|
|
Books > History > African history > General
The Nile today plays a crucial role in the economics, politics and
cultural life of ten countries and their more than 300 million
inhabitants. No other international river basin has a longer, more
complex and eventful history than the Nile. In telling the detailed
story of the hydropolitics of the Nile valley in a period during
which the conceptualisation, use and planning of the waters were
revolutionised, and many of the most famous politicians of the
twentieth century Winston Churchill, Benito Mussolini, Dwight
Eisenhower, Anthony Eden, Gamal Abdul Nasser and Haile Selassie
played active parts in the Nile game, this work will stand as a
case study of a much more general and acute question: the political
ecology of transnational river basins."
Today, the East African state of Tanzania is renowned for wildlife
preserves such as the Serengeti National Park, the Ngorongoro
Conservation Area, and the Selous Game Reserve. Yet few know that
most of these initiatives emerged from decades of German colonial
rule. This book gives the first full account of Tanzanian wildlife
conservation up until World War I, focusing upon elephant hunting
and the ivory trade as vital factors in a shift from exploitation
to preservation that increasingly excluded indigenous Africans.
Analyzing the formative interactions between colonial governance
and the natural world, The Nature of German Imperialism situates
East African wildlife policies within the global emergence of
conservationist sensibilities around 1900.
This book aims to fill some of the gaps in historical narrative
about labor unions, Nigerian leftists, and decolonization during
the twentieth century. It emphasizes the significance of labor
union education in British decolonization, labor unionism, and
British efforts at modernizing the human resources of Nigeria.
This book examines social change in Africa through the lens of hip
hop music and culture. Artists engage their African communities in
a variety of ways that confront established social structures,
using coded language and symbols to inform, question, and
challenge. Through lyrical expression, dance, and graffiti, hip hop
is used to challenge social inequality and to push for social
change. The study looks across Africa and explores how hip hop is
being used in different places, spaces, and moments to foster
change. In this edited work, authors from a wide range of fields,
including history, sociology, African and African American studies,
and political science explore the transformative impact that hip
hop has had on African youth, who have in turn emerged to push for
social change on the continent. The powerful moment in which those
that want change decide to consciously and collectively take a
stand is rooted in an awareness that has much to do with time.
Therefore, the book centers on African hip hop around the context
of "it's time" for change, Ni Wakati.
After many years of research, award-winning historian Hugh Thomas portrays, in a balanced account, the complete history of the slave trade. Beginning with the first Portuguese slaving expeditions, he describes and analyzes the rise of one of the largest and most elaborate maritime and commercial ventures in all of history. Between 1492 and 1870, approximately eleven million black slaves were carried from Africa to the Americas to work on plantations, in mines, or as servants in houses. The Slave Trade is alive with villains and heroes and illuminated by eyewitness accounts. Hugh Thomas's achievement is not only to present a compelling history of the time but to answer as well such controversial questions as who the traders were, the extent of the profits, and why so many African rulers and peoples willingly collaborated. Thomas also movingly describes such accounts as are available from the slaves themselves.
In most accounts of warfare, civilians suffer cruelties and make
sacrifices silently and anonymously. This volume details the dismal
impact war has had on the African people over the past five hundred
years, from slavery days, the Zulu War, World Wars I and II, to the
horrific civil wars following decolonization and the genocide in
Rwanda. In most accounts of warfare, civilians suffer cruelties and
make sacrifices silently and anonymously. Finally, historians turn
their attention to those who are usually caught up in events beyond
their control or understanding. This volume details the dismal
impact war has had on the African people over the past five hundred
years, from slavery days, the Zulu War, World Wars I and II, to the
horrific civil wars following decolonization and the genocide in
Rwanda. Chapters provide a representative range of civilian
experiences during wartime in Africa extending from the late
eighteenth century to the present, representing every region of
Africa except North Africa. Timelines, glossaries, suggested
further readings and maps are included, and the work is fully
indexed. The book begins with Paul E. Lovejoy's study of the
ubiquitous experience of African slavery which has so profoundly
affected the development of the continent and the lives of its
people. John Laband then examines the rise of the Zulu kingdom in
the early nineteenth century and its subsequent conquest by
Britain, thus charting the fate of civilians during the formation
of an African kingdom and their experiences during colonial
conquest. The Anglo-Boer War is situated at a crucial crossroads
between colonial and modern warfare, and the concentration camps
the British set up for Boer and African civilians pioneered a new
form of modern savagery. Bill Nasson examines this war's complex
effects on various categories of non-combatants in South Africa.
