A History of Madagascar [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by Mervyn Brown (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"A highly readable, entertaining introduction to the history, politics and people of Madagascar." -- -West Africa

Product Description
Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world. It is a unique blend of Asian and African culture and is well known as the home of some of the world’s most unusual and most endangered flora and fauna, from lemurs to giant tortoises. Although so close to the east coast of Africa where traces of human existence go back hundreds of thousands of years, Madagascar was uninhabited until about two thousand years ago. How it came to be inhabited by seafaring peoples from present-day Indonesia is just one of the many fascinating aspects of this book. A History of Madagascar examines the origins of the Malagasy, the early contacts with Europeans and the struggle for influence in the nineteenth century between the British and the French. It also covers the colonial period from 1896 to 1960, the recovery of independence and subsequent history up to the early 1990s.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: Markus Wiener Publishers; illustrated edition edition (April 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558762922
• ISBN-13: 978-1558762923
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,057,157 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As an american who resides in Madagascar, this is my favorite book., January 3, 2009

By	Shawn G. Peabody (Tulear, Madagascar) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have been living in Madagascar for the last four years. I have read this book cover to cover three times and page through it at least once a month. It is an incredibly dense book that seems to magically sprout new facts and information each time I open it.

The book is a must have for anyone living, working, or visiting madagascar. You will never see the country and it's people the same way after reading this. If you think the Malagasy are an impoverished people victimized by french oppression and unfortunate circumstances, or if you think that they are just another african people will typical african problems, you will change your mind after reading this book. The history of Madagascar is exciting, strange, inspiring, and fantastic. I only wish that it could be translated into Malagasy and taught in schools as many of the facts contained in it are completely unknown to most Malagasy.