Africans: The History of a Continent (African Studies) [Paperback]

John Iliffe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 25, 1995 | ISBN-10: 0521484227 | ISBN-13: 978-0521484220

This history of Africa from the origins of mankind to the South African general election of 1994 refocuses African history on the peopling of an environmentally hostile continent. The social, economic and political institutions of the African continent were designed to ensure survival and maximize numbers, but in the context of medical progress and other twentieth-century innovations these institutions have bred the most rapid population growth the world has ever seen. The history of the continent is thus a single story binding living Africans to the earliest human ancestors.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Iliffe, an eminent African historian at Cambridge, offers a far-ranging survey of Africa from the development of the human species to the South African elections of 1994. He writes in a thematic rather than strictly chronological fashion. What sets his book apart from other such surveys (e.g., Basil Davidson's African Civilization Revisited, LJ 6/1/91. 2d ed.) is his treatment of the environment and population as factors in the development of Africa, including North Africa. Iliffe examines human coexistence with nature, the building up of enduring societies, and African reactions to outside forces; yet he always keeps the contemporary world in mind, focusing on the answers to such basic questions as why Africa remained relatively underdeveloped compared with Eurasian societies or why African states have experienced so many problems over the past couple of decades. Iliffe's excellent, well-written introductory text belongs in all collections of Africana.?Paul H. Thomas, Hoover Inst. Lib., Stanford, Cal.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"I have never read a more original, stimulating, current and authoritative text; it ranks with the best creative masters of the genre who defined the fields of African history." Joseph C. Miller, University of Virginia

"...an outstandingly impressive achievement. It supersedes all other single volume histories of Africa and is remarkable for its grasp of the recent literature on virtually everything from archaeology to current affairs. It sweeps away many of the assertions and interpretations of previous surveys of the history of Africa and replaces them with more reliably grounded narrative and analysis. The emphasis upon environment and population allows Iliffe to treat the whole of Africa, both north and south of the Sahara, more effectively than anyone else has done....This is a book which describes human agency, culture and belief. It is very well written and brought to life with vivid quotations. It has no equal or rival." Terence Ranger, University of Oxford

"This excellent continent-wide survey...is one of the best single volumes of African history that is currently available to the specialist as well as the student...In addition to providing a solid background in African history, Iliffe's stimulating interpretations open up many useful avenues for debate and further research. This work is highly recommended for scholars and students alike." The Historian

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (August 25, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521484227
• ISBN-13: 978-0521484220
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #896,289 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A history of Africa for the 21st century., November 5, 1998

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[e-mail] (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Africans: The History of a Continent (African Studies) (Paperback)

Iliffe's 'Africans' is the most distinguished and intelligent brief history of Africa yet written. Dry, and at times dense with information, it nonetheless succintly and brilliantly outlines the history of this complex and fascinating continent from earliest man to the democratic movements of the 1990s. Centred around a thesis that the key to Africa's history is population change, Iliffe weaves his tale with masterly skill. Underpopulated until the middle of the 20th century, the central feature of African history till the modern period has been a struggle for the control of scarce labour - land, by contrast, being abundant. Only with the massive population increases and urbanisation of the last fifty years have parts of the continent become over-populated, where a struggle for natural resources among an abundance of competitors has become the defining feature of African society (anyone who has spent time in the dog-eat-dog societies of Kenya or Nigeria can happily testify to this truth). This simple, somewhat tendentious but nonetheless thought-provoking thesis is the thread on which the book hangs, and is a relief from the dry, tedious and abstracted ideological and political theories which other historians have tried to apply to African history. This is a much richer book than such a summary might imply - Iliffe seems to have read every book and article ever written on African history (his Stakhanovite work methods are renowned), and politics, great men, religion, social movements all play a part in the narrative: and, as one has come to expect from Iliffe, African proverbs are studded in the text like diamonds in a tiara, illuminating and making real the events and processes on which he dwells. This is perhaps too dry a book to celebrate completely - Iliffe's Jesuitical approach to historical research lacks passion, and his powerful historian's mind perhaps takes for granted in the reader a too-deep understanding of that subject and its conventions. But ANYONE who wishs to understand more about the African continent cannot do without the learning, wisdom and intelligence that this book offers. Africa has been done a great service.

4.0 out of 5 stars Great introduction, November 16, 2011

By 

David Withun (FORT GORDON, GA, US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Africans: The History of a Continent (African Studies) (Paperback)

This book was a superb overview of the history of Africa. For the great length of history and great geographic area that this book covers in only about 300 pages, Illife does a fantastic job of ensuring that the reader is familiar with the great events of African history, spending just the right amount of time on each topic and always sure to discuss the various economic, political, cultural, religious, etc. factors of each period and place. For those who know little (as I did) about the history of Africa and want to begin to learn more, this is definitely the book to start with.

4.0 out of 5 stars Educational but a tough read, October 19, 2011

By 

David MacDougall "rpcvny" (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Africans: The History of a Continent (African Studies) (Paperback)

In just 300 pages the book provides a rich overview of the history of the peoples of Africa. It sheds light on so many areas and corrects a host of misconceptions I had. I enthusiastically recommend the book but I rated it only four stars because it is a slow and dense read. You will need to be highly motivated to finish it.