Boston University African Studies Center 270 Bay State Road Boston, Massachusetts 02215 (617) 353-3673 email: africa@bu.edu www.bu.edu/africa

HISTORY: some books to get started with:

Bohannan, Paul & Curtin, Philip. Africa and Africans. Waveland Press.

A highly readable overview of important topics, including early history, geography contemporary society and other topics.

Clark, Leon E. Through African Eyes: v.1 --- The Past, the Road to Independence. Center for International Training and Education. (distributed by Apex Press)

Wonderfully selected primary sources of all kinds. Comes with a fine teaching guide. Great for classroom use.

Harris, Joseph E. Africans and Their History. Mentor.

Probably the most highly readable introduction to African history, though a bit dated in one or two places.

Northrup, David. Africa's Discovery of Europe. Oxford University Press.

A clearly written and eye-opening overview through African eyes of how they interacted with Europe from 1000 CE forward.

Gilbert, Erik and Jonathan Reynolds. Africa in World History. Pearson Education Prentice Hall.

The best book to use as a teacher of world history when you turn to the Africa portion of your course. This textbook gives you the detail needed for teaching the Africa portion and the perspective for linking it and comparing it with other events and trends in world history.

HISTORY: more complex readings:

Connah, Graham. African Civilizations: Precolonial cities and states in tropical Africa. Cambridge University Press.

The best introduction to early African history of cities and states.

Martin Phyllis M. & O’Meara, Patrick. Africa. Indiana University Press.

Similar in scope to the Bohannan and Curtin book above but in greater depth.

LITERATURE:

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Heinemann.

The most famous novel on pre-colonial African society and its confrontation with colonialism. The current edition has great introductory articles.

Achebe, Chinua & Innes, C.L., eds African Short Stories. Heinemann.

A fine collection from around the continent.

Dangarembga, Tsitsi. Nervous Conditions. The Seal Press.

A terrific coming of age story from colonial Rhodesia. Many themes will resonate with issues U.S. kids face.

Niane, D. T. Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali. Longman.

The epic of ancient Mali’s first king. Handed down orally until the 1960’s, this story conveys the majesty of an African king and the power of oral literature.

VIDEOS:

"Africa" (by Basil Davidson). RM Arts.

A video history in eight 1-hour segments, each segment taking a different historical period. The New York Times called it " a stunning piece of work".

"Family Across of Sea" California Newsreel.

The uplifting story of cultural and historical connections between Africans and African-Americans.

"A Son of Africa: The Slave Narrative of Olaudah Equiano" California Newsreel.

A beautifully executed dramatization of Equiano’s life, interspersed with brief

commentaries from historians.

Barbara B. Brown, Ph.D.

December 2000

To Explore Futher:

Curtin, Philip et al, African History. 1978

Iliffe, John. Africans: History of a Continent. 1995

Reader, John. Africa. 1998

Some Reference Sources:

Africa on File. New York, Facts on File, 1995.

Africa Today: Reproducible Atlas. World Eagle, 1996

Cambridge Encyclopedia of Africa. Gen. Ed. Roland Oliver & Michael Crowder, Cambridge U. Press, 1981

Cultural Atlas of Africa. ed. Jeffress Ramsay, McGraw Hill/Duskin 2001

Haskins, J and Biondi, J. From Afar to Zulu: A Dictionary of African Cultures. Walker Publishing Co., 1995

Lye, Keith. Encyclopedia of African Nations & Civilizations. 2 vols., Facts on File, 2002

Maps on File. Vol 1 Sec. 200 [Africa], Facts on File (different sections are updated each year)

Page, W. Encyclopedia of African History and Culture. Facts on File, 2001

World Today Series: Africa. Cutter, Charles, 2003 (yearly editions)

Dorian Bowman

2003