Because it was under colonial rule, Africa was dragged into the two
World Wars. Tim Stapleton shows in the fourth chapter that while
the African civilian response to the war of 1914-1918 was often
contradictory and ranged from collaboration to revolt, the effect
of the conflict was only to confirm colonial rule. In the following
chapter, David Killingray explains how and why the impact of the
Second World War on African civilians was rather different from
that of the First in that it undid colonial rule, and paved the way
for the future independence of Africa under modernized African
leadership. The Portuguese held on to their African empire long
after the other colonial empires had relinquished theirs in the
1960s. Angola, the subject of Chapter six, passed seamlessly out of
an independence struggle against Portuguese rule into civil war
that soon involved Cold War rivalries and interventions. Inge
Brinkman describes the dismal sufferings and displacement of
Angolan civilians during four decades of interminable fighting.
Liberia and Sierra Leone declined from relative stability and
prosperity into horrific civil war, and in Chapter seven Lansana
Gberie traces the deadly consequences for civilians and the efforts
to stabilize society once peace was tentatively restored. The Sudan
has suffered decades of ethnic and religious strife between the
government and the people of the southern and western periphery,
and in Chapter eight Jane Kani Edward and Amir Idris analyze what
this has meant, and still means, for the myriad civilian victims.
Chapter nine concludes the book with the most horrific single
episode of recent African history: the Rwandan genocide. Alhaji Bah
explains its genesis and canvasses the subsequent search for
reconciliation. The chapter ends with his discussion of African
mechanisms that should - and even might - be put in place to ensure
effective peacekeeping in Africa, and so save civilians in future
from the swarm of war's horrors.
Ousmane Sembene was a Senegalese film director, producer, and
writer whom the Los Angeles Times considered one of the greatest
authors of Africa. Often called the "father of African film,"
Sembene strongly believed that African films should be geared
primarily toward educating the masses and making the philosophical
quandaries and political issues contested by elites accessible to
the poor and those with little to no formal education.Although
Sembene's central aim was to reach African audiences and encourage
a dialogue within Senegalese society, his films are also
extraordinarily effective in introducing non-African audiences to
many of the most intriguing cultural issues and social changes
facing African people today. The films are not fast paced in the
manner of many Hollywood films. Rather, they are deliberately
unhurried and driven by the narrative. They show actual ways of
life, social relations, and patterns of communication and
consumption, and the joys and tribulations of West African people.
For people who have never been to Africa, the films offer an
accessible first gaze. For those who have visited or lived in an
African culture, the films provide a way to explore African society
and culture more profoundly. Sembene was an independent filmmaker,
solely and totally responsible for the content of his films, which
were inspired by the realities of daily life. This focus on
microcosmic social relations and day-to-day politics is so central
to Sembene art, his films breed provocative commentary on social,
historical, political, economic, linguistic, religious, and gender
issues relevant to Senegalese society. Because of his concern with
daily Senegalese life, Sembene targeted the common people whose
voices are seldom or never heard. In fact, depicting the struggles
and concerns of average Senegalese people was a central
preoccupation of his films, as he himself has articulated. This
study examines the artistry of Sembene's films as well as the
multitude of signifying elements Sembene uses in them to
communicate in less direct ways with his audience. The book
interprets the meaning conveyed by images through their placement
and function within the films, and it contributes new insights into
Sembene's interpretations of cultural practices and the meanings he
ascribes to social behaviors. It examines how Sembene uses
language, mise-en-scene, cinematography, and creative editing to
evoke the emotions of his targeted audience. Several chapters in
the volume also demonstrate how the many ironies and political
economic tensions that are so characteristic of Sembene's work are
best understood within the sociocultural context of each film's
production. Hence, to make sense of Sembene's cinema, one must be
willing to read beyond the denoted meaning of the storyline and to
dig into the cultural significance of the carefully selected and
manipulated codes and images.
In Rwanda's Genocide , Kingsley Moghalu provides an engrossing
account and analysis of the international political brinkmanship
embedded in the quest for international justice for Rwanda's
genocide. He takes us behind the scenes to the political and
strategic factors that shaped a path-breaking war crimes tribunal
and demonstrates why the trials at Arusha, like Nuremberg, Tokyo,
and the Hague, are more than just prosecutions of culprits, but
also politics by other means. This is the first serious book on the
politics of justice for Rwanda's genocide. Moghalu tells this
gripping story with the authority of an insider, elegant and
engaging writing, and intellectual mastery of the subject matter.
Many outstanding men James Bruce, Richard Francis Burton, David
Livingstone, Henry Morton Stanley, and others won lasting fame from
their African journeys. Africa Explored collects their amazing
tales of treks into the unknown. These tales of Europeans in Africa
before the wave of colonialism mix exotic sights and startling
customs with sympathetic meetings of Africa's people and scenes of
sublime beauty. Africa Explored relates Mungo Park's being robbed
and left for dead in the West African desert, then saved by
repeated acts of kindness; Burton and Speke's search for the
legendary Mountains of the Moon that fed the Nile; Alexander
Laing's fatal voyage to Timbuktu; Livingston's journeys up the
Zambezi River; German missionary Johannes Rebmann's astonishment at
beholding the snow-capped peak of Kilimanjaro; and other incredible
encounters with strange animals, the slave trade, crippling
diseases, and desert nomads."
