This book assesses South African history within imperial and global networks of power, trade and communication. South African modernity is understood in terms of the interplay between internal and external forces. Key historical themes, including the emergence of an industrialised economy, the development of systematic racial discrimination and popular resistance against racial power, and the influence of national and ethnic identities on political and social organisation, are set out in relation to imperial and global influences. This book is central to our understanding of South Africa in the context of world history.

Though Graeco-Roman antiquity (‘classics’) has often been considered the handmaid of colonialism, its various forms have nonetheless endured through many of the continent’s decolonising transitions. Southern Africa is no exception. This book canvasses the variety of forms classics has taken in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and especially South Africa, and even the dynamics of transformation itself.

How does (u)Mzantsi classics (of southern Africa) look in an era of profound change, whether violent or otherwise? What are its future prospects? Contributors focus on pedagogies, historical consciousness, the creative arts and popular culture.

The volume, in its overall shape, responds to the idea of dialogue – in both the Greek form associated with Plato’s rendition of Socrates’ wisdom and in the African concept of ubuntu. Here are dialogues between scholars, both emerging and established, as well as students – some of whom were directly impacted by the Fallist protests.

Rather than offering an apologia for classics, these dialogues engage with pressing questions of relevance, identity, change, the canon, and the dynamics of decolonisation and potential recolonisation. The goal is to interrogate classics – the ways it has been taught, studied, perceived, transformed and even lived – from many points of view.

In this rich compilation, Emeka Nwosu takes the reader to a journey of the issues that have helped to shape discourses on various aspects of the Nigerian state and society. The articles, originally published in his weekly column in the premier Nigerian daily newspaper, ThisDay, not only show his perspectives on these issues when they were written but also reveal how discussions on some of those issues have evolved over time and how they have mutated today. Journalists, especially those who maintain regular columns, are often said to write 'history in a hurry'. For experienced writers like the author whose writings are research-based, it does not mean that what they write about is factually wrong but simply that their writings are infused with the passions and emotions that attended those issues as they unfolded. This collection is therefore not only informed commentaries on some of the issues that have shaped the contour of the Nigerian state and society over the years but a good trip on the passions and emotions that attended those discourses. The articles, 66 of them, are written with remarkable candour and gusto and therefore a delight to read. They form a very important contribution to the corpus of works on Nigerian politics and society. _____________________________________ Emeka Nwosu studied political science at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and also holds a Master's degree in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management from the University of Lagos. He equally holds a certificate in journalism from the Centre for Foreign Journalists (CFJ), Reston, Virginia, USA. Mr. Nwosu who has over 20 years experience in journalism, worked for several years with the Daily Times of Nigeria, once Nigeria's flagship newspaper and rose to become the Group political editor of the paper as well as a Member of its Editorial Board. Between 1990 and 1994, he was the National Chairman, National Association of Political Correspondents. He was also the Special Assistant to the late Senate President Evan Enwerem on Media and Public Affairs (1999-2000) and Assistant Director in The Presidency (2000-2006). Besides his weekly column for ThisDay, he is also the Special Adviser to the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives on Research and Documentation

This narrative chronicles Libya's, and to a vast extent Muammar Gaddafi's, remarkable past, meteoric rise to prominence, and convoluted reign, and introduces potential scenarios that may play out in the near term. After four decades of tyrannical, erratic-and pioneering-changes fueled by oil wealth, Muammar Gaddafi's government fell in 2011, and Libya embarked on a new course without known charts. Libya: History and Revolution covers the nation from its origins as independent land masses and kingdoms to its present as a consolidated nation. The work does not focus on the "old" Libya, but aims to bridge yesterday's Libya with tomorrow's, looking at the nation as a regional economic power and military player in North Africa and the Middle East. The result is a comprehensive yet easy-to-understand introduction to the political, economic, and military history and events that led to Gaddafi's downfall, coupled with a consideration of Libya's past and present. Opening with historical underpinnings, the book focuses on the conflict and revolution in Libya during the Arab Spring that brought Gaddafi down, a change that opened a new future for the oil-rich nation. The book closes with a thoughtful discussion of what may be next for Libya and of possible perils for the nation, the region, and the world, as Libya matures as an independent, representatively governed country. Covers Libya from its ancient beginnings to the present in one easily readable volume Provides a complete history of Gaddafi's Libya and its revolution, including the historical antecedents, Gaddafi's rise to power, his reign, and his fall during the Arab Spring Offers projections about the post-Gaddafi era and prospects for Libya going forward Brings together the perspectives and insights of two authors with distinct yet complementary backgrounds Offers scholars and professors the detail they seek without intimidating the undergraduate or general reader

