In the forty-five years following the "year of African independence"
from colonial rule in 1960, African and Western scholars in every
discipline have un-covered myriad new facets of a rich cultural heritage
preserved by ruins and the oral traditions of peoples in which the
remembrance of things past was a principal dynamic of their education
and cultures.
This concise but sweeping account of the African past, its peoples, and
their institutions will be useful to readers who seek to gain an
understanding of the major trends and developments in African history.
Beginning with the dynasties of the Nile valley, Robert Collins explains
the importance of language in identifying the enormous human diversity
of the Africans, the evolution of African societies into kingdoms and
empires through new social structures, the introduction of Christianity
and Islam, and the migra-tions of various groups. He then describes the
arrival of the Europeans in the fifteenth century and the rise of the
Atlantic slave trade, continuing with the brief but traumatic period of
colonial rule and the nationalist movements for indepen-dence that
ensued. Finally, he accounts for the struggles of Africans in recent
years, including civil conflict, military dictatorships, and ethnic
insurgencies, as the newly independent states of the continent mature.
