Customer Reviews

The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800

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

 

 

This is a great easy to understand overview of African History in that it is decently comprehensive, and doesn't bog the reader down in a million names and dates. The best feature of this book is its focus on Africa, for it's own sake, instead of in relation to others. It also talks more about what the people were doing than kings and other heads of states, and how people interacted together, in such forms as trade, cultural difussion, and yes, wars.

While dry in parts, as it is in fact a textbook, it makes African history accessible to one who hasn't gotten enough of it. I recommend it highly.

It is a very good book for students and other tht wnat to know the history of Africa. I have used it in my course at th Stockhom University.

This is not a good book. Written from a very American perspective the author devotes much of his writing trying to convince the reader that civilizations and socio-economic development can be something other than what we see in modern America today - something I'm sure any reader with the exception of someone expecting a coffee table book will already know.

Most of the currently understood history is included but is presented from a very second-hand perspective. Analysis of data and development of argument is shallow.