced by having listened to these courses, which I think is a tribute to how good the series was.

[Ronda · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with all introductory College Styled lectures, this gives us a brief overview of everything that should make you want to learn more.

I appreciated the professors, honest conversations on everything from where all humans originated from, to the horrific outcomes from the many forms of abuse and manipulation used to gain control over the many resources Africa offers.

I think this is a great read for all of us who know very little about African history. Especially anyone interested on how European colonization disrupted a society with minimum conflicts and created one easily manipulated. If we really pay attention we will see many of the same tactics at use here in America to this day.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would say that if you don’t know much about the history of Africa, this would be a good book to pick up. It overlooks some of the big events on the history of the content and gives a brief overview. However it doesn’t go into depth. I noted down the books he suggested to read to learn more about particular people or events. Since I’m trying to learn more about African history, some things I had never heard about before, but some things I definitely did know about.

[Ryan Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first part is great. A good survey of African history. Around halfway through though the narrative shifts almost exclusively to Europe influence in Africa. You obviously can't ignore this period of history, but if you ignore the African people during it all together, it hardly becomes a history of Africa anymore an turns into a history of Europeans in Africa.

[Lovette · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great surface account on parts of Africa and a more in-depth look at others . Like many others, Vickery has done his best at the big bite that a wholistic look on Africa always is. He states that his expertise is on Southern Africa, so be prepared to learn much more about that region than you would on other parts of the continent. Great work overall.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author is an incredible academic and this is an expansive exploration of Africa’s escarpment with great background stories and references to other books and sources Im also slowly reading.

And I have read many books on Africa already, I found his overview very refreshing.

The author loves Africa, he talks with grace and love for the most diverse, unique, beautiful, and often misunderstood place on earth, and my homeland.

I’m just one of the 10 000 different tribes, speaking one of the 2000 different languages.

[Oliver Bateman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as interesting as Vickery’s courses at NC State — here he’s covering the whole of African history in 18 hours, and even with the course packet and recommended readings , stuff gets missed. That said, he’s a solid lecturer and this is a decent overview course. Zambia is the country he knows best, so his coverage of that topic is quite good.

[XXX · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview of important themes, even if there isn't much new here for folks who read the news regularly. But the author has deep experience in southern Africa (esp. Zambia) & honestly his offhand remarks are quite valuable, perhaps more so than the structured ones. Also, he clearly is just someone who has thought a lot about African history in general and I learned a lot via osmosis.

[Lee Radford · Rating 5 out of 5]

We desperately need more understanding of African history and culture. But it is difficult to cover such a vast topic for such an immense continent with so many cultures, especially when our knowledge is so far behind. But this book is a great start on beginning to learn the richness of Africa.

[Renee Wolfgram · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was a decent intro to African history. But it covers a vast time period and area in a relatively short amount of time for the topics.
It’s from 2006 so a little dated now and should probably be supplemented with other books if you’re really trying to delve deeper into African history.

[Knut Sigurd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skulle gjerne sett at dette var to like lange kurs, og særleg at det første hadde gått i meir detalj

[Briana · Rating 2 out of 5]

my library had an audio copy and it felt a little to rushed that sadly I didn't get much out of it

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent high level overview of a very large subject. Africa is a large continent with a very long and complex history. Due to the shear mass of material covered, it can feel rushed.