This radically revised and updated companion volume to the authors' well-known Africa since 1800 (now in its fourth edition) takes African history from about 1250 AD, when African societies were expanding their political and economic scope, and when Islamic influences were already reaching across the Sahara and down the Indian Ocean coastline. It continues through the period of early European contact from the fifteenth century onward, with much emphasis on expanding Atlantic trade.

The African Middle Ages covers the period of African history from 1400 to 1800. During this period Africa was influenced by external forces as the Islamic states of the north extended their sway and as maritime trade with Europe and Asia increased. The notorious slave-trade created the black population of North and South America, the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean islands. The authors, however, emphasize the extent to which Africans dealt with outsiders on equal terms. The peoples of Africa were coalescing into tribal states rather like those of early medieval Europe. These states were often capable of providing a high degree of law and order, of exploiting resources and organising trade; of redistributing the products of local industries, and of defending themselves against outside attack. Though eventually subordinated by the colonial conquests of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the tribal states of pre-colonial Africa continue to exert a powerful residual influence upon the post-colonial states of modern Africa.

This book begins by looking at the peoples of Africa at the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and goes on to study the commercial and ideological penetration of Africa by the outside world. The partition and colonisation of Africa by the European powers are discussed, and there is comprehensive discussion of the colonial rule between 1885 and 1960. The last third of the book is concerned with the history of independent Africa during the last years of the twentieth century. The new edition covers events up to the middle of 2003, and takes account of the fresh perspectives brought about by the end of the Cold War and the new global situation following the events of September 11, 2001. It is also concerned with the demographic trends, with the ravages of diseases such as AIDS and malaria, and with the conflicts waged by warlords.

This book begins by looking at the peoples of Africa at the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and goes on to study the commercial and ideological penetration of Africa by the outside world. The partition and colonisation of Africa by the European powers are discussed, and there is comprehensive discussion of the colonial rule between 1885 and 1960. The last third of the book is concerned with the history of independent Africa during the last years of the twentieth century. The new edition covers events up to the middle of 2003, and takes account of the fresh perspectives brought about by the end of the Cold War and the new global situation following the events of September 11, 2001. It is also concerned with the demographic trends, with the ravages of diseases such as AIDS and malaria, and with the conflicts waged by warlords.

This radically revised and updated companion volume to the authors' well-known Africa since 1800 (now in its fourth edition) takes African history from about 1250 AD, when African societies were expanding their political and economic scope, and when Islamic influences were already reaching across the Sahara and down the Indian Ocean coastline. It continues through the period of early European contact from the fifteenth century onward, with much emphasis on expanding Atlantic trade.