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The History of African Cities South of the Sahara: From the Origins to Colonization

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"If asked to imagine Africa, most Americans will conjure images of "National Geographic"-style wildlife and rural exotica, or the horrific scenes of violence and despair that seem the extent of the press coverage. Few will think of Africa's thriving cities, and fewer still of how long some have existed. Distinguished social historian Coquery-Vidrovitch offers a broad, accessible overview of African urban history to rectify such neglect, taking the pulse of ancient and more recent cities from Awdaghust to Great Zimbabwe. Readers are introducted to fabled centers of Islamic learning like Timbuktu in Mali, holy Christian cities like Axum in Ethiopia, storied royal capitals like Mbanza-Kongo in Angola, and dynamic ports like Kilwa in Tanzania that encouraged trade for millennia. The great cities of Ghana and Nigeria are presented in all their complexity, as are early European enclaves like Saint Louis and Gor'D'ee in Senegal. Architecture and built environments are considered, as are the impacts on African urbanism of trans-Atlantic and Indian Ocean slavery, Islam and trans-Saharan trade, European capitalism, and the rise of cultural synthesis. THIS EXCELLENT BOOK BELONGS IN EVERY PUBLIC, HIGH SCHOOL, AND UNIVERSITY LIBRARY. Summing up: Essential. All levels."
-A.F. Roberts, UCLA, for Choice Magazine