'Lively and amusing [...] an engaging read. Ryan successfully makes this ancient civilisation more immediate and accessible.' - Current World Archaeology _____________________ '[Donald] Ryan - who has worked in and on Egypt for decades, as an archaeologist, historian and popular writer - has succeeded in bringing all of his characters to life. This is a great little volume.' - KMT Magazine _____________________ 'Very readable [...] its originality lies in the clever construction of the content. The variety of characters covered allows for a considerable breadth of information on life for the rich and poor.' - Ancient Egypt Magazine _____________________ Spend 24 hours with the inhabitants of the most powerful kingdom in the ancient world. Ancient Egypt wasn't all pyramids, sphinxes and gold sarcophagi. For your average Egyptian, life was tough, and work was hard, conducted under the burning gaze of the sun god Ra. During the course of a day in the ancient city of Thebes (modern-day Luxor), Egypt's religious capital, we meet 24 Egyptians from all strata of society - from the king to the bread-maker, the priestess to the fisherman, the soldier to the midwife - and get to know what the real Egypt was like by spending an hour in their company. We encounter a different one of these characters every hour and in every chapter, and through their eyes see what an average day in ancient Egypt was really like.

Imperialism, Decolonization and Africa honours John Hargreaves and reflects his academic interests. Three studies concern imperial questions in Africa in the nineteenth century (the Krio and the British, the kingdom of Asante and the prelude to the partition of East Africa) and two more discuss international aspects of decolonization in the twentieth century in relation to the French in Africa and the British in the Middle East. There is also a note on John Hargreaves and a bibliography of his publications.

Mali is often depicted as a successor state of the Ancient Mali Empire. Since 2012, a lasting political, social, and security crisis has engulfed the country. Non-state armed groups, community militias, and fundamental Islamist fighters, have been wreaking havoc in a state that was praised for its diversity and religious tolerance. Amidst these violent conflicts, various narratives have been employed to mobilize support for Mali. These narratives have not prevented the rise of community-centered strategies for survival. Fula, the largest West African community, has often been associated with narratives related to violent conflict. Subjective appropriations have fueled peacebuilding and warmongering. National Narratives of Mali: Fula Communities in Times of Crisis analyzes the narratives employed in Mali by actors in the field to justify their actions and strategies. Dougoukolo Alpha Oumar Ba Konare studies the reactions from Fula communities that have experienced and created narratives of their own, based on their own senses of identity.

The Rosetta Stone contains a decree written three times in Greek, Demotic and hieroglyphic that provided the key to the mysterious hieroglyphic script of ancient Egypt, and opened up 3,000 years of the country's history and culture. This book tells the fascinating story of one of archaeology's icons, from its creation in the second century BC, to its discovery in 1799 during Napoleon's Egyptian campaign, to the subsequent race to decipher its hieroglyphic text. Undertaken by two brilliant scholars - the Frenchman Jean-Francois Champollion, and the English physicist Thomas Young - it was the former who eventually succeeded in making the crucial breakthrough. Today the Rosetta Stone stands in the Museum as an enduring symbol of human understanding and communication through the ages.

Rights and Responsibilities in Rural South Africa examines the gendered and generational conflicts surrounding social change in South Africa's rural Eastern Cape roughly twenty years after the end of Apartheid. In post-Aparatheid South Africa, rights-based public discourse and state practices promote liberal, autonomous, and egalitarian notions of personhood, yet widespread unemployment and poverty demand that people rely closely on one another and forge relationships that disrupt the gendered and generational hierarchies framed as traditional and culturally authentic. Kathleen Rice examines the ways these tensions and restructurings lead to uncertainties about how South Africans should live together in their daily lives. Focusing particularly on the women of the village of Mhlambini, Rights and Responsibilities in Rural South Africa offers compelling portraits of how they experience and navigate widespread social and economic change and presents their experiences as a way of understanding how people navigate the moral ambiguities of contemporary South African life.

