East Africa is characterized by great variety in peoples, cultures, and religions. Great kingdoms have emerged here. The most ancient flourished in Nubia, in the Sudan, 5,000 years ago. In the 19th century, Queen Ranavalona of Madagascar repelled two European invasions, and King Yambio of the Azande in Southern Sudan fought against slave dealers, a Northern incursion and several European powers. Menelik II of Ethiopia thwarted Italy's attempt to colonize his country. His wife, Empress Taytu Betul was a legendary patron of the Christian Church. The stunning history of East Africa is told through lives and legacies of these royal figures and ends with a look at the modern-day region. Beautiful illustrations.
Sylviane Anna Diouf specializes in the social history of the Transatlantic Slave Trade and slavery, as well as contemporary African migrations.
Her latest book, Dreams of Africa in Alabama: The Slave Ship Clotilda and the Story of the Last Africans Brought to America (Oxford University Press) won the 2007 Wesley-Logan Prize of the American Historical Association, the 2009 James F. Sulzby Award for best book on Alabama history from the Alabama Historical Association and was a finalist for the 2008 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for non fiction. Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas (NYU Press) was named Outstanding Academic Book in 1999.
Sylviane has lived in France, Senegal, Gabon, and Italy and now resides in New York City. See more at www.sylvianediouf.com
