Africana [Import] [Paperback]

Henry Louis Gates (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Basic Books (November 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 046500072X
• ISBN-13: 978-0465000722
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,651,746 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars African Experiance Finally Gets It's Place in the Sun!, December 9, 1999

By 

"meggyg" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience (Hardcover)

Upon opening this book, I realized I had stumbled on to the missing link in American History. Africana provides a glimpse of what traditional history books have been all to willing to ignore. As a person of Native American and European heritage, I have seen time and time again, the way American History Books have focused primarily on the accomplishments of Europeans, leaving out the rich history of all of her people of color. With it's amazing photographs and easily followed geographical references, Africana fills this gap, as it provides a much wider view of the true history of America. I hope someday that traditional American History Books will include this information in their pages and there will be no need for separated histories... but until that time, Africana is a book that every parent should buy for their child and every American should have in their home. The history that this book brings to the table of humanity, can help us heal and grow as a country... and a people.

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Debater's Tool, December 2, 1999

By 

L. Young (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience (Hardcover)

I find myself online engaged in debates about African-Americans and Africa that only scholars on the topic can participate in. Now, with this Encyclopedia, it's not only good reading for knowledge and scholastic research, but also for validating facts. Now I'm ready for some good 'ol debatin'!

Another thing worth mentioning is that for each article there are regional references: African, African-American, South American, etc. and at the end of each article are references to other relevant readings in the book. When "The Century" was released last year, I was waiting for a "Black Century" so to speak. I had NO CLUE that this Encyclopedia was on the way! The photographs dispel myths of what "Black" looks like. The essays are captivating. The intro is interresting reading. It parallels DuBois' struggle to bring this book about in his day and Gates' efforts to do the same in our day!

I only wish that, if this is not an exact replica of the Encarta Africana CD-ROM in book form, it comes out on CD-ROM so that I can read it away from home & share it with others.

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A TRUE WONDER AMONG REFERENCE BOOKS!!!, November 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience (Hardcover)

I recently purchased this massive volume as a gift to myself for a recent job promotion. It is wonderful. The African Diaspora is well represented in this volume. I am using this beautiful book as a valuable resource for an upcoming article I am working on for my graduate courses dealing with African and African-American writers. Although the price of this book is expensive, once you buy it and add it to your collection, price becomes irrelevant. Any student and/or lover of Africa should have this book in their home library.