David Livingstone (1813-1873) was one of the supreme representatives of the British Empire. Yet his career suffered many set-backs during his own life-time, and since his death his reputation has swung between extremes of adulation and dismissal. Were his epic journeys through Africa purely to save souls and counter the slave trade? Or were they the first steps towards bringing the peoples of Central Africa under the control of Europeans who would destroy their values and exploit them economically? Beyond these questions, there lies the puzzle of Livingstone's own character and its contradictions.
Livingstone's career was certainly an extraordinary one. Born in poverty in Blantyre, Scotland, he educated himself by heroic endeavor, later proving him-self to be a remarkable linguist and scientist. His missionary journeys brought him into contact with a wide range of African peoples, for whom he showed remarkable sympathy. "David Livingstone: Mission and Empire is a scholarly and readable account of Livingstone's life and of his achievements.

While there is much discussion on Africa-China relations, the focus tends to lean more on the Chinese presence in Africa than on the African presence in China. There are numerous studies on the former but, with the exception of a few articles on the presence of African traders and students in China, little is known of the latter, even though an increasing number of Africans are visiting and settling in China and forming migrant communities there. This is a phenomenon that has never happened before the turn of the century and has thus led to what is often termed Africa's newest Diaspora. This book focuses on analyzing this new Diaspora, addressing the crucial question: What is it like to be an African in China? Africans in China is the first book-length study of the process of Africans travelling to China and forming communities there. Based on innovative intermingling of qualitative and quantitative research methods involving prolonged interaction with approximately 800 Africans across six main Chinese cities--Guangzhou, Yiwu, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong and Macau--sociolinguistic and sociocultural profiles are constructed to depict the everyday life of Africans in China. The study provides insights into understanding issues such as why Africans go to China, what they do there, how they communicate with their Chinese hosts, what opportunities and problems they encounter in their China sojourn, and how they are received by the Chinese state. Beyond these methodological and empirical contributions, the book also makes a theoretical contribution by proposing a crosscultural bridge theory of migrant-indigene relations, arguing that Africans in China act as sociopolitical, socioeconomic, and sociocultural bridges linking Africa to China. This approach to the analysis of Diaspora communities has consequences for crosscultural and crosslinguistic studies in an era of globalization. Africans in China is an important book for African Studies, Asian Studies, Africa-China relations studies, linguistics, anthropology, sociology, international studies, and migration and Diaspora studies in an era of globalization.

During the 1920s and 1930s, anthropologists and folklorists became obsessed with uncovering connections between African Americans and their African roots. At the same time, popular print media and artistic productions tapped the new appeal of black folk life, highlighting African-styled voodoo networks, positioning beating drums and blood sacrifices as essential elements of black folk culture. Inspired by this curious mix of influences, researchers converged on one site in particular, Sapelo Island, Georgia, to seek support for their theories about ""African survivals."" The legacy of that body of research is the area's contemporary identification as a Gullah community and a set of broader notions about Gullah identity. This wide-ranging history upends a long tradition of scrutinizing the Low Country blacks of Sapelo Island by refocusing the observational lens on those who studied them. Cooper uses a wide variety of sources to unmask the connections between the rise of the social sciences, the voodoo craze during the interwar years, the black studies movement, and black land loss and land struggles in coastal black communities in the Low Country. What emerges is a fascinating examination of Gullah people's heritage, and how it was reimagined and transformed to serve vastly divergent ends over the decades.