Bundu is an anomaly among the precolonial Muslim states of West Africa. Founded during the jihads which swept the savannah in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it developed a pragmatic policy,
Since 1983 journalist Bill Berkeley has traveled through Africa's most troubled lands-Rwanda, Liberia, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, and Zaire-seeking out the tyrants and military leaders who orchestr
Over 850 versatile illustrations from rare sources depict engaging moppets playing with toys, dolls, and pets; riding bicycles, playing tennis and baseball, reading, sleeping, engaged in activities w
This highly praised book uses letters, diaries, and memoirs by Mongo Park, Richard Burton, David Livingstone, Henry Morton Stanley, and others to provide a gripping account of the search for the sourc
An incisive study of the Islamic slave trade examines the tradition in terms of a centuries-old institution that survives into the modern world, discussing the differences between the Eastern and West
Telling the Asantes' story of their hundred-year war with the British Empire--from 1807 to 1900--a saga of massive resistance against overwhelming odds reveals a wealthy, sophisticated culture and bal
Volume V of a projected nine-volume encyclopedia that provides basic information on all archaelogically known cultures worldwide and the entire prehistory of humankind. Organized alphabetically, entri
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 even
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 even
Until the advent of African independence, Africans were not considered fitting subjects for historical research and their words, voices, and experiences were largely absent from the continent’s histor
In the late seventeenth century Wala emerged as a small state in what is now northwestern Ghana. Its creation involved on the one hand warrior groups of Mande, Dagomba and Mamprusi origins, and on the other hand scholars from the centres of Muslim learning on the Middle Niger. Ivor Wilks traces the history of Wala from its beginnings to the present, paying particular attention to relations between the Muslim and non-Muslim elements in its population. He also examines the impact of Zabarima, Samorian, British and French intrusions into Wala affairs. By the use of orally transmitted traditions and recensions of these in Arabic and Hausa, he is able to show how the Wala themselves view their past. Wala is periodically convulsed by crises often resulting in communal violence. He suggests that the policy maker involved in the region's political problems needs a sound knowledge of Wala history and an understanding of the deeper structures of Wala society, especially in the context of officia
Volume III of a projected nine-volume encyclopedia that provides basic information on all archaelogically known cultures worldwide and the entire prehistory of humankind. Organized alphabetically, ent
This dictionary provides information about Africa before European colonial rule. It features details of African culture, history, rulers, migrations, wars, and contact between Africans and Arab, Asia
