A Short History of Africa: Sixth Edition [Mass Market Paperback]

Roland Oliver (Author), J. D. Fage (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1995

During the 20th century the centre of the world shifted. The dramatic alterations in political power have corrected the vision of a European-centered world. Where the centres of European culture flourished, decayed and sprouted in turn, empires in Africa rose, ruled, resisted and succumbed. Much of Africa's past has now been excavated from ignorance and error, revealing a rich and previously little known human heritage.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

An intelligent short history of this vast and fascinating continent, with its diverse population, its tumultuous past, and its complicated present, is a timely choice for audio. But in this program, first written in 1962 and presented here with only minor revisions, the vibrant genius of a people is eclipsed by a recitation of economic, religious, and political developments in a manner more suited for academics. Its treatment of Africa's great Iron Age, its early Portuguese colonies, its seemingly endless torments of slavery, the growth of Islam, famine, and warfare have no anecdotal interest to recommend it to general listeners. Geoffrey Howard's fine narration supplies dignity and sparkle, but the prose remains dull and unengaging. With so few tapes on this subject available on audio, it is a pity that Blackstone has offered a dry, 35-year-old research tool that is more serviceable in print. Not recommended for general audiences.
Barbara Mann, Adelphi Univ., Garden City, N.Y.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

From AudioFile

This short work encompasses the history of the entire continent of Africa from the Paleolithic era to the late 1980's. Dividing the continent into four geographical and political areas, Oliver and Fage examine the history of the people, their conquests and experience of being conquered. Geoffrey Howard delivers a flawless narration, twisting his tongue around, not only the native African words and places, but also the multitude of European languages. Howard's reading is slow enough for the listener to contemplate the issues and events, yet fluid enough to entice the listener to learn what happens next. M.B.K. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); Revised edition (January 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140136010
• ISBN-13: 978-0140136012
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,334,176 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-written, concise, informative, July 11, 1999

By 

Robert S. Newman "Bob Newman" (Marblehead, Massachusetts USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Short History of Africa: Sixth Edition (Mass Market Paperback)

I read the 1966 (second)edition of this volume and was not aware of updates until opening this site. Despite much political and demographic change in Africa over the last 30-odd years, and despite the availability of much more research and the advent of DNA-based studies, not even heard of in 1966, I found Oliver and Fage's work a pleasure to read. Their chapters are intelligently organized, the flow of ideas and trends unblemished by superfluous detail or tedious asides. The entire continent is covered, North Africa as well as Sub-Saharan, though personally, I felt a little more could have been said about Madagascar. As a reader without a professional stake in African history, I found this book just the thing. It raised many issues that I had not thought of, told me about many patterns and issues of which I had known nothing, and did so in clear, concise language which kept my interest throughout. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in African history. I myself will look for an updated edition to see what the authors say about the last third of a century.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive, April 1, 2008

By 

Francois-Xavier Jette (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Short History of Africa: Sixth Edition (Mass Market Paperback)

The authors did a great job. They could have made this too high-level and impossible to understand for those who don't have enough background in African history, but they haven't. They could have made it too simplistic and abbreviated so that the reader would be missing important information, but they haven't either. They found just the right balance and the right approach to cover the entire history of Africa without dwelling on any details for too long and without skipping anything that would prevent the reader from getting a good understanding.

In some chapters, the book is a little heavy, but you can't put that much information without it feeling dense sometimes. Whenever I found one chapter a little too much to handle all at once, I simply re-read a few of its pages and I was ready to move on.

I must say, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a primer on African history, I learned so much from it.

The only parts I wish they had given a little more information on are the former colonies of Italy and Spain. In particular they didn't say very much about Somalia, Libya, and the Spanish colony west of Morocco.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive and well-organized, August 8, 2003

By 

Mary E. Sibley (Carneys Point, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: A Short History of Africa (Audio Cassette)

The first domestication of animals and cultivation of cereals occurred in south-west Africa. The oldest cereal crops of sub-Saharan Africa were the millets and west of the great bend of the Niger there was also rice. Maize and cassava were introduced from South and Central America in the 16th and 17th centuries. The ancient languages were Hamito-Semitic languages of the north and north-east, click languages of the Bush and Hottentot peoples, and the Eastern Sudanic languages and Western Sudanic languages. The Bantu languages spoken today are closely related to each other. The introduction into Aftica of South-East-Asian food plants, for example the banana and the yam, made possible the growth of dense populations. There was a great expansion and dispersal of Bantu farmers.

The idea of kingship probably originated in Egypt. The organizational efficiency caused the politco-religious ideas to be widely distributed. Trading expeditions had an effect on the material culture of a wide region. Then Egypt declined. It had neither iron or ore. Northern Kush had ore but no fuel. The southern region had both commodities. Meroe could provide for its own subsistence and trade and conquer in the Sudanic belt of Africa. As to the Sudanic civilization, the typical state was not feudal, it was bureaucratic. Around the royal person there formed a galaxy.

The book goes on to detail Africa's encounter with the Mediterranean world and then with Islam. Trading in East Africa and West Africa is delineated carefully. Ihe slave trade did not create disequilibrium until late. European colonization was not substantial until the the last quarter of the nineteenth century when matters became frenzied as each country sought to assure itself of a piece of the action. Prior to that, European missionary efforts had been fairly widespread. Following World War I the German territories were governed under mandate through the auspices of the League of Nations evidencing a principled undertaking on the part of the colonial powers. Decolonization took place rapidly following the establishment of Ghana in 1957.

The book is chock full of information and descriptions of the African peoples and kingdoms and modes of government and influences and the movements of various groups over time. The maps are useful.