The World and a Very Small Place in Africa - Hardcover

Wright, Donald R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1138649449 ISBN 13: 9781138649446

Publisher: Routledge, 2018

Synopsis

The World and a Very Small Place in Africa is a fascinating look at how contacts with the wider world have affected how people have lived in Niumi, a small and little-known region at the mouth of West Africa’s Gambia River, for over a thousand years.

Drawing on archives, oral traditions and published works, Donald R. Wright connects world history with real people on a local level through an exploration of how global events have affected life in Niumi. Thoroughly revised and updated throughout, this new edition rests on recent thinking in globalization theory, reflects the latest historiography and has been extended to the present day through discussion of the final years of Gambian President Yahya Jammeh’s regime, the role of global forces in the events of the 2016 presidential elections and the changes that resulted from these elections. The book is supported throughout by photographs, maps and Perspectives boxes that present detailed information on such topics as Alex Haley’s Roots (part set in Niumi), why Gambians take the risky "back way" to reach Europe, or "Wiri-Wiri," the Senegalese soap that has Gambians’ attention.

Written in a clear and personal style and taking a critical yet sensitive approach, it remains an essential resource for students and scholars of African history, particularly those interested in the impact of globalization on the lives of real people.

About this title

About the Author:

Donald R. Wright is Distinguished Teaching Professor of History, Emeritus, at the State University of New York―Cortland. His other books include two on early African American history, and a two-volume collection of oral traditions from The Gambia, and (as co-author) The Atlantic World: A History (2007).

Review:

"It's really splendid to see this book reemerging in its new edition: it's the best combination of local sensitivity and global awareness I know of. The historical sweep is impressive, giving a sense of several major versions of global interaction. The updating about recent globalization is particularly welcome, but in this larger historical perspective. And the book is accessible to students, another obvious plus." - Peter N. Stearns, George Mason University; "In revising and updating this work, Donald Wright has done the seemingly impossible: he has significantly improved what I have long considered the best teaching book on Africa. Extensively researched, analytic, and inter-disciplinary in approach, the book is equally suited for first-year World or African History surveys, upper level West African classes, and graduate courses on the Atlantic. Extensive interviews done in 2003 give a poignant immediacy to the book, and the photographs and maps match the text well, promoting further understanding among readers who are unfamiliar with the area." - Allen M. Howard, Rutgers University"

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1138649449
• ISBN 13: 9781138649446
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 4
• Number of pages: 326