Oliver Roland Bücher

Focusing on the transformation of Africa from the late 18th to the 20th century, the book examines the impact of external forces through commercial and ideological penetration. It details the partition and colonization processes, along with the nature of colonial rule from 1885 to 1960. The latter section addresses the developments in independent Africa, culminating in events up to mid-2003, providing a comprehensive overview of the continent's historical trajectory and its ongoing challenges.

Dramatic alterations in political power have corrected the once prevalent vision of a European-centered world. While the centers of European culture flourished, decayed and sprouted in turn, empires in Africa rose, ruled, resisted, and succumbed. Much of Africa's past has now been excavated from ignorance and error, revealing a rich and previously little-known human heritage. This classic work draws on the whole range of literature about Africa as well as evidence provided by archaeology, oral traditions, language relationships, and social institutions. It marshals the most authoritative views of African specialists into an absorbing narrative and puts forward original conclusions that take the study of Africa a stage further.