The world wanted South Africa’s true, liberated history – and the writing of it – to begin in 1994, but deep contradictions have quickly bubbled to the surface, revealing a society gripped in turmoil.

The results of all this have been, of course, paradoxical: a series of elections since 1994 seemed to confirm the ANC’s hold, both popular and legitimate, on power. Yet, simultaneously, South Africa has found itself with one of the world’s highest rates of protest and dissent, expressed both in the work-place and on township streets, in universities and technicons, clinics and central city squares. 16 August 2014 saw the lives of nearly three dozen platinum mineworkers end prematurely and violently. The premeditated “Marikana Massacre” demonstrated to the world how little Nelson Mandela’s ANC had changed South Africa’s core power relations, notwithstanding the dramatic, heroic victory over racist rule in 1994.

South Africa: The Present as History traces South African history from early days through the long European conquest and into two decades of democracy. The current socio-economic paradox – one that finds inequality, unemployment and poverty worsening since 1994 – reflect Mandela’s early 1990s concessions, choices which reduced the pursuit of genuine socio-economic and political transformation to the mere realisation of what can best be termed ‘low-intensity democracy’.

Analysing tensions exemplified by Marikana, the authors consider potential futures for an increasingly volatile society. Genuine liberatory possibilities could continue to be vanquished – but that is not the only possible results of today’s turmoil.

This book outlines how African language media is affected by politics, technology, culture, and the economy and how this media is creatively produced and appropriated by audiences across cultures and contexts. African language media can be considered as a tool for communication, socialization, and community that defines the various identities of indigenous people in Africa. This book shows how vernacular media outlets including radio and television, as well as native formats such as festivals, rituals and dance, can be used to influence all facets of local peoples' experience and understanding of community. The book also explores the relationship between African language media sources and contemporary issues including the digitalization conundrum, peace and conflict resolution, identity formation, hate speech and fake news. Furthermore, it shows how local media can be used for development communication purposes during health and environmental crises. The book includes cases studies demonstrating the uses, experiences and activities related to various forms of media available in African languages. This book will be of interest to scholars in the field of communication and media studies, health and environmental communication, journalism, African studies and anthropology.

This is a powerful account of fast-changing dynamics in Angola, an important African state that is a key exporter of oil and diamonds. Based on three years of research and extensive first-hand knowledge of Angola, it documents the rise of a major economy and its insertion in the international system since it emerged in 2002 from one of Africa's longest and deadliest civil wars. The government, backed by a strategic alliance with China and working hand in glove with hundreds of thousands of expatriates, many from the former colonial power, Portugal, has pursued and ambitious agenda of state-led national reconstruction. This has resulted in double-digit growth in sub-Sahara's third largest economy and a state budget in excess of total Western aid to the entire continent. Scarred by a history of slave trading, colonial plunder and war, Angolans now aspire to the building of a decent society. How has the regime, led by President Jose Eduardo dos Santos since 1979, dealt with these challenges, and can it deliver on popular expectations? Soares de Oliveira's book charts the remarkable course the country has taken in recent years.

This book traces the role of the UGTT (the Tunisian General Labour Union) during Tunisia's 2011 revolution and the transition period that ensued - Tunisia being the Arab country where trade unionism was the strongest and most influential in shaping the outcomes of the uprising. The UGTT; From its role as the cornerstone of the nationalist movement in the colonial era, has always had a key place in Tunisian politics: not so much a labour union but as an organisation that has always linked social struggles to political and national demands. Examining the role played by the UGTT in Tunisia's revolution and more generally in the restructuring of the Tunisian political arena during the three years following the popular uprising. This book asks searching questions such as; how did UGTT interact with the popular uprising that led to the departure of Ben Ali? What was the role played by the UGTT in the "political transition" leading to the adoption on January 26, 2014 of the first democratic constitution in the country's history? How successful was the UGTT in neutralizing the risk of self- implosion caused by the different political and social crises? And what are the challenges that the UGTT faces in the new political landscape? This volume will be of key reading interest to scholars and researchers of social movements, labour movements, organizational studies, political transitions and Arab revolutions and also likely to be of interest to practitioners especially among activists, unionists and advocates within civil society.