This offers an alternative to the colonialist and nationalist
explanations of the Mau Mau revolt, examining a widely studied
period of Kenyan history from a new perspective.
A significant contribution to the emerging literature on decolonial
studies, this concise and forcefully argued volume lays out a
groundbreaking interpretation of the "Mandela phenomenon." Contrary
to a neoliberal social model that privileges adversarial criminal
justice and a rationalistic approach to war making, Sabelo J.
Ndlovu-Gatsheni identifies transformative political justice and a
reimagined social order as key features of Nelson Mandela's legacy.
Mandela is understood here as an exemplar of decolonial humanism,
one who embodied the idea of survivor's justice and held up
reconciliation and racial harmony as essential for transcending
colonial modes of thought.
An area in the midst of deep change, Southern Africa was in turmoil
a short decade ago, its politics framed by white versus black,
colonialism versus decolonialism, majority rule versus minority
rights. With new political discourses beginning in the early 1990s,
the mood today is one of interdependencies between the SADC member
countries. To enhance one's understanding of the area, this book
provides a comprehensive guide to the history of Southern Africa
since the demise of colonialism. In detailed chronologies, it
traces the history of the twelve developing Southern African
countries-Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique,
Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Bringing together information on the political development of the
SADC member countries, the book aims to provide easy access to the
information. The detailed chronologies show the political events as
they unfolded, while the two indexes provide easy access to the
events. The book is a useful guide to key developments, the role
played by political parties, treaty information, and individual
personalities.
In From Jerusalem to the Lion of Judah and Beyond, author Steven
Carol provides a comprehensive understanding of Israel's foreign
policy, as well as its historic relationship with East Africa.Carol
conducted on the spot research in both Israel and East Africa for
his analysis. He shows why a small, embattled nation, beset by
mortal enemies from all sides, reached out and assisted other
nations in another part of the world. Carol presents a deeper
understanding of these issues: - Historic links- Economic and
technical cooperation- Military assistance- Political developments-
The break in relations- Historic developments since 1972- Pragmatic
engagement- The Entebbe Affair- The Rescue of the Beta Israel-
Relations restored - An Old/New friend-South SudanFrom Jerusalem to
the Lion of Judah and Beyond documents Israel's willingness to
offer a far greater share of its limited resources to international
assistance than practically any other nation, large or small. It
provides a relevant political analysis of a unique approach to
foreign policy.
On bended knee, he leaned over the stricken boxer and counted him out. When he waved the fight over, there was exactly one second to go in the dramatic and brutal world championship bout and Víctor Galíndez had retained his title. But the referee, his shirt stained with the champion’s blood, had cemented his reputation as a cool professional, one destined to become an esteemed figure in world boxing.
South Africa’s own Stanley Christodoulou has officiated an unprecedented 242 world title fights over five decades, some of them among the most iconic in boxing history, and became his nation’s very first inductee into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He rose from humble beginnings, learning his trade in the South African townships of the 1960s, and went on to lead his national boxing board as it sought to shed the racial restrictions of the apartheid era. It was a contribution to his country’s sporting landscape that saw him recognised by the president of the ‘new’ South Africa, Nelson Mandela.
The Life and Times of Stanley Christodoulou is Stanley’s memoir in boxing. It takes the reader to a privileged position, inside the ropes with champions and into the company of boxing legends.
For centuries, Africa's Upper Guinea Coast region has been the site
of regional and global interactions, with societies from different
parts of the African continent and beyond engaging in economic
trade, cultural exchange, and various forms of conflict. This book
provides a wide-ranging look at how such encounters have continued
into the present day, identifying the disruptions and continuities
in religion, language, economics, and various other social
phenomena that have resulted. These accounts show a region that,
while still grappling with the legacies of colonialism and the
slave trade, is both shaped by and an important actor within
ever-denser global networks, exhibiting consistent transformation
and creative adaptation.
This book depicts the lives of female monks within a monastery located in upper Egypt in the period 385-464 CE. During this period the monastery was headed by a monk named Shenoute; twelve of his letters to the women under his care survive. Despite various technical textual difficulties, Krawiec is able to use the letters to reconstruct a series of quarrels and events in the life of the White Monastery and to discern some of the key patterns in the participants' relationships to one another within the world as they perceived it. She begins by describing the monks' daily routine and discovers that the monastery's culture was based on uniformity, in both material goods and emotional support, for all the monks, regardless of background. The female monks' relationship with Shenoute constructed and exerted his authority in these conditions, and investigates the degree to which the women accepted it.
|
|