In this new edition of Nkrumah and the Ghana Revolution, C. L. R. James tells the history of the socialist revolution led by Kwame Nkrumah, the first president and prime minister of Ghana. Although James wrote it in the immediate post-independence period around 1958, he did not publish it until nearly twenty years later, when he added a series of his own letters, speeches, and articles from the 1960s. Although Nkrumah led the revolution, James emphasizes that it was a popular mass movement fundamentally realized by the actions of everyday Ghanaians. Moreover, James shows that Ghana's independence movement was an exceptional moment in global revolutionary history: it moved revolutionary activity to the African continent and employed new tactics not seen in previous revolutions. Featuring a new introduction by Leslie James, an unpublished draft of C. L. R. James's introduction to the 1977 edition, and correspondence, this definitive edition of Nkrumah and the Ghana Revolution offers a revised understanding of Africa's shaping of freedom movements and insight into the possibilities for decolonial futures.

The ongoing tension and hostility between China and Taiwan in Africa are a continuation of the Chinese Civil War (1927-1949) between the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which remained in mainland China, and the Kuomintang (KMT) of the Republic of China (ROC) which fled to the island of Taiwan. In the intervening years, China has claimed Taiwan as part of its territory and through persistent and aggressive political and economic efforts convinced much of the world to accept her as the sole and legitimate seat of the Chinese people and government. Africa-China-Taiwan Relations, 1949-2020 provides a coherent account of why and how China was able to convince African governments to acquiesce to her claims which have resulted in the expulsion of and the diplomatic isolation of Taiwan on the African continent. This volume, edited by Sabella Ogbobode Abidde, also explains Taiwan's unsuccessful efforts at blunting China's maneuvers. It further discusses the endogenous and exogenous factors that swayed African governments to switch their diplomatic allegiance away from Taiwan-a country that was for many years an ally and dependable partner in their quest for growth and development. Finally, the book contains critical assessments of the role and place of China and Taiwan and their current relationship with states and societies on the African continent.

Patrisiers & prinse is die eerste deel van 'n vyfdelige reeks oor vroee blanke vestiging aan die Kaap. In die deel beskryf Karel Schoeman die sewentiende-eeuse Europese wêreld waarin Jan van Riebeeck en sy tydgenote grootgeword het. Hierdie wereld vorm die agtergrond van die verversingspos wat die VOC in 1652 by Kaap die Goeie Hoop sou stig. In die eerste twee hoofstukke en in hoofstuk 4 word die opkoms en hoogbloei van die Nederlandse Republiek bespreek. Die Frankryk van Lodewyk XIV kry in hoofstuk 3 aandag, met klem op die toenemende oorheersing van Europa deur die Franse kultuur. Besonder boeiend is die dele wat gewy word aan die opkoms van die hoe burgerstand in Nederland en die versamelaarsdrif wat deur die stand se welvaart en die kontak met Nederland se kolonies moontlik gemaak is. In die laaste twee hoofstukke wys Schoeman daarop dat Europa in die sewentiende eeu nog besonder naby aan die Middeleeue gestaan het en bespreek hy die soms skokkend primitiewe lewenswyse wat maar geleidelik nader aan die moderne beweeg het.

Kwame Nkrumah's Political Kingdom and Pan-Africanism ReInterpreted, 1909-1972 provides an in-depth study of the life of the late Pan-African leader from the former Gold Coast, Kwame Nkrumah. Authors A.B. Assensoh and Yvette M. Alex-Assensoh analyze Nkrumah's life from his birth on the Gold Coast through his studies in the United Kingdom and the United States, his activism and political life, and his exile and death. Throughout, Assensoh and Alex-Assensoh present a twenty-first-century reinterpretation of Nkrumah's Pan-Africanist views in the context of Black unity as well as Black liberation within the African continent and the United States and Caribbean diaspora.

This book, written by a strong advocate of colonization, is critical of the efforts of the abolitionists.

A bold and innovative social history, The Seed Is Mine concerns the disenfranchised blacks who did so much to shape the destiny of South Africa. After years of interviews with Kas Maine and his neighbors, employers, friends, and family - a rare triumph of collaborative courage and dedication - Charles van Onselen has recreated the entire life of a man who struggled to maintain his family in a world dedicated to enriching whites and impoverishing blacks, while South Africa was tearing them apart.

