Traditional Africa (World History Series)

Minks, Louise

ISBN 10: 1560062398 ISBN 13: 9781560062394

Publisher: Lucent Books, 1658

Synopsis

Examines the history and culture of Africa, from ancient times through colonialization and slavery to the twentieth century

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Grade 6-10?This broad overview traces African history south of the Sahara from the emergence of humans to about A.D. 1900. The title implies unchanging culture; the time span demands superficiality. Moreover, rather than relying on recent research, the book portrays Africa from a dated Euro/American perspective. Of the named individuals depicted, only two are Africans; no African leader receives as many words as either Livingstone or Stanley. The "Arab" presence is exaggerated, leading to confusion about the actual role of African Muslims. Minks overemphasizes the continent's "isolation" prior to the arrival of Europeans. A strong point of the book is the large number of generally well-chosen quotations, but the footnotes do not provide enough information to lead curious readers to their context. The layout is pleasing with many interesting black-and-white illustrations; however, since so many European images of Africa have been misleading, captions should identify the time and place and perhaps even possible biases of the sources. An illustration of "early humans" shows the people as very European in appearance. The "For Further Reading" list is uneven. Constance Jones's Africa, 1500-1900 (Facts on File, 1996) is more accurate but dense with terms. The McKissacks' The Royal Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay (Holt, 1995) or Philip Koslow's recent books published by Chelsea House are usually a better choice. Kevin Shillington's History of Africa (St. Martin's, 1989) would provide readable reference backup.?Loretta Kreider Andrews, Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, MD
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Lucent Books
• Publication date: 1658
• ISBN 10: 1560062398
• ISBN 13: 9781560062394
• Binding: Library Binding