A History of South and Central Africa

A history of Africa south of the Congo Forest from about A.D. 1000 to the establishment of independent states.

Derek Wilson (Author)

9780521205597, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 29 May 1975

320 pages
21.1 x 14.9 x 2.2 cm, 0.505 kg

This is a history of Africa south of the Congo Forest from about A.D. 1000 to the era of the establishment of independent modern states. Most textbooks on African history are dominated by modern political boundaries that, of course, have no ethnic or geographical validity. This book is unique in that it treats the whole of Southern Africa as a unit because important historical events such as the Bantu, San and Khoikhoi migrations, long distance trade routes, the Mfecane dispersal and the journeys of white adventurers among others, make a nonsense of categories such as 'South' and 'Central' Africa. The book presents much of the work of contemporary researchers in a simpler form than in other scholarly books thereby reflecting a complete picture of the early history of South and Central Africa. A variety of illustrations that include maps, photographs, drawings and diagrams have been used effectively throughout the book.

List of maps
Acknowledgements
Preface
Part I. Origins of African Societies, 1000–1800: 1. Iron age states (1): the Luba and Lunda empires
2. Iron age states (2): West Coast states
3. Iron age states (3): Eastern Central Africa
4. Iron age states (4): empires and kingdoms between the Limpopo and the Zambezi
5. Peoples south of the Limpopo
6. The growth of long-distance trade
Part II. African Societies, 1800–80: 7. New pressures (1): the Mfecane
8. New pressures (2): the spread of white settlement in the South
9. New pressures (3): the Afrikaner invasion
10. New pressures (4): the impact of the Mfecane north of the Limpopo
11. New pressures (5): commercial expansion in Central Africa
Part III. African and European Societies under Colonial Rule, 1880–1939: 12. The growth of European interest in Africa
13. Partition and reaction (1): collapse of the great Bantu kingdoms
14. Partition and reaction (2): the conflict north of the Zambezi
15. Partition and reaction (3): the Western Region
16. The British and the Boers: the final reckoning
17. The period of colonial rule (1): the British sphere
18. The period of colonial rule (2): the Portuguese sphere
19. The period of colonial rule (3): the Belgian and German spheres
Part IV. The Re-Emergence of African Societies, 1940–65: 20. Independence (1): the Congo
21. Independence (2): Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia
22. The white-dominated South
Index.

Subject Areas: Educational: History [YQH]