“If ever one wondered whether the life of a single man could illuminate a century, [this] brilliant biography … proves the point.” — Carmel Schrire, The Boston Globe

“An epic … [that] tells of the loss of human potential generated by a politics that surrendered generosity and openness to self-interest and bigotry. It reveals the way an ordinary man can survive with dignity in such a world.” — Vincent Crapanzano, the New York Times

“A magnificent book [with] implications beyond its modest claims … This remarkable story compels foreboding but also kindles hope, for it shows the extraordinary courage of 'ordinary' men under severe difficulties.” — Eugene Genovese, Emory University

“[Van Onselen] teases out the subtleties of the paternalistic relationships between rural whites and blacks which gave rise to real friendships but also to much betrayal, anger, and humiliation . . . It is a monumental masterpiece of research, and a poetic evocation of the human spirit to survive … ” — Linda Ensor, Business Day

Chinua Achebe and the Igbo-African World: Between Fiction, Fact, and Historical Representation explores Chinua Achebe's literary works and how they communicated the Igbo-African world to readers. Engaging in the politics of representation, Achebe sought to demystify deterministic views of race and cultural ethnocentrism. While his books and commentaries have been very influential in shaping a unique and multifaceted view of the African world, some scholars have challenged Achebe's representations of historical reality. Through in-depth analyses of his writing, contributors examine the interpretations Achebe imposed on African culture and history in his texts. The chapters cover Achebe's engagement with critical issues like historical representation, gender relations, and indigenous political institutions in a changing society. Throughout, contributors present new ways for understanding Achebe's literary works and show how his work draws from African historical reality and identity while challenging Western epistemological hegemony.

The book exposes various mechanisms and methods by which covert colonial mechanisms are employed to perpetuate colonialism, especially in Africa. Less overt and more covert perpetuation of colonialism is done through the use of networks. The main achievement of the initial phase of colonialism was the establishment of networks that are nefarious and omnipresent; constituting "distributed presence," which allows for "action at a distance." As a result, colonial subjects became willing participants in these processes, unbeknownst to them, which perpetuated their own colonialism. The book exposes forms of colonialism where manufactured consent is used to perpetuate colonialism. Trapped in this capitalist, Western, Christian language and moral world order without sovereignty, African countries continuously sink deeper into the colonial quagmire.

"No nation can win a battle without faith," Steve Biko wrote, and as Daniel R. Magaziner demonstrates in The Law and the Prophets, the combination of ideological and theological exploration proved to be a potent force.

P<> The 1970s are a decade virtually lost to South African historiography. This span of years bridged the banning and exile of the country's best-known antiapartheid leaders in the early 1960s and the furious protests that erupted after the Soweto uprisings of June 16, 1976. Scholars thus know that something happened-yet they have only recently begun to explore how and why. The Law and the Prophets is an intellectual history of the resistance movement between 1968 and 1977; it follows the formation, early trials, and ultimate dissolution of the Black Consciousness movement.

It differs from previous anti-apartheid historiography, however, in that it focuses more on ideas than on people and organizations. Its singular contribution is an exploration of the theological turn that South African politics took during this time. Magaziner argues that only by understanding how ideas about race, faith, and selfhood developed and were transformed in this period might we begin to understand the dramatic changes that took place.

African photography has emerged as a significant focus of research and scholarship over the last twenty years, the result of a growing interest in postcolonial societies and cultures and a turn towards visual evidence across the humanities and social sciences. At the same time, many rich and fascinating photographic collections have come to light. This volume explores the complex theoretical and practical issues involved in the study of African photographic archives, based on case studies drawn from across the continent dating from the 19th century to the present day. Chapters consider what constitutes an archive, from the familiar mission and state archives to more local, vernacular and personal accumulations of photographs; the importance of a critical and reflexive engagement with photographic collections; and the question of where and what is 'Africa', as constructed in the photographic archive. Essential reading for all researchers working with photographic archives, this book consolidates current thinking on the topic and sets the agenda for future research in this field.

When the British took control of the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius soon after the abolition of the slave trade, they were faced with a labour-hungry and potentially hostile Franco-Mauritian plantocracy. This book explores the context in which Indian convicts were transported to the island and put to work building the infrastructure necessary to fuel the expansion of the sugar industry. Drawing on hitherto unexplored archival material, it is shown how convicts experienced transportation and integrated into the Mauritian social and economic fabric.

