History of Africa - The Quest for Eternal Harmony

List of contents

Preface
Note on the Second Edition
Introduction
PART ONE: THE TIME OF THE AWAKENING
Chapter 1 Africa and the Origin of Humanity
PART TWO: THE AGE OF LITERACY
Chapter 2 Africa and the Beginning of Civilization
Chapter 3: The Rise of Kemet/ Egypt
Chapter 4: The Elements of Early African Civilization
Chapter 5: Governance and the Political Stability of Kemet
PART THREE: THE MOMENT OF REALIZATION
Chapter 6: The Emergence of the Great River Kingdoms
PART FOUR: THE AGE OF CONSTRUCTION
Chapter 7: The Spread of Classical Empires and Kingdoms
Chapter 8: The Sudanic Empires: Historians and Their Narratives
Chapter 9: Generators of Traditional and Contemporary Africa
Chapter 10: Societies of Secrets: Farmers and Metallurgists
PART FIVE: THE TIME OF THE CHAOS
Chapter 11: Arab and European Missionaries, Merchants and Mercenaries
Chapter 12: Resisting European and Arab Slave Traders
PART SIX: THE AGE OF RECONSTRUCTION
Chapter 13: Africa Regains Consciousness in a Pan African Explosion
PART SEVEN: THE TIME FOR CONSOLIDATION
Chapter 14: Africa Consolidates Independence
Chapter 15: Toward a United States of Africa without Compromise
Appendices
1: Chronology of African History
2: African Union Resolution on South Sudan
3: Some African Ethnic Groups
4: Major Linguistic Complexes
Bibliography
Index

About the author

Molefi Kete Asante is Professor and Chair of the Department of African American Studies at Temple University. He is the founding editor of the Journal of Black Studies and has published 76 books including The African American People: A Global History (Routledge) and As I Run Toward Africa. He is President, Molefi Kete Asante Institute, Philadelphia; Board of Directors, Institute for Pan African Strategies, Dakar; and Advisor, Thabo Mbeki Institute for African Leadership, Tshwane.

Summary

There is a paradox about Africa: it remains a subject that attracts considerable attention yet rarely is there a full appreciation of its complexity. African historiography has typically consisted of writing Africa for Europe—instead of writing Africa for itself, as itself, from its own perspectives. The History of Africa redresses this by letting the perspectives of Africans themselves take center stage.
Authoritative and comprehensive, this book provides a wide-ranging history of Africa from earliest prehistory to the present day—using the cultural, social, political, and economic lenses of Africa as instruments to illuminate the ordinary lives of Africans. The result is a fresh survey that includes a wealth of indigenous ideas, African concepts, and traditional outlooks that have escaped the writing of African history in the West.
The new edition includes information on the Arab Spring, the rise of FrancAfrica, the presence of the Chinese in Africa, and the birth of South Sudan. The chapters go up to the present day, addressing US President Barack Obama's policies toward Africa. A new companion website provides students and scholars of Africa with access to a wealth of supporting resources for each chapter, including images, video and audio clips, and links to sites for further research.
This straightforward, illustrated, and factual text allows the reader to access the major developments, personalities, and events on the African continent. This groundbreaking survey is an indispensable guide to African history.

Additional text

"Molefi Kete Asante is an important scholar-activist whose intellectual contributions to the forward progression of African peoples cannot be overstated. This updated edition honors Asante’s ‘Elder Djelis’ with its new research, sources, and interpretation on a myriad of issues and events including the deaths of Madiba and Achebe, conflicts in Senegal, Sudan and Democratic Republic of the Congo, terrorism in Nigeria, the ‘Arab Spring,’ and much more."—Will Guzmán, Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University

Product details

• Authors: Molefi Kete Asante, Molefi Kete (Temple University Asante
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 25.11.2014
• EAN: 9780415844550
• ISBN: 978-0-415-84455-0
• No. of pages: 418
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous