Customer Reviews

Africa: A Biography of the Continent

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Considering the magnitude of his undertaking, Mr Reader did a superb job of covering his subject in nearly every aspect possible. Almost anyone with an interest in geology, geography, anthropology, ancient and recent history, political science or ethnography will find this book of interest in some aspect. Personally I enjoyed the first half of the volume more than the last half, as the later chapters are a depressing compendium of the inhumanity of mankind to its brethern. The unfortunate effects of foreign involvement in African affairs has a long history, and Mr. Reader dealt with the subject fully and fairly; nor did he entirely absolve native African involvement in the down fall of some of its own cultures. The author seems to have a feel for the complexity of the events that occurred through time and of the reprocussions--the almost dominoe effect--of actions and decisions made, often times outside of Continental Africa itself. (A case of 20-20 hindsight, perhaps). In all a very readable book for anyone desiring a broad overview of Africa.

Here is a clear, concise, and extremely well-written book. A model, IMHO, of how authors should write history. If you were ever curious about why Hutus kill Tutsi's, why Zaire is such a mess, or how DeBeers came to practically run the South African government, this book's for you. If you haven't been curious, you should be. Read it anyway.

The book covers African history from archaeology and anthropology through present era. (It stops at the 1994 Rwanda crisis and Mandela's election in South Africa).

I picked up the book after reading an excellent review in The Economist. I knew very little about African history and reckoned I should know more. I was not disappointed.

John Reader writes clear and concise prose and chooses his words carefully. Each chapter is fairly "portable" and can be read indpendently and, as a bonus, has an abstract at the beginning which help clarify the author's ideas and direction.

The two shortfalls I found were trivial:

1) I find the archaeology and anthropology less interesting than portions which dealt with the Portugese on. That said, I found the subject matter of the first 200 pages a bit dry.

2) It needs more maps inserted in the body of the book, i.e. detailed enough to support some of the texts. The Appendix in the back contains some interesting maps, not in the level of detail necessary to follow some discussions. (E.g. the Congo headwaters and locations of Brazzaville/Leopoldville.)

That said, I found the book worthwhile and have given it to two friends moving to Kenya. They liked it also.

In this excellent well written fast paced narrative the author takes us on a whirlwind tour of African history from the dawn of man to the present. He gives us small snippets of African history, wonderful tales and illuminating anecdotes. From the Diamond trade to the Slave trade, the to formation of modern states, tribal infighting, the arrival of Europeans and the failed states of today this book is a rip roaring wonderful account of Africa. Beautiful portraits are given of African kingdoms and the colonial world as well as the independence movements, this books catches the culture and feelings of a continent.

However there is one major hole in this book, one that exists throughout African historical narrative, the complete ignoring of the Islamic slave trade in Africa. According to this read Slavery was endemic to Africa, Africans practiced slavery, slaves were sold at Zanzibar, the Europeans refined the slave trade and then England fought slavery. But there is one thing missing. Who was running Zanzibar, why is there a city in Tanzania called Dar es Salaam. The book almost completely ignores 1000 years of Arab and Islamic penetration, subjugation, slavery and trade that took place all throughout the Sahara and East Africa. The anti-slavery campaign of the British was primarily aimed at ending Arab slave trade in East Africa, since the European slave trade in west Africa had been ended by the 1860s. Arab slave traders were so common and powerful that much of Tanzania and Kenya were depopulated of Africans and the slavers had to reach as far as the Congo for their human cargo(Tipoo Tip was the trader in question). It was the Arab thirst for slaves that propelled Africans into the slave trade. As many as 11 million Africans were enslaved between 1000AD and 1815 and its aspects were as brutal as the version practiced in West Africa. This book covers up this important episode and the Arab colonization of East Africa because history of Africa today focuses on European-African relations, however it is totally forgotten that before European colonization of Africa, there was 600 years of Arab and Islamic colonization of the same continent.

Seth J. Frantzman

A good introduction to Africa and full of eye-opening facts, perhaps because it's written by a journalist. Also, extraordinary photos, all taken by Reader. But it has some problems. He's best at telling a story, so the later part of the book, dealing with historical incidents, is much better than the earlier part, where he has to rely on archeology. The discussion of the slave trade is probably the strongest and most detailed part of the book. Also, the book is more of a representative sample of parts of African history than a complete survey. That choice may make sense, because Africa is very big, but some of the omissions are too bad. For instance, Reader barely mentions the role of Islam in Africa. I have no political problem with that, but it is somewhat misleading and some readers may not find what they were looking for. Another point: Reader is determined to demonstrate that Europeans and Americans don't give Africans enough credit for their accomplishments. That's fair, but his direct statements of opinion seem out of place in a history. Finally, the maps are totally inadequate.

With all the force of a shuttle launch, Reader lofts us to a sweeping vista of our home continent. A passionate narrative, supported by a wealth of material, he ensures the pejorative "dark continent" will never again be uttered by his readers. Far too many of us have allowed years of ignorant press to cloud our perception of the continent of our origins. Reading this book provides a new base of knowledge about the continent giving us birth.

"Base" suggests Reader's starting point, which opens with a description of the cratons forming Africa, the world's oldest bedrock. Rocks alone don't make a continent, and Reader continues with a discussion of how Africa's climate has been instrumental in guiding many aspects of Africa's development. The issue of rainfall or lack of it, its impact on river courses and lake formation are brought to bear as the story progresses. Reader goes on to describe the rise of life in Africa, most significantly, of course, the emergence of humans. His use of science is impressive, clearly the result of extensive and careful research.

