Great Kingdoms of Africa

An essential overview of great kingdoms in African history and their legacies, written by world-leading experts. This is the first book for a general reader to explore the great precolonial kingdoms of Africa that have been marginalized throughout history. An array of leading scholars offer an innovative and thought-provoking overview that takes us from ancient Egypt and Nubia to the Zulu Kingdom almost 2000 years later. The book aims to decentre European colonialism and slavery as the major themes of African history and instead explore the kingdoms, dynasties and city-states that have shaped cultures across the African continent. This is a vital book for anyone who wants to expand their knowledge of Africa''s rich history. While Africa in the twenty-first century is emerging as a crucial part of the changing world order, many readers know little about Africa''s past, beyond the devastation wrought by European colonialists. This books sets out to explore the complexity of Africa''s precolonial history, from the Songhai Empire to the Sokoto Caliphate. Each chapter is written by a leading historian, interweaving political and social history and drawing on a rich array of sources, including oral histories and recent archaeological findings.

Auteur
John Parker taught the History of Africa at SOAS University of London from 1998 to 2020. He is the co-author of African History: A Very Short Introduction (2007), co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Modern African History (2013), and the author of In My Time of Dying: A History of Death and the Dead in West Africa (2021).

Résumé
'A contemporary reawakening of the rise, fall and remains of African ancient kingdoms ... Illuminates the many myths and histories that make the continent magical. This book is useful in invigorating new interests in the understanding of Africa's past and present, especially its history of creativity' - RA Magazine

Contenu

Introduction: Kings, Kingship and Kingdoms in African History
John Parker

1. Ancient Egypt and Nubia: Kings of Floods and Kings of Rain
   David Wengrow

2. The Sudanic Empires: The Gold, the Arts, the River
   Rahmane Idrissa

3. The Solomonic Christian Kingdom of Ethiopia
   Habtamu Tegegne and Wendy Laura Belcher

4. The Yoruba and Benin Kingdoms
   Olatunji Ojo

5. The Kongo Kingdom
   Cécile Fromont

6. Buganda
   John Parker

7. From Hausa Kingdoms to the Sokoto Caliphate
   Muhammadu Mustapha Gwadabe

8. The Akan Forest Kingdom of Asante
   John Parker

9. The Zulu Kingdom
   Wayne Dooling