This Friday, 16 December 2011, is the 50th anniversary of the launch of Umkhonto weSizwe. Umkhonto weSizwe, the Spear of the nation, popularly known as MK, was the armed wing of the African National Congress. On 16 December 1961 it launched its campaign of symbolic sabotage with the dramatic blowing up of electricity pylons and other strategic installations. For three decades it pursued a range of strategies in an attempt to weaken the apartheid state and bring the liberation movement to power. The 50th anniversary will see both a commemoration of those who died in the service of MK, and a critical reflection on the achievements of the armed struggle and its legacy for South Africa today. The book, Umkhonto weSizwe, offers a new and nuanced account of the ANC's armed wing. It presents in broad outline the various stages in MK's thirty-year history, considers the difficult strategic and moral problems the army faced, and argues that its operations are likely to be remembered as a just war conducted with considerable restraint. The story is illustrated with personal accounts from those who were active members of this armed group.

A reinterpretation of the history of Sokoto that provides a new assessment of its leaders and their visions for the Muslim state. Sokoto was the largest and longest lasting of West Africa's nineteenth-century Muslim empires. Its intellectual and political elite left behind a vast written record, including over 300 Arabic texts authored by the jihad's leaders: Usman dan Fodio, his brother Abdullahi and his son, Muhammad Bello (known collectively as the Fodiawa). Sokoto's early years are one of the most documented periods of pre-colonial African history, yet current narratives pay little attention to the formative role these texts played in the creation of Sokoto, and the complex scholarly world from which they originated. Far from being unified around a single concept of Muslim statecraft, this book demonstrates how divided the Fodiawa were about what Sokoto could and should be, and the various discursive strategies they used to enrol local societies into their vision. Based on a close analysis of the sources (some appearing in English translation for the first time) and an effort to date their intellectual production, the book restores agency to Sokoto's leaders as individuals with different goals, characters and methods. More generally, it shows how revolutionary religious movements gain legitimacy, and how the kind of legitimacy they claim changes as they move from rebels to rulers.

This edited volume encompasses a range of themes and approaches relevant to the field of South African history today, as viewed from the perspective of practicing historians at the cutting edge of research in the discipline. The collection features the historians offering critical reflection on the theoretical and methodological aspects of their work. This involves them both looking back at the inherited historiographical tradition in the respective areas of their research, while also pointing forwards to possible future directions for scholarly engagement. -- .

Nigeria's democratisation efforts since attaining political independence from Britain have been tumultuous and have spanned over three successive republics. A persistent bug decimating Nigeria's democracy and repeatedly leading to military coups has been brazen electoral violence perpetrated by the nation's political elite. Nigeria's 2019 Democratic Experience analyses and explains what went wrong in Nigeria's experiment with democracy. Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and the world's seventh most populous nation, also contributes 70% of West Africa's population. She is sub-Saharan Africa's largest oil producer and has remained Africa's largest economy by GDP since 2014. The country has hundreds of diverse ethnic nationalities and languages grouped into 36 states (or federating units) and an independent federal capital territory. Though recognized as Africa's largest democracy, her democratisation process since the 1960s has remained tumultuous with massive electoral violence and political intolerance. This repeatedly compelled the military to intervene in the nation's political history in the years 1966, 1983 and 1985. It is these developments that provided the motivation for this volume to capture for posterity the conduct of the 2019 General Elections in Nigeria.

The 1880s were a critical time in Cameroon. A German warship arrived in the Douala estuary and proclaimed Cameroon a protectorate. At that time, two Swedes, Knutson and Waldau, were living on the upper slopes of the Cameroon Mountain. Very little is known about their activities. One, Knutson, wrote a long memoir of his time in Cameroon (1883-1895) which is published here for the first time. It gives fascinating insights into everyday life in Cameroon and into the multifaceted relationships among the various Europeans, and between them and the Africans, at the end of the 19th century; we learn about the Swedes' quarrels first with the Germans and later with the British, over land purchases, thus revealing the origins of long on-going disputes over Bakweri lands. We are given vivid descriptions of Bakweri notables and their, and the Europeans', cultural practices, a rare eye-witness account of the sasswood witchcraft ordeal, and learn about Knutson's friendships with slaves. Together with appended contemporary correspondence, legal opinions, and early (translated) texts, this memoir must be considered as a unique and invaluable primary source for the pre-colonial history of Cameroon.