The Cambridge History of Africa

After the prehistory of Volume I, Volume II of The Cambridge History of Africa deals with the beginnings of history. It is about 500 BC that historical sources begin to embrace all Africa north of the Sahara and, by the end of the period, documentation is also beginning to appear for parts of sub-Saharan Africa. North of the Sahara, this situation arises since Africans were sharing in the major civilizations of the Mediterranean world. It is shown that these northern Africans were not simply passive recipients of Phoenician, Greek, Roman and Arab influences, or of the great religions and cultures of Judaism, Christianity and Islam coming from the Semitic world. They adapted these things to their own particular needs and purposes, and sometimes too contributed to their general development. But the North African civilization failed to make headway south of the Sahara.

The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Africa were a period of transition, with the trade in slaves and firearms on the Atlantic coast laying some of the foundations for European colonialism. But for most of the continent, external forces were still of marginal significance. African initiative remained supreme and produced a rich variety of political, social and intellectual innovations. In eight regional chapters the contributors to this volume, all established experts in their field, bring together for the first time these developments as they affected the whole of Africa. A concluding chapter surveys Africa in Europe and the Americas during this period.