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. The A to Z of
Pre-Colonial Africa 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.