Africa – A Continent’s History and Diversity

Retold with African voices. Revised new edition

Africa – with 54 countries, over 2000 languages and the youngest population in the world – is colourful and diverse. In Europe’s narrative of the ‘black continent’, this diversity rarely comes across.

Lutz van Dijk’s history of Africa takes a different approach and sheds light on countless facets of the continent. It begins with the formation of the continent and the first people who migrated from here to all corners of the world. It tells of the early advanced civilisations in the Islamic north and the Christian and traditional African cultures in the south, of life in the steppe and in the modern cities. The author reports on the centuries of European colonisation and liberation and finally addresses current developments: from the role of China to the Arab Spring, Boko Haram and migration to international movements such as ‘Black Lives Matter’.

The greatest strength of this work, however, lies in the fact that Africans themselves repeatedly have their say: They talk about their lives and their hopes and make the image of Africa human and vivid – the most lasting remedy against the cliché of the black continent! Completely revised and supplemented new edition of the standard work. With a foreword by Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu.