Africa: A Biography of the Continent

I decided to teach a course on the history of Africa from about 1885 to today and this happened to be the first book I read. What an outstanding book! It was engagingly written and presented some ideas about the impact of geography, diseases and animals on the opportunities or lack thereof for the people on the African continent to increase populations, have a thriving agricultural community and/or retain control over their lands against the Europeans. The insights gained from this text have completely shaped and impacted my thinking and my teaching. The global view that this book provided allowed me to present a full perspective on the interplay between the development of the African peoples and the ability of the Europeans to overpower so many African peoples. When the students asked why didn't the African peoples fight back differently or more effectively, then there were clear answers that related to geographical and environmental opportunities that were or were not present for the African peoples that dispelled any notions of cultural inferiority/superiority and made sense!

My book arrived before tbe estimated time of arrival and it was in better condition than I imagined.I am a first time buyer @ Amazon .com and I love it!! I will probably buy most of my items thru Amazon because my book was more than I expected!!!!

Very indepth well writen john reader research this book i purchese one for most of my good friends.

Book was in excellent condition as promised. Packaged very well.
Thank you very much!

_Africa: A Biography of the Continent_ by John Reader is a very well-named book, a through and engaging look at the epic story of this land, from its geological origins to its most recent political struggles. Though a thick book at 682 pages (plus appendices, endnotes, and bibliography), it is a wonderful read.

The introductory section laments that Africa has been "woefully misunderstood and misused by the rest of the world," and that humanity does not properly "recognize its debts and obligations to Africa." A question the author asks, and returns to again and again in the book, is why did the population of humans that left Africa 100,000 years ago grew at much faster rate, or conversely, what prevented the Africans from growing at a similar rate?

Part one was four chapters detailing the geological and paleontological history of Africa, the author noting that the search for missing links is a tradition in African paleontology ("an icon...hunted with fervor bordering on the zealous"), whether the links between reptiles and mammals, lower and higher primates, or hominids and modern humans.

Part two was fantastic, devoted to the origins of the hominids. Hominids he noted arose in an ecological diverse setting (there was no abrupt replacement of forest by savanna when they arose 7 million years ago) and that apes were preadapted for bipedalism (apes carry 60% of their weight on their hind legs, contrasting with 40% for most quadrupeds). Hominids may have evolved to become nomadic, to take advantage of an unexploited food resource, the natural deaths that occurred in the great east African game herds (research has shown that as much as 70% of all carcasses found in the region died from other than predation and are largely unexploited by the highly territorial carnivores). He also cited such researchers as Peter Wheeler, who concluded that "thermoregulation is at the root of all things human," that being bipedal gave hominids additional advantages (walking upright exposed less body surface to direct rays of the sun and allowed for more heat to be removed from the skin by convection by taking advantage of the cooling effects of being higher above ground) that allowed them to remain active in temperatures that would drive a quadruped to heat stroke.

Part three looked at the origins of modern humans civilization, spending a good deal of time on the importance of language and the increasing evidence that sophisticated modern behavior did not arise first 30,000-40,000 years ago among humans that had left Africa for Eurasia, but instead had occurred in Africa some 35,000 years earlier than that, the author providing accounts of the manufacture of sophisticated tools and early attempts at agricultural practices. A fascinating chapter was devoted to the spread of the iron-using Bantu-speaking peoples, who in less than 3,000 years expanded from their homes in modern Nigeria and Cameroon to colonize virtually all of sub-Saharan Africa, "an event unmatched in world history."

Part four was an immensely interesting section, detailing many interesting African civilizations, including the Aksum of Ethiopia (whose influences at its height extended into Arabia and developed Africa's only indigenous written script, Ge'ez) and Jenne-jeno (an urban civilization of the inland Niger delta in Mali that was not hierarchical and lacked centralized control yet was quite prosperous). The history of African agriculture is well-covered, noting the importance of bananas and plantains to the diet, the differing practices of raising cattle for milk versus beef (surprisingly interesting), and the fact that elephants were a real impediment to African agricultural development until comparatively recent times. Slavery is also covered, as the author stated that between 30-60% of all Africans were slaves during historic times, far exceeding the number taken from the continent by the slave trade, these being slaves used within Africa.

Part five examined early European exploration of Africa and the origins of the Atlantic slave trade and also delved into many aspects of African political and economic development, noting how various factors, such as unpredictable climate, disease, problems of food production, the need to maintain voluntary and cooperative trade links, and the age-set system of rule mitigated against the development of powerful, densely-settled African states (and the disadvantage this would put the Africans at when facing Europeans). Reader also spent a good deal of time noting just how profoundly four centuries of slave-trading "seized the entire social and cultural ethos" of Africa, leading to destruction of some peoples, the creation of others, and the commercialization of African economies (sadly, even after the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade indigenous slavery not only continued to exist but actually expanded).

Part six largely dealt with the history of South Africa. Surprisingly, the Zulu state owes is existence less to the rise of Shaka than popularly thought, as it was "squeezed into being" between spreading white settlers in the west and the disruptive activities of slave traders to the east. Early established labor practices for African workers in the Kimberly diamond fields and Witwaterstrand gold mines would have profound implications and influence on Africa, firmly establishing Africans not as true employees but something to be exploited.

Part seven looked at the European scramble for Africa, the horror of King Leopold's Congo and its "carnival of massacre," some of the political legacies of European colonies (177 different ethnic groups according to one study are divided by European-established national boundaries), why Africans accepted the "the thin white line" that was colonial administration, and the profound impacts of the rinderpest plague, which killed a staggering 90-95% of all cattle in Africa between 1889 and the early 1900s, leading to a disruption in agricultural practices and the return of the tsetse fly to large swaths of land (many famous game parks such as the Serengeti exist today largely thanks to this plague).

Part eight examined the genocide in Rwanda and Burundi, the causes of Africa's frequent coups, and why prosperous, stable democracies are virtually unheard of in sub-Saharan Africa (the author examined the "Botswana exception").