Africans: The History of a Continent (African Studies, Series Number 85) - Hardcover

Iliffe, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521482356 ISBN 13: 9780521482356

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1995

Synopsis

This history of Africa from the origins of mankind to the South African general election of 1994 refocuses African history on the peopling of an environmentally hostile continent. The social, economic and political institutions of the African continent were designed to ensure survival and maximize numbers, but in the context of medical progress and other twentieth-century innovations these institutions have bred the most rapid population growth the world has ever seen. The history of the continent is thus a single story binding living Africans to the earliest human ancestors.

About this title

Book Description

From the origins of mankind to the South African general election of 1994, this analysis of African history refocuses on the peopling of an environmentally hostile continent. It stresses the impact of medical progress and other twentieth century innovations on population growth.

From the Back Cover

In a vast and all-embracing study of Africa, from the origins of mankind to the South African general election of 1994, John Iliffe refocuses African history on the peopling of an environmentally hostile continent. Africans have been pioneers struggling against disease and nature, and their social, economic and political institutions have been designed to ensure survival and maximise numbers. These institutions enabled them to survive the slave trade and colonial invasion, but in the context of medical progress and other twentieth-century innovations the same institutions have bred the most rapid population growth the world has ever seen. This demographic growth has lain behind the collapse of colonial rule, the disintegration of Apartheid, and the instability of contemporary nations. The history of the continent is thus a single story binding living Africans to their earliest human ancestors.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0521482356
• ISBN 13: 9780521482356
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 335