Customer Reviews

Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience - The Concise Desk Reference

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This encyclopedia is a valuable effort to disseminate the history of Africa, a continent depredated by the slave trade, exploiting its people and their descendants in the New World. The shame of slavery and its consequences, racism and xenophobia, emerges in its pages. But the Encyclopedia Africana is also a song of hope and a call to awaken the conscience of contemporary man. The lesson of history that presents can be summarized in the words planet and race: a single planet, Earth, for a single race, the human race. The Encyclopedia of Africa is a tribute to Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois, one of its most prominent boosters. Francisco Bernardo Regino E., Dominican Republic.

This is a phenomenally exceptional book, one of the best historical encyclopedias available. While the book is, of course, a reference book rather than an exhaustive history, Africana presents a thorough overview of the African and African American experience. The entries are comprehensive, concise, articulate, and very easy to read. If you are a student of any age studying this particular field, or simply a student studying American or world history, this book would be indispensible. I cannot highly recommend it enough. And at the price that you can buy it through Amazon, it is nothing less than a steal.

The book claims to be a "concise desk reference". It does contain some 1130 pages. It does give capsules on many well-kown people of Black heritage as well as some notable events in world history pertaining to Blacks. But mostly it gives short biographical editorials of individuals around the world, devoting much of this to African Americans. Yet, the book has no mention of Prince Hall or Black masony. It devotes a very short amount to the man known throughout the world at one time as the most known person in the world, Muhammad Ali, world renouned boxing champion, among other noted things. Moreover, the book devotes more than twice as much writing to the singer Diana Ross and nearly three times as much to Queen Latifah. Again, I must note that the Scottsboro Boys matter received far less mention than that made of the entertainer Prince in the book. This book is far from a concise reference for in the field it claims. I would not recommend it.

As the author of The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities, I was disappointed to not see any reference to the nine African American Fraternities and Sororities, particularly since W.E.B. DuBois was a member. It seemed like a strange omission for such a comprehensive book.


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Lawrence C. Ross, Jr.
The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities (author)
The Ways of Black Folks: A Year in the Life of a People (author)
Sometimes Rhythm, Sometimes Blues (contributor)
Friends With Benefits (author: September 2005)

This is a good "reference" for someone who is seeking some surface knowledge about African Americans and their histroy, but I was hoping for a little bit more "meat". It is a well written text, but it is like a dictionary with very little specific insight into the subjects mentioned in the text. It gives the reader more of an overview of topics. Additionally, some very importanat people in African American history are not included in the text. If you are looking for something that is comprehensive, this is NOT the book to get. It is possible that the entire Africana would be more appropriate for my needs.

Thank you for your promptness. The recipient truly loved the gift. Thank you once again. Bernadette