Preface to the third edition; 1. The frontiersmen of mankind; 2. The emergence
of food-producing communities; 3. The impact of metals; 4. Christianity and
Islam; 5. Colonising society in Western Africa; 6. Colonising society in
Eastern and Southern Africa; 7. The Atlantic slave trade; 8. Regional
diversity in the nineteenth century; 9. Colonial invasion; 10. Colonial
society and African nationalism; 11. Industrialisation and race in South
Africa, 1886-1994; 12. Independent Africa, 1956-95; 13. Recovery?
The book provides a groundbreaking exploration of the concept of honour in African history, highlighting its significance and influence across various cultures and societies. By examining historical events and figures, it reveals how honour shaped social structures, relationships, and conflicts throughout the continent. This scholarly work aims to fill a gap in historical narratives, offering readers a deeper understanding of African heritage and the complexities of its past.
In a vast and all-embracing study of Africa, from the origins of mankind to the AIDS epidemic, John Iliffe refocuses its history on the peopling of an environmentally hostile continent. Africans have been pioneers struggling against disease and nature, and their social, economic and political institutions have been designed to ensure their survival. In the context of medical progress and other twentieth-century innovations, however, the same institutions have bred the most rapid population growth the world has ever seen. The history of the continent is thus a single story binding living Africans to their earliest human ancestors. John Iliffe was Professor of African History at the University of Cambridge and is a Fellow of St. John's College. He is the author of several books on Africa, including A modern history of Tanganyika and The African poor: A history, which was awarded the Herskovits Prize of the African Studies Association of the United States. Both books were published by Cambridge University Press.
Olusegun Obasanjo's life is a lens through which to view Nigeria's first fifty years of independence and African affairs. From soldier to statesman, he played pivotal roles in Nigeria's civil war and the return to civilian rule. His presidency (1999-2007) is reexamined in light of his complex legacy and controversies.