This book focuses on the late colonial history of Zambia and Malawi, which between 1953 and 1963 were part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Although there were many links in their history and between their populations, the two territories (British protectorates under Colonial Office control) contrasted greatly in power structures, in their economies, and in their development. Europeans living in Northern Rhodesia, with a power base in the mining economy, were able to establish a dominant position in the territory after the Second World War. By the 1950s it looked as though they would have, with Southern Rhodesian Europeans, a long hegemony, gaining independence from Britain as a new Dominion, which would mean control over both Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland through the Federation. Thus, white ethnicity and ideology are essential factors in this book relating to the struggle for power from just before the Second World War up to the 1960s. However, crises in 1959 and 1960 led to the collapse of the Federation. A second focus is on issues of social and economic development. For Africans in Nyasaland, and in rural parts of Northern Rhodesia, there was a relatively weak economy in this period, a pattern of limited cash crop production, while many people became caught up in labour migration, subordinate to powerful European-dominated economic forces within southern Africa. This meant that colonial policies aimed at rural development were fundamentally flawed. The book also looks at the actual nature of rural economic change (as opposed to colonial policies) and discusses alternative visions of the future which were put forward. The argument is put that historians have often concentrated on the activities of the main nationalist movements in Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia, seeing them as bringing progress away from colonialism and towards independence. Here there is an attempt to draw out the complexities of life, and a variety of responses in the colonial situation, progress coming in a number of forms, but not always being achieved.

FINALIST FOR THE CUNDILL PRIZE FOR HISTORY 'Not only deserves the description "epic", in its true sense, but the term "masterpiece" as well' Independent This gripping epic tells the story of one of the world's most critical failed nation-states: the Democratic Republic of Congo. Interweaving his own family's history with the voices of a diverse range of individuals - charismatic dictators, feuding warlords, child soldiers, and many in the African diaspora of Europe and China - Van Reybrouck offers a deeply humane approach to political history, focusing squarely on the Congolese perspective and returning a nation's history to its people.

'Masterful.' - The Economist The Congo-Ocean railroad stands as one of the deadliest construction projects in history. It was completed in 1934, when Equatorial Africa was a French colony. African workers were conscripted at gunpoint, separated from their families and subjected to hellish conditions as they hacked their way through dense tropical foliage; excavated by hand thousands of tonnes of earth in order to lay down track; blasted their way through rock to construct tunnels; or risked their lives building bridges over otherwise impassable rivers. In the process, they suffered disease, malnutrition and rampant physical abuse, likely resulting in at least 20,000 deaths. Drawing on exhaustive research in French and Congolese archives, a chilling documentary record and eye-opening photographic evidence, J. P. Daughton tells the epic story of the Congo-Ocean railroad, and in doing so reveals the human costs and contradictions of modern empire.

First published in 1951 Black Sunrise deals with the life and times of Mulai Ismail, Emperor of Morocco (1646-1727). From the accounts of ambassadors, missionaries, Moorish historians the author presents a readable, accurate picture of a fascinating figure whose reign marked a high watermark for Moroccan power. The book deals with themes like advent of Ismail; Morocco in the seventeenth century; Ismail the builder; civil war; Ismail the zealot; war with Spain; Ismail the butcher; failure of Saint-Olon; and death of Mulai Ismail. This book is an interesting read for students of African history, Moroccan history and history in general.

