Kevin Shillington - History of Africa

Shillingtons History of Africa remains the best introductory textbook on the market. It provides a comprehensive and engaging overview of African history, taking the reader on a fascinating journey from human origins to the present. This thoroughly updated edition contains an abundance of detailed maps and well-selected figures, as well as a useful companion website.

Professor Alicia Decker

Pennsylvania State University, USA

History of Africa offers one of the most comprehensive and incisive treatments of African history. Lucid and coherent, its thematic depth and regional breadth conveys the complexities and rich diversity of the African historical experience. Students, scholars and general readers will find this narrative of African history both engaging and compelling.

Dr Bonny Ibhawoh

McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada

Kevin Shillingtons History of Africa provides a clear, readable narrative of the entire span of the continents history, augmented by the best maps and illustrations of any textbook. This editions enhanced thematic focus, as well as its incorporation of new research findings and relevant debates among historians, makes Africas history engaging and accessible to a wide range of students.

Professor Lisa A. Lindsay

University of North Carolina at Chapel-Hill, USA

Now in its fourth edition, Kevin Shillingtons History of Africa remains as relevant as ever. Starting with the origins of humankind and authoritatively guiding readers to the present day, this is a superb account of a vast story, one which tenaciously places Africas peoples at its centre.

Dr Wayne Dooling,

SOAS University of London, UK

Over the last thirty years Shillingtons History of Africa has become established as the standard textbook on the subject. Readable and comprehensive, the latest edition has numerous colour photos, access to accompanying internet resources and has been thoroughly updated to include recent events, such as the death of Winnie Mandela.

Professor Hakim Adi

University of Chichester, UK

Significant revisions in the consideration of language and technology make this the best edition of Shillington yet.

Professor Paul Landau

University of Maryland at College Park, USA

This History of Africa never gets old. With neatly, chronologically-organized chapters and consistently lucid language, it remains an outstanding text on African history. The organization of chapters into thematic sections in this fourth edition allows readers to get a quick grasp of the corresponding chapters subject matter. The section on Africa since independence deliberately connects post-colonial circumstances to their colonial and pre-colonial origins, and is sensitive to the usual stereotypical portrayals of the continent. As always, the books clear and accessible format makes it an invaluable learning tool that appeals to a diverse audience. The online test bank is a welcome bonus!

Professor Ogechukwu Williams,

Creighton University, USA

HISTORY OF

A F R I C A

F o u r t hE d i t i o n

K E V I NS H I L L I N G T O N

Kevin Shillington, under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2019

All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission.

No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 610 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.

Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First Edition published 1989 by Macmillan Publishers

Revised Edition published 1995 by Macmillan Education

Revised Second Edition published 2005 by Macmillan Education

Third Edition published 2012 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN

Fourth Edition published 2019 by

RED GLOBE PRESS

Red Globe Press in the UK is an imprint of Springer Nature Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of 4 Crinan Street, London, N1 9XW.

Red Globe Press is a registered trademark in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.

ISBN 9781137504036 paperback

This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

For the history students of the University of Botswana who inspired the first edition

Brief Contents

Long Contents

ce 81

List of Maps

SECTION 1:EARLY AND LATER PREHISTORY

SECTION 2:EARLY IRON AGE

SECTION 3:RELIGION AND EMPIRE IN NORTHERN AND WESTERN AFRICA

SECTION 4:RELIGION, TRADE AND CHIEFTAINCY IN EASTERN, CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AFRICA

SECTION 5:WEST AFRICA IN THE ERA OF THE SLAVE TRADE

SECTION 6:STATE RENEWAL AND FORMATION IN NORTH, EAST, CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AFRICA

SECTION 7:THE NINETEENTH CENTURY BEFORE THE EUROPEAN SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA

SECTION 8:THE CHALLENGE OF CULTURAL AND POLITICAL IMPERIALISM, LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY

SECTION 9:THE IMPACT AND NATURE OF COLONIAL RULE, 18901945

SECTION 10:THE OVERTHROW OF COLONIALISM

SECTION 11:AFRICA SINCE INDEPENDENCE

List of Illustrations

SECTION 1: EARLY AND LATER PREHISTORY

SECTION 2:EARLY IRON AGE

SECTION 3:RELIGION AND EMPIRE IN NORTHERN AND WESTERN AFRICA

SECTION 4:RELIGION, TRADE AND CHIEFTAINCY IN EASTERN , CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AFRICA

SECTION 5:WEST AFRICA IN THE ERA OF THE SLAVE TRADE

SECTION 6:STATE RENEWAL AND FORMATION IN NORTH, EAST, CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AFRICA

SECTION 7:THE NINETEENTH CENTURY BEFORE THE EUROPEAN SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA

SECTION 8:THE CHALLENGE OF CULTURAL AND POLITICAL IMPERIALISM, LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY

SECTION 9:THE IMPACT AND NATURE OF COLONIAL RULE, 18901945

SECTION 10:THE OVERTHROW OF COLONIALISM

SECTION 11:AFRICA SINCE INDEPENDENCE

Preface

The purpose of this History of Africa , now in its fourth revised edition, is to provide a clear, basic and well-illustrated introduction to Africas long and fascinating past, which is easily understood by the non-specialist general reader or student and based on the results of some of the most recent and up-to-date research. The book pays particular attention to social, economic, political and religious developments and the way in which these affect the lives of ordinary people. At the same time, I have sought to provide a critical but chronological narrative that covers most of the major developments and societies on the continent and touches on many of the themes that have most concerned historians in recent decades.

Starting from the earliest evolution of humankind, the book traces the history of Africa through the millennia of the Stone Age to the rise and decline of the states and societies of Africa in the ancient and medieval worlds. Through the more recent centuries of increasing European intervention, the focus has remained on the indigenous African viewpoints, developments and initiatives. Finally, I have attempted to place the postcolonial problems of political, social and economic development in their proper historical context and so avoid the strongly negative tone of so much modern writing about contemporary Africa.