A history of modern Africa : 1800 to the present

Reid, Richard J. (Richard James) (author., Author).

Summary: A History of Modern Africa explores two centuries of the continent's political, economic, and social history. This thorough yet accessible text helps readers to understand key concepts, recognize significant themes, and identify the processes that shaped the modern history of Africa. Emphasis is placed on the consequences of colonial rule, and the links between the precolonial and postcolonial eras. Author Richard Reid, a prominent scholar and historian on the subject, argues that Africa's struggle for economic and political stability in the nineteenth century escalated and intensified through the twentieth century, the effects of which are still felt in the present day. --

Record details

ISBN: 9781119381921
ISBN: 1119381924
Physical Description: print
xvii, 423 : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm.
Edition: Third edition.
Publisher: Hoboken : Wiley, 2020.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

Machine generated contents note: 1. Introduction: Understanding the Contours of Africa's Past -- Brief History of the Study of Africa -- Land -- People -- 2. Western Transitions: Slave Trade and "Legitimate" Commerce in Atlantic Africa -- States and Societies during the Atlantic Slave Trade -- "Illegal" Traffic: The Nineteenth-Century Slave Trade -- Mineral and Vegetable: "Legitimate" Commerce -- Change and Continuity in Forest and Savannah -- 3. Eastern Intrusions: Slaves and Ivory in Eastern Africa -- Commercial Horizons: Slaves and Ivory -- Maritime Empire: Zanzibar -- Statehood, Conflict, and Trade (1): The Lacustrine Zone -- Statehood, Conflict, and Trade (2): Northeastern Africa -- 4. Southern Frontiers: Colony and Revolution in Southern Africa -- African State and Society to around 1800 -- War, Revolution, and the Zulu Impact -- Cape Colonialism: White Settlement and the "Native Question" -- Balances of Power to around 1870 -- 5. Revival and Reaction: North African Islam -- Old and New Identities: Brotherhoods of the Desert -- Trade and Conflict in the Mediterranean World: Ottoman and European Frontiers -- Changing Society (1): The Maghreb -- Changing Society (2): Egypt -- 6. Jihad: Revolutions in Western Africa -- Islam in Western Africa to the Eighteenth Century -- Wandering Fulani -- Prophets and Warriors -- 7. Eastern Crescent: The Islamic Frontier in Eastern Africa -- Swahili Islam: Coastal Frontiers in the Nineteenth Century -- Islam in the Central East African Interior -- Cross and Crescent in Northeast Africa -- Islam on the Nile -- 8. Compass and the Cross -- Interested Gentlemen and Learned Bodies: Explorers and Exploration -- Creeping Hegemony and the Invention of Africa -- European Missionary Activity in Africa to around 1800 -- Evangelical Humanitarians: Missionary Revival -- Christian Impact on Culture, State, and Society -- Mission and Empire -- 9. "Whatever Happens...": Towards the Scramble -- Africa and Theories of Imperialism -- Race and Culture -- Disorder and Civilizing Violence: Political and Economic Justifications -- 10. Africans Adapting: Conquest and Partition -- Explaining the "Conquest" -- Spears and Water: Violent Resistance -- Histories Old and New: Colonialism and Historical "Knowledge" -- Realities Old and New: Colonialism and Political "Knowledge" -- Bush Wars and Distant Shadows: Africa in Global War -- 11. "Pax Colonia"?: Empires of Soil and Service -- Monopolies on Violence -- Slaves and Labor -- Cash Crops -- White Settlement -- Industry -- Social Change and Emergent Crisis -- Hearts and Minds -- Environment and Medicine -- 12. Hard Times: Protest, Identity, and Depression -- Making Tribes -- Emergent Protest in the Islamic World -- Salvation and Resistance: The African Church -- Class and Tribe: The Industrial Complex -- Cash Crops, Rural Crises, and Peasant Protest -- Other Voices -- 13. Battles Home and Away: Africa in Global War (Again) -- War in the Continent -- Shifts in Politics and Society -- 14. Beached Whale: Colonial Strategies in the Postwar World -- Postwar Africa and the International Climate -- Economic Policies and Visions, c. 1945-50 -- Political Plans, c. 1945-50 -- 15. Conceiving and Producing Nations -- Widening Horizons of Belonging -- Tensions and Transitions: From Political Consciousness to Political Parties -- Irresistible Force and Immovable Object: Nationalists and Settlers -- Time of Contrasts -- 16. Compromising Conflict: Routes to Independence -- Debate and Debacle: "Constitutional" Transfers of Power -- Violence: Growth, Form, and Impact -- From Suez to Sharpeville, and Beyond: The End of High Imperialism -- 17. Unsafe Foundations: Challenges of Independence -- Building the Nation (1): Economy and Society -- Building the Nation (2): Polity -- Political Stability and Islam -- Crowded House: Africa and the Cold War -- 18. Violence and the Militarization of Political Culture -- Military in African Politics -- Politics and Cultures of Insurgency -- New Wars, Old Problems, and Expanding Military Horizons -- 19. Rectification, Redemption, and Reality: Issues and Trends in Contemporary Africa -- Africa and the Contemporary World -- Democracy and Authoritarianism: Trends in Governance -- Body and Mind -- Contemporary Economics: Assessing "Development" and "Growth".