Examining American foreign policy towards the Horn of Africa between 1945 and 1991, this book uses Ethiopia and Somalia as case studies to offer an evaluation of the decision-making process during the Cold War, and consider the impact that these decisions had upon subsequent developments both within the Horn of Africa and in the wider international context. The decision-making process is studied, including the role of the president, the input of his advisers and lower level officials within agencies such as the State Department and National Security Council, and the parts played by Congress, bureaucracies, public opinion, and other actors within the international environment, especially the Soviet Union, Ethiopia and Somalia. Jackson examines the extent to which influences exerted by forces other than the president affected foreign policy, and provides the first comprehensive analysis of American foreign policy towards Ethiopia and Somalia throughout the Cold War. This book offers a fresh perspective on issues such as globalism, regionalism, proxy wars, American aid programmes, anti-communism and human rights. It will be of great interest to students and academics in various fields, including American foreign policy, American Studies and Politics, the history of the Cold War, and the history of the Horn of Africa during the modern era.

This is the first full-length study of Demetrius of Alexandria (189-232 ce), who generated a neglected, yet remarkable hagiographic program that secured him a positive legacy throughout the Middle Ages and the modern era. Drawing upon Patristic, Coptic, and Arabic sources spanning a millennium, the analysis contextualizes the Demetrian corpus at its various stages of composition and presents the totality of his hagiographic corpus in translation. This volume constitutes a definitive study of Demetrius, but more broadly, it provides a clearly delineated hagiographic program and charts its evolution against a backdrop of political developments and intercommunal interactions. This fascinating study is a useful resource for students of Demetrius and the Church in Egypt in this period, but also for anyone working on Early Christianity and hagiography more generally.

Originally published in 1968, this volume traces the history and growth of Apartheid in South Africa. The acts which enforced Apartheid - the Group Areas Act, Population and Registration Act are given in full. The book also includes documents which reflected reaction to these measures: Parliamentary debates, newspaper reports and policy statements by the leading political parties and religious denominations. The documents are headed by a full historical and analytical introduction.

The author synthesises the findings of extensive research into the history of African societies in South Africa. Professor Maylam is head of the Department of History, Rhodes University.

It is more than a thousand years since the exploitation of the elephant began.

The primary objective of this book is to understand the nature of the Boko Haram insurgency in northeast Nigeria. Boko Haram's goal of an Islamic Caliphate, starting in the Borno State in the North East that will eventually cover the areas of the former Kanem-Borno Empire, is a rejection of the modern state system forced on it by the West. The central theme of this volume examines the relationship between the failure of the state-building project in Nigeria and the outbreak and nature of insurgency. At the heart of the Boko Haram phenomenon is a country racked with cleavages, making it hard for Nigeria to cohere as a modern state. Part I introduces this theme and places the Boko Haram insurgency in a historical context. There are, however, multiple cleavages in Nigeria ethnic, regional, cultural, and religious and Part II examines the different state-society dynamics fuelling the conflict. Political grievances are common to every society; however, what gives Boko Haram the space to express such grievances through violence? Importantly, this volume demonstrates that the insurgency is, in fact, a reflection of the hollowness within Nigeria's overall security. Part III looks at the responses to Boko Haram by Nigeria, neighbouring states, and external actors. For Western actors, Boko Haram is seen as part of the "global war on terror" and the fact that it has pledged allegiance to ISIS encourages this framing. However, as the chapters here discuss, this is an over-simplification of Boko Haram and the West needs to address the multiple dimension of Boko Haram. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism and political violence, insurgencies, African politics, war and conflict studies, and IR in general.

Fifty years ago, Nigeria endured a period of violent disturbance leading to the breakaway of the Eastern Region under the name Biafra. The resulting conflict (1967-70) aroused shock and protests around the world because of mass starvation in the war zone. While Britain supplied arms to the federal Nigerian government, and France to the Biafrans, relief agencies with contributions from countless individuals organised a memorable airlift of food and medicine to the Biafrans' Uli airstrip. Jonathan Derrick, then a journalist for the London weekly West Africa, followed these events closely and recorded the war in the magazine's news pages, right up to the federal forces' final victory and the remarkable reconciliation between supporters of Biafra--predominantly Igbo--and other Nigerians. He later worked for some years in Nigeria, and has studied much of the material published on the war since 1970. Here, he recounts the history of the conflict as documented in West Africa, referring to later literature on and analysis of the events, which inspired passion at the time and have provoked debate ever since. His account deals with myths, misapprehensions and controversies surrounding the conflict, while recalling the tragic facts of a grim episode in African history.

