Gonna take some time to do some things we never have... like learn African history.

May 1, 2011 10:53 AM

Despite what I consider to be a pretty extensive knowledge of Africa and African current affairs post-2000 or so, I'm embarrassed to say that I know virtually nothing about any African country's history before that aside from a general sense of who colonialized what.

So I slept through 11th grade social studies, which was mostly African history and colonialism. Since then (it's been more than ten years) I've been able to amass a good understanding of current events, but am fundamentally lacking in the knowledge of history which informs these events - and which would inform my opinions of them.

As a result, when talking about current affairs, I feel woefully unqualified to offer my opinion. I'd like that to change.

Can you recommend a book, website, or other source that talks about African history generally, preferably not from a pillage-and-plunder-centric ("Where did the slaves come from?" "Who has the best resources for us to mine?") point of view? I'd be delighted to read about different regions separately, and different countries separately, and I'm especially interested in Africa as a continent, how it has changed over time, and how the countries/regions within it have interacted with one another over history.

posted by juniperesque to society & culture (12 answers total)

It's really hard to talk about African history generally, because it's very diverse and there's a huge range of experience across the continent. This is a little bit like saying "I would like to know the history of Asia." It goes so far back, and... well, you get the idea.

I took a "Peoples of Africa" class and one of the textbooks was a collection called "Understanding Contemporary Africa". It had a lot about the history of some of the countries, and how they arrived at their current state. It's sort of a broad-but-shallow approach. Might be a good starter.
posted by torisaur at 11:09 AM on May 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

Adam Hochschild's King Leopold's Ghost is probably one of the best histories ever written. Period.

For a more comprehensive history of Africa, I know Public Affairs publishes Martin Meredith, a a well respected British historian. The Fate of Africa might be what you're looking for. Amazon also says Knopf publishes John Reader. Try Africa: A Biography? Note, I haven't read either of these two, so don't take this to be a recommendation.
posted by jng at 11:10 AM on May 1, 2011 [3 favorites]

Also, memail me if you're interested in Sudan or Somalia, I've studied them pretty extensively.
posted by torisaur at 11:10 AM on May 1, 2011

In addition to King Leopold's Ghost, I'd also recommend Black Livingstone, which is on the surface the story of an African-American missionary in the 19th century Belgian Congo, but which covers a lot of the colonial and immediately pre-colonial history of that region.

It would be helpful to know if you're more curious about Africa during and immediately prior to the colonial period, or want to know more about things deeper in the past.
posted by Sara C. at 11:25 AM on May 1, 2011

There has been some awesome reporting on what Africa is like right now coming out of Current TV's Vanguard that you might find really helpful,

Rebels in the Pipeline (26:09) Exploring the causes behind the increasing levels of oil-related violence in the Niger River Delta
Lagos la Vida Loca (14:46) An exploration of Lagos, the world's fastest growing megacity
Chinatown, Africa (24:29) An investigation into China's rapidly growing presence in Africa
Missionaries of Hate (44:47)
Vanguard travels to Uganda to look at the roots of the recent crisis surrounding a potential new law.
Beach of Death (23:54) Christof Putzel and Kaj Larsen travel to Somalia to investigate the worlds most failed state.
Modern Day Pirates (25:32) Kaj Larsen goes on a search for modern day pirates in the straits of Malacca, talking to trackers and sailors before visiting the pirate dens themselves.
Female Genital Cutting (7:43) A look at the practice of Female Genital Mutilation in Sierra Leone
Blood Roses and Deadly Diamonds (26:16) Vanguard heads to Colombia and Sierra Leone to explore the unromantic stories behind two symbols of love.
posted by Blasdelb at 11:40 AM on May 1, 2011 [9 favorites]

Whoops, read you question backwards, n'thing Adam Hochschild's King Leopold's Ghost.
posted by Blasdelb at 11:41 AM on May 1, 2011

One of the tricky things about African history is that the modern borderlines between countries are largely an artificial product of colonialism and don't necessarily imply that the people living within them have any shared history.

That said, the Dahomey and Ethiopian empires are pretty interesting.
posted by oinopaponton at 11:45 AM on May 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

Fred Cooper's Africa since 1940: the past of the present might be a good place for you to start: it's about precisely the sort of thing you're interested in, and is short and lucid. A heftier but still approachable volume is Paul Nugent's Africa since independence (forgive him the dreadful cover, definitely chosen by the publisher)

Both of these authors will give references to plenty of further reading. Neither of them goes back before the colonial period. And neither of them is African, though Nugent grew up in South Africa. Their bibliographies should lead you to work by African scholars (and novelists and artists...), however. Sorry I can't point you there directly myself.

There's the scholarly network H-Africa, too. I'm not really familiar with it, but you might find useful stuff there.
posted by lapsangsouchong at 4:40 PM on May 1, 2011

Seconding the recommendations for The Fate of Africa and Africa: A Biography. Both are fairly dense, comprehensive introductions to the history of the continent.
posted by rebekah at 5:24 PM on May 1, 2011

Start with OUP's Very Short Introduction to African History.

From there, the Meredith and Reader recommendations are great and I'd also thrown in John Ilife's Africans: The History of a Continent.

Follow it up with regional stuff like the Hochschild recommendation above or specific biographies.

To bridge the 1990s to 2000s I strongly recommend Africa's World War: Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe.
posted by ahughey at 7:14 PM on May 1, 2011

Benin bronzes
posted by fire&wings at 1:19 AM on May 2, 2011

I studied a lot of African history in college (particularly Rwanda, South Africa, Angola and DRC) and I remember Basil Davidson stood out as a trusted African Scholar. Modern Africa in particular was engaging and thorough.

As others have mentioned it is very difficult to study African history, because of the diversity. In my classes we studied patterns such as regions (North Africa, West Africa) as well as by colonizers (the Belgian were particularly brutal). Basil Davidson will probably help you get to a lot of other scholars.

For the Rwandan genocide this one is really well-researched and thorough. Feel free to memail me if you have specific questions.

Have fun, there's also a lot of really fantastic historical fiction written by Africans that helps contextualize some of their experiences. Chinua Achebe is one of the most well known of these authors. Have fun!
posted by thankyouforyourconsideration at 4:14 PM on May 2, 2011 [1 favorite]