Assesses the importance attached by African societies to their past and the growth and development of African historiography. This is followed by accounts of the primary literary sources, the oral and living traditions and African archaeology and its techniques. There are further chapters on linguistics, migrations and historical geography before the second part of the book which deals specifically with earliest man and the prehistory of Africa according to geographical area. Specific chapters are also devoted to prehistoric art, agricultural techniques and the development of metallurgy.
The series is co-published in Africa with seven publishers, in the United States and Canada by the University of California Press, and in association with the UNESCO Press.
No US rights
Reviews
Reviews of the Series:
... a real contribution to scholarship. - Roland Oliver in the TLS
The General History of Africa was launched in 1970, when an International Scientific Committee of 39 scholars was formed to oversee the writing and publication of a complete survey of the African past, from pre-history to the present. The laudable aim of the project was to break free from the straightjacket of Eurocentrism, and to provide a history that reflected a range of African views without imposing any set historical interpretation. - David M. Anderson in INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