To define Nigeria is to tell a half-truth. Many have tried, but most have concluded that it is impossible to capture the true scope and significance of Africa's most populous nation through words or images. And yet here, through personal essays from 24 of its writers, a more accurate picture comes into view: one that details the realities and contradictions of patriotism, examines the role of class and privilege in Nigerian society, juxtaposes inherited tradition with the diasporic experience and explores the power of storytelling and its intrinsic link to Nigeria's history. Within these pages, acclaimed and award-winning writers share memories and experiences of Nigeria that can be found nowhere else, bringing to the fore a country whose influence can be found everywhere. Powerful, lyrical and entirely unforgettable, OF THIS OUR COUNTRY weaves together a living portrait of Nigeria, one that is as beautiful as it is complex. With essays from: Nels Abbey, Ayo bami Adebayo , Yomi Adegoke, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Oyinkan Akande, Ike Anya, Sefi Atta, Bolu Babalola, J K Chukwu, Abi Dare, Inua Ellams Chikodili Emelumadu, Caleb Femi, Helon Habila, Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, Anietie Isong, Okey Ndibe, Chigozie Obioma, Irenosen Okojie, Cheluchi Onyemelukwe, Lola Shoneyin, Umar Turaki, Chika Unigwe and Hafsa Zayyan.

Jean Barbot, who served as a commercial agent on French slave-trading voyages to West Africa in 1678-9 and 1681-2, in 1683 began an account of the Guinea coast, based partly on his voyage journals (only one of which is extant) and partly on previous printed sources. The work was interrupted by his flight to England, as a Huguenot refugee, in 1685, and not finished until 1688. When Barbot found that his lengthy French account could not be published, he rewrote it in English, enlarging it even further, and then continually revising it up to his death in 1712. The manuscript was eventually published in 1732. Barbot's book had considerable influence on later European attitudes to Black Africa and the Atlantic slave trade and in modern writings on both subjects is frequently cited as evidence. The French account serves as the base for the present edition and is presented in English translation but additional material in the later English version is inserted. The edition concentrates on Barbot's original information. He copied much from earlier sources - this derived material is omitted but is identified in the notes. The original material, mainly on Senegal, Sierra Leone, River Sess, Gold Coast and the Calabars, is extensively annotated, not least with comparative references to other sources. Apart from its narrative interest, the edition thus provides a starting point for the critical assessment of a range of early sources on Guinea. The edition opens with an introductory essay discussing Barbot's life and career and analysing his sources. Barbot provided a large number of his own drawings of topographical and ethnographical features, in particular drawings of almost all of the European forts in Guinea. Many of these illustrations are reproduced. This volume covers the coast from Senegal to Gold Coast. The main pagination of this and the following volume (Second series 176) series is continuous. This is a new print-on-demand hardback edition of the volume first published in 1991.

