African States and Rulers [Hardcover]

John Stewart (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0786406135 | ISBN-13: 978-0786406135 | Publication Date: September 1999 | Edition: 2nd

This is a bigger (over 11,000 entries), updated (through late fall 1998) edition of the 1989 original ("Stewart's organization and his index...make his work indispensable"-Library Journal; "the most complete record to date...the source to turn to"-Wilson Library Bulletin) covering the enormous kaleidoscope of changing political boundaries, names, and rulers of Africa. This exhaustive reference allows the user quickly to determine what happened in or to each country and when-changes of names, political systems, rulers, and so on. The term "state" is loosely defined to embrace, throughout the history of Africa, any area of land with recognized borders and evidence of a continuing governmental structure, almost always with a capital city.

Entries give official name of country, dates during which it went by that name, location, capital, alternate names including cross-references to previous and later incarnations, and a list of rulers with dates of power when known.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

There have been many political changes in Africa since the 1989 edition of this exhaustive record of rulers in both contemporary nation-states and ancient tribal kingdoms. Each entry has been revised where necessary and includes new heads of states and governments up to the end of 1998. The entry for Congo (Zaire) duly notes the toppling of Mobutu and his replacement with Laurent Kabila.

An overview of African geopolitical history precedes the main body of text. The term state is used to mean any area of land with recognized borders and a continuing governmental structure. The successive forms of government of colonial and postcolonial states are easily traced. Each entry gives the official name of the country or state, dates of the name, location, capital, and alternative names, including cross-references to previous and later incarnations. A brief history is followed by a list of rulers with dates of power when known.

Entries range from the very brief to extensive as all known political entities are listed regardless of duration or historical significance. A few lines note Edina (in what is now Liberia), a colony or settlement of the New York and Pennsylvania Colonization Societies that was in existence as a separate entity only from 1832 to 1837. More than 12 pages of double-column listings are devoted to the history and rulers of Egypt from about 3100 B.C. to the advent in 1996 of Kamal al-Ganzouri as Prime Minister with President Mubarek. New to this edition is an appendix table of all African states as they exist today with a list of their historical constituents and also a year-by-year chronology, enabling the user to see at a glance events across the continent in a given year. Other charts list colonial powers and their African holdings and African nations' dates of admission to the United Nations. The index of rulers indicates the complexity of the task Stewart has undertaken. The many styles and forms of names are listed alphabetically under all reasonable permutations, following a full page of explanation for dealing with honorifics, Arabic names, and European particles such as De and Van.

As reviewers of the first edition noted, this is a very comprehensive work, much more in-depth for African states than the now-outdated Rulers and Governments of the World (Bowker, 1977^-1978) and easier to use than Peter Truhart's Regents of Nations (Saur, 1984^-1988), also more than a decade old. Current and twentieth-century lists of rulers and heads of state can be found on the Internet at sites such as Geocities' Rulers [http://www.geocities.com/Athens/1058/rulers.html] but are not a substitute for this compilation. Suitable for most academic libraries collecting in African history as well as large public libraries.

About the Author

John Stewart is also the author of three encyclopedias: The British Empire (1996), Moons of the Solar System (1991), and Antarctica (1990; a Library Journal "Best Reference Book" of the year). He lives in Grassy Creek, North Carolina.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 420 pages
• Publisher: Mcfarland & Co Inc Pub; 2nd edition (September 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786406135
• ISBN-13: 978-0786406135
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 7.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,628,755 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)