Summary

Africa. The cradle of civilisation. From the dawn of human time in prehistoric Africa to the so-called 'Arab Spring' of 2011, this is a comprehensive introduction to the sprawling history of this enormous continent. It charts the origins of the human race and the development of stone age technology through ancient and medieval times and the significance of the Arab presence, the Muslim states and the trans-Saharan trade, the rise and fall of nation states and kingdoms prior to the arrival of Europeans and straight into the state of the continent in the 21st century.