Publisher's Synopsis
First published in 1991, this is a work of reflection on the substance of African history, the distillation of a lifetime?s research and teaching. Roland Oliver traces, in twenty chapters, the history of Africa from the earliest evolution of man or `pre-man? up to the present day, concentrating on the great themes of African history. So for example ?The Bricks of Babel? describes the evolution of African languages; `Peoples of the Book?, the arrival of Judaism, Christianity and Islam; `Masters and Slaves?, slavery and the slave trade in Africa; `Strangers at the Gates?, the 19th-century impact
of Europeans; `the Slippery Slope?, African governments in their first decades of independence.
For this new edition Professor Oliver has made a number of revisions, including a new chapter summarising the triumphs and disasters of the 1990s.