Jean Barbot, who served as a commercial agent on French slave-trading voyages to West Africa in 1678-9 and 1681-2, in 1683 began an account of the Guinea coast, based partly on his voyage journals (only one of which is extant) and partly on previous printed sources. The work was interrupted by his flight to England, as a Huguenot refugee, in 1685, and not finished until 1688. When Barbot found that his lengthy French account could not be published, he rewrote it in English, enlarging it even further, and then continually revising it up to his death in 1712. The manuscript was eventually published in 1732. Barbot's book had considerable influence on later European attitudes to Black Africa and the Atlantic slave trade and in modern writings on both subjects is frequently cited as evidence. The French account serves as the base for the present edition and is presented in English translation but additional material in the later English version is inserted. The edition concentrates on Barbot's original information. He copied much from earlier sources - this derived material is omitted but is identified in the notes. The original material, mainly on Senegal, Sierra Leone, River Sess, Gold Coast and the Calabars, is extensively annotated, not least with comparative references to other sources. Apart from its narrative interest, the edition thus provides a starting point for the critical assessment of a range of early sources on Guinea. The edition opens with an introductory essay discussing Barbot's life and career and analysing his sources. Barbot provided a large number of his own drawings of topographical and ethnographical features, in particular drawings of almost all of the European forts in Guinea. Many of these illustrations are reproduced. This volume covers the coast from the River Volta to Cape Lopez. The main pagination of this and the previous volume (2nd series 175) series is continuous. This is a new print-on-demand hardback edition of the volume first published in 1991.

For more than 3,000 years, Egypt was home to the greatest civilization on earth. Illustrated with more than 1,500 photographs and specially commissioned illustrations, The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt is a celebration of the wonders of ancient Egypt, from the mask of Tutankhamun to the Valley of the Kings and the great pyramids of Giza, and from tomb hieroglyphs to golden treasures decorated with ankhs and scarabs. Exploring the history, religion, literature, and art of the ancient Egyptians, as well as the day-to-day experience of ordinary citizens such as pyramid builders, scribes, and craftsmen, this book brings to life the world of the pharaohs in vivid detail, providing a wealth of information about this fascinating and mysterious culture.

After a lifetime's close observation of the continent, one of the world's finest Africa correspondents has penned a landmark book on life and death in modern Africa. It takes a guide as observant, experienced, and patient as Richard Dowden to reveal its truths. Dowden combines a novelist's gift for atmosphere with the scholar's grasp of historical change as he spins tales of cults and commerce in Senegal and traditional spirituality in Sierra Leone; analyzes the impact of oil and the internet on Nigeria and aid on Sudan; and examines what has gone so badly wrong in Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Congo. Dowden's master work is an attempt to explain why Africa is the way it is, and enables its readers to see and understand this miraculous continent as a place of inspiration and tremendous humanity.

In this landmark work, one of the world's most renowned Egyptologists tells the epic story of this great civilization, from its birth as the first nation-state to its final absorption into the Roman Empire--three thousand years of wild drama, bold spectacle, and unforgettable characters.
Award-winning scholar Toby Wilkinson captures not only the lavish pomp and artistic grandeur of this land of pyramids and pharaohs but for the first time reveals the constant propaganda and repression that were its foundations. Drawing upon forty years of archaeological research, Wilkinson takes us inside an exotic tribal society with a pre-monetary economy and decadent, divine kings who ruled with all-too-recognizable human emotions.
Here are the years of the Old Kingdom, where Pepi II, made king as an infant, was later undermined by rumors of his affair with an army general, and the Middle Kingdom, a golden age of literature and jewelry in which the benefits of the afterlife became available for all, not just royalty--a concept later underlying Christianity. Wilkinson then explores the legendary era of the New Kingdom, a lost world of breathtaking opulence founded by Ahmose, whose parents were siblings, and who married his sister and transformed worship of his family into a national cult. Other leaders include Akhenaten, the "heretic king," who with his wife Nefertiti brought about a revolution with a bold new religion; his son Tutankhamun, whose dazzling tomb would remain hidden for three millennia; and eleven pharaohs called Ramesses, the last of whom presided over the militarism, lawlessness, and corruption that caused a crucial political and societal decline.
Riveting and revelatory, filled with new information and unique interpretations, "The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt "will become the standard source about this great civilization, one that lasted--so far--longer than any other.

The Women of Cairo: Scenes of Life in the Orient, first published in 1929, describes the trip to Egypt and other locations in the Ottoman Empire taken by French Romanticist Gerard de Nerval. The book focuses on both reinforcing and dispelling the old ways in which people saw the Orient, as well as examining their old and new customs. This book is perfect for those studying history and travel.