The Heart of Darkness, this is the image that most in the West hold of
pre-colonial Africa. Joseph Conrad's description of a continent lacking
in civilization, commerce, and Christianity is familiar to many readers.
Historians have been working to dispel this notion before since the
institution of African independence after World War II. Collins seeks to
familiarize the reader with pre-colonial Africa, the Africa that began
with the migrations of the Bantu from their homeland in 500 B.C. and
ended with European control in the 19th century, revealing the culture,
events, achievement and rulers of Africa from this time.