From human beginnings he moves to the development of African civilizations. For years Egypt dominated western thinking in the equation of Africa and society. Reader's takes us through the societies that emerged apart from Egypt. He describes societies that developed in sub-Saharan Africa and how circumstances vary with location. That Africa set examples for later communal development is frequently overlooked, and he describes representative societies that developed in Africa. The Niger Delta and Aksum, two of the communities, one agricultural and the other a commercial centre, are samples of successful human organization in Africa. Clearly, the tradition of scattered tribes with garden farms supporting chancy hunting as the typical African condition is false and misleading.

Reader's chapters on slavery and the slave trade are enlightening. The Western Hemisphere remains self-congratulatory on the extinction of slavery, even though it took a war to accomplish it. Reader makes clear that the impact of the slavery endured into modern times, and the social consequences are both intense and widespread. Raiders and victims persisted for decades, and today's political clashes have roots in the slave trade. If we are to comprehend the African scene, Reader reminds us, we can start with a firmer knowledge of slavery's impact than our media has given us.

Reader's account of modern nation building in Africa is captivating reading. One glaring fact emerges - Africa has more national borders than any other continent. This artifact of colonization should be a starting point of any course on the continent. Reader notes that 177 "ethnic cultural areas" are crossed by these artificial boundaries, with predictable results. Uncertainties, lack of communication with urban centres, and rivalries all contribute to the failure of European and North American policy-makers to properly formulate responses to
African "national" conditions.

The scope of Reader's portrayal of Africa is too broad to allow a detailed account of modern events. This book being a "Biography of the Continent" and not a "current events" report precludes deep analysis of contemporary affairs. The fascinating life of Idi Amin, for example, is omitted entirely from Reader's roll call of African figures. That shouldn't dissuade anyone wishing to begin to understand the continent of our birth. Start with Reader's account then seek through his bibliography for further reading. This book is essential as a starting point in learning about the land of our beginnings and beyond.

I picked this one purely on a whim, because I felt I hadn't learned a darn thing in my school years about the Continent of Africa. This book is a great starter to get you going. From Reader's discussion of the Pangea theory to his examples of extreme and violent tribalism towards the end, this book intrigues throughout. Most of all, it gave me the desire to buy more books that concentrate on subjects or countries that Mr. Reader could only briefly brush upon. I highly recommend this to anyone who has an interest in Africa, but doesn't know where to start.

Reader's is a journalist's (rather than a historian, geographer, or economist's) take on Africa, with all the pitfalls of that approach. It is redundant and overly wordy and suffers from a very serious lack of maps. That said, it is the BEST single book on Africa and should be required reading for all Americans, as it would likely be their only source of information about Africa. Obviously, Africa is a big place with a very long history and a single book cannot do justice to the subject in detail. Reader does a wonderful job providing a grand overview as well as selected details to spark interest in further reading and perhaps travel. Unfortunately, the hardback book kind of peters out in the final chapter. It is clear throughout the book that Reader is an Africa fan with strong opinions about how non-Africans have affected its present state. But he doesn't provide us with any sweeping summary that presents these views in a cogent way. It would be better for the reader to draw their own conclusions, except that Reader has steered them in a specific direction. It would be nice to know what it is he wants us to see there. One last note, read this book with a good atlas or detailed map of Africa in hand.

I have bought this book 7 times. Each time, I lend or give it to colleagues ranging from diplomats to missionaries, and then have to buy a new copy for my own reference! The maps in the back alone are worth the price of the book. I've worked in US embassies in 13 African countries over the last 20 years, and this book is still my favorite. Reader combines his geographic perspective ("How does humankind live on the land? why are human communities located where they are?" and the ever-popular "Why did humanity evolve in Africa?") with some enlightening side trips e.g. geology: ("Why do diamonds and gold occur where they are? How have such resources affected the continent's history?"). He isn't afraid to tackle the realities of the colonial legacy, but he is balanced in also describing the role of home-grown obstacles on the road Africans are traveling to improve their lives. If you are only going to get through one book about Africa, this is it.

Is rare to find a book about history that is so gripping. The writer indeed does a wonderful job in keeping you amused and surprised. He mixes very diverse topics such as linguistics, weather, religion, colonialism, economics, geography and a thousand more, into a single narrative, with such vitality and coherence, that you wonder how come there are such a few mainstream works on such a fascinating epic history.

If you know nothing about, or just a few details of African History, after finish reading this book you will feel like an expert, but more important that that, the writer most probably will sow in you a feeling of love for that continent a thirst to know more.

This is a long book about Africa, that is nevertheless very interesting all the way through. It comes in two broad sections: the first part talks about the geology of Africa and about how people lived in relation to the land and how they survived there. This part is about people who lived with no (or very scarce) written records. It's done very well. Reader is very knowledgeable about the most recent theories and discoveries in human evolution . It's relevant, of course, to the history of the world and not just Africa. The second part is about what happened once Europeans and other types headed back in to Africa. This part reads a bit like a news summary. It's interesting, it's detailed (horrific in places), and it's only part of the story. That's fair enough, though. Goodness me, you can't have everything in one book. My position was: I know nothing at all about Africa. I need to start somewhere. This was an excellent book for that purpose.