The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800

Product Description


This book gives serious play to ancient history right across the African continent and it ties these eras into the currents of wider world history. Chris Ehret has skilfully woven archaeology and linguistics into the historical narrative to provide a text from the deep past until 1800. North America: University Press of Virginia


Review


The text would certainly be the anchor text for an introductory class in African history, or for the segment on Africa in a world history class. ... The introduction to the text is exciting, progressive and engaging. ... The whole narrative is presented in an exceedingly readable way. - Adria La Violette, University of Virginia This clear and comprehensive interpretation of Africa will be the volume from which the early history of Africa will be re-written in all college and high school texts on world history. - Patrick Manning, Northeastern University The Civilizations of Africa/ stands as a fascinating witness to the role that historical linguistics can play in integrated reconstructions of the African past. ...The book's discussions of social and culture processes during that era are sophisticated and thought-provoking. Ehret explicitly addresses a set of assumptions widely held among (at least North American) undergraduates: that African societies were culturally underdeveloped before European contact, that Africans have historically been the recipients of innovations originating outside the continent and that Europeans dominated interactions with Africans from the time of first contact onward. The dynamism of African societies both before and after that contact is well represented. The extensive use of linguistic evidence also allows unusually thorough coverage of some regions where historical and archaeological data are more rare, including parts of the Congo Basin and south-western Africa. ...The book is well written and comprehensive, and abundantly illustrates the richness and complexity of African societies over many thousands of years. It will make a fine introductory text for courses in African history... - Scott Maceachern in JOURNAL OF AFRICAN HISTORY ...anyone wanting a chronological overview and synopsis of the historical development of subsistence practices, technologies, and sociopolitical formations could do much worse than start here. Ehret's attempts to integrate different kinds of data drawn as often from linguistics and archaeology as from history, is also to be applauded. ...The text is readable, informative and the layout is attractive. ...On all these terms, then this book is a welcome addition to the field...a worthy and welcome effort... - Paul Lane in ANTHROPOS The Civilizations of Africa is a substantial, comprehensive and accessibly written introductory textbook. ANTIQUITY