Showing titles in Africa

Surprisingly neglected in accounts of Allied wartime triumphs, in 1941 British and Commonwealth forces completed a stunning and important victory in East Africa against an overwhelmingly superior Italian opponent. A hastily formed British-led force, never larger than 70,000 strong, advanced along two fronts to defeat nearly 300,000 Italian and colonial troops.

Brought to you by Penguin. When did globalization begin? Most observers have settled on 1492, the year Columbus discovered America. But as celebrated Yale professor Valerie Hansen shows, it was the year 1000, when for the first time new trade routes linked the entire globe, so an object could in...

The modern history of Africa was, until very recently, written on behalf of the indigenous races by the White man, who had forcefully entered the continent during a particularly hubristic and dynamic phase of European history. In 1884, Prince Otto von Bismark, the German chancellor, brought the plenipotentiaries of all major powers of Europe together to deal with Africa's colonization in such a manner as to avoid provocation of war.

David, a much older man now, sits on his verandah with his old friend, Nguni, as they reminisce on the good old days. Not having seen each other in almost 50 years, there is much news to tell, many stories to laugh at, and some sorrows to reflect on. Based on an untold true story, this book brings the Langbourne family's saga to its conclusion.

Go with Mike on foot accros Basutoland; by motorbike from Cape Town to Cairo; to sea in a 36-foot ketch; into the Kalahari desert - and more. In the final chapter he describes how he and his wife move to an Edenic island in the Okovanga delta, and the terrible and wonderful events that took place there.

In 1849 Heinrich Barth joined a small British expedition into unexplored regions of Islamic North and Central Africa. One by one his companions died, but he carried on alone, eventually reaching the fabled city of gold, Timbuktu. His five-and-a-half-year, 10,000-mile adventure ranks among the greatest journeys in the annals of exploration, and his discoveries are considered indispensable by modern scholars of Africa.

This audiobook provides an introduction to one of the most intriguing wars of modern times - a war that saw several innovations, including the use of heliography and indirect fire, and caused the complete overhaul of the great Imperial British fighting machine in its aftermath. It also tells of the first example of the brilliant use of guerrilla warfare by the people who, to this day, have never been outclassed: the Boer commandos.

It evolved from various traditional African religions and practices, and in the American South, incorporated elements of indigenous botanical knowledge. These practices taught believers how to invoke the blessings of spirits and deities through persuasion powers, herbs, rituals, spells, talismans, roots and nature.

A moving, often provocative, and ultimately vital collection of firsthand accounts of people living through the Boko Haram conflict. From abducted girls to brash soldiers, and from community leaders to simple fishermen, this collection provides an insight into the realities of those living through the conflict, making this an essential cultural archive. The World Was in Our Hands covers themes of patriarchy, the economy, climate change, and corruption, to paint a picture that is much broader than what has been captured through news coverage.

How did South Africa turn out the way it did? In Moederland - 'Motherland', in Afrikaans - Cato Pedder takes us on an eye-opening journey across four centuries, tracing the country's turbulent past and the rise and fall of apartheid (and her family's charged legacy) through the lives of nine very different women.

Rhodes, a new William Collins book, full description to follow when available...

La épica historia de uno de los imperios más ricos y poderosos de la Antigüedad.

Africa is the continent where the first humans were born. They explored the vast land and produced the first tools. And although we migrated from that continent, we never completely abandoned it. From the beginning of time, humans lived and worked in Africa, leaving evidence of their existence in the sands of the Sahara Desert and the valleys of the great rivers, such as the Nile and the Niger. Some of the earliest great civilizations were born there, and they give us an insight into the smaller kingdoms of ancient Africa.

He was a solitary, sightless adventurer who fought the slave trade in Africa, survived a frozen captivity in Siberia, hunted rogue elephants in Ceylon, and helped chart the Australian outback. James Holman (1786-1857) became "one of the greatest wonders of the world he so sagaciously explored". In his day a celebrity, he was a best-selling author, but one who outlived his fame and died in obscurity. A Sense of the World is a spellbinding and moving rediscovery of one of history's most epic lives.

On the 12th of October 1492, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus landed in the Bahamas, and enslaved the native population. This was the start of the greatest crimes against humanity. For 400 years, 12 million men, women and children were sold and shipped across the Atlantic Ocean; this was known as the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

WINNER OF THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE 2019 AN ECONOMIST BOOK OF THE YEAR A CBC BOOK OF THE YEAR The extraordinary story of an indomitable 95-year-old woman – and of the most extraordinary century in Ethiopia’s history. A new Wild Swans Featuring exclusive archive recordings from the author and...

The powerful and timely story of Peter Hain's political life fighting South African apartheid and modern-day corruption. Peter Hain has had a dramatic 50-year political career, in Britain and his native South Africa. This is the story of that extraordinary journey, from Pretoria to the House of Lords. Hain vividly describes his anti-apartheid parents’ arrest and harassment in the early 1960s, the hanging of a close white family friend, and enforced London exile in 1966.

Africa in the 13th century lay in ruins due to countless civil wars and the ensuing famine. Amid the hopelessness arose a man who began to rebuild the ravaged diaspora. He instituted a government that was so efficient at managing the country of Mali that soon it was the most progressive nation on the continent. Not long after, one by one, the neighboring countries began to join the fold, until all of West Africa constituted a single empire.

Unlock the Lost Legends and Hidden Kingdoms of Ancient Africa. Think you know African history? While most people picture the pyramids of Giza, few realize that ancient Nubia built over two hundred pyramids — more than anywhere else on Earth. Ancient Africa: Pyramids, Pharaohs, Lost Cities, and Powerful Kingdoms takes you on an unforgettable journey through the overlooked empires, captivating cultures, and brilliant innovations that shaped a continent.

If you reckon corruption in South Africa began with Zuma or even with apartheid, it’s time to catch a wake-up call. Rogues’ Gallery tells the story of some of the biggest skelms to grace our (un)fair shores, showing that dodgy dealings have been a national pastime for as long as South African history has been written down.