You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
From the Pharaohs to Fanon, Dictionary of African Biography provides a comprehensive overview of the lives of the men and women who shaped Africa's history. Unprecedented in scale, DAB covers the whole continent from Tunisia to South Africa, from Sierra Leone to Somalia. It also encompasses the full scope of history from Queen Hatsheput of Egypt (1490-1468 BC) and Hannibal, the military commander and strategist of Carthage (243-183 BC), to Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana (1909-1972), Miriam Makeba and Nelson Mandela of South Africa (1918 -).
Benin is now perceived of as a model of democracy in Africa because it has successfully established a democratic political system based on consensus and regular and fair elections, and it continues to improve its electoral and parliamentary systems. Since its democracy it has taken important steps towards laying the foundation for the rule of law by establishing stable political institutions that can withstand the test of time. It has also engaged in an important legal, institutional, and regulatory reform to establish a more favorable environment for private initiative. The fourth edition of Historical Dictionary of Benin covers its history through a chronology, an introductory essay, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 900 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Benin.
Lesotho’s history has long been defined by its enclave status within South Africa, but it is a hard-fought and hard-won status that helps unite Basotho through the shared history of struggle against colonial rule in the region. Since the end of apartheid in 1994, Lesotho’s status as a separate entity has been called into question though the fierce national pride built through centuries of resistance to outside rule has mitigated against any serious discussions of incorporating Lesotho into South Africa. Still, the political instability and lack of a flourishing domestic economy have made life difficult for the majority of Basotho and could call into question the viability and legitimacy ...
Ethiopia is one of the world's oldest countries; its Rift Valley may be the location where the ancestors of humankind originated more than four million years ago. With a population of 67 million people today, it is the third most populous country on the African continent after Nigeria and Egypt. It is the source of 86 percent of the water reaching the Aswan Dam in Egypt, most of it carried by the amazing Blue Nile. Ethiopia offers major historical sites such as the pre-Christian palace at Yeha, the stele and tombs of the old Kingdom of Axum, and the rock-carved churches of Lalibela. For anyone interested in Ethiopia, this historical dictionary, through its individual and carefully cross-refe...
Burkina Faso, known as Upper Volta until its independence from France in 1960, and locally called the "land of the upright people," is a medium-sized land-locked country with no less than six neighbors, some of which periodically get into trouble... which makes it reasonably strategic in some ways. While it has not done as poorly as some other African states, its economic has certainly not prospered and many Burkinabe go abroad to earn a living. As for politics, it is another case of stability without democracy, even if there are periodic elections. Still, this is better than not even having stability. This third edition of Historical Dictionary of Burkina Faso covers its history through a chronology, an introductory essay, maps, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 1000 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Burkina Faso.
Uganda is one of the most fascinating countries in Africa. Situated in the middle of the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa, it is home to diverse flora and fauna. Little wonder Winston Churchill famously named it “the Pearl of Africa”. Neighbored by South Sudan, DRC, Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda, Uganda claims the source of the River Nile and a larger share of Victoria, Africa’s largest lake. Uganda’s capital, Kampala is famous for hosting many international conferences and summits including the 2007 Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting. Uganda is witnessing rapid development, overseen by Yoweri Tibuhaburwa Museveni who has served as president since 1986, making him the longest ...
Established as a country a little more than a century ago, born as an independent republic in June 1977, Djibouti is among the youngest as well as the smallest states in Africa. Yet its strategic location at the crossroads of the maritime trade routes between Africa, Asia and Europe turned this tiny spot on the world map into a vital player in twentieth century geopolitics. This historical dictionary has been conceived not as a history book but as a reading grid for the major historical items that are still molding the country's social, political and economic life.
The Republic of the Sudan was long the largest country in Africa and, according to the general consensus, also one of the least successful in many ways. This was not entirely its fault since it lay along the fault line between Muslim and Christian Africa and between the Nile Valley civilizations and African Sudanic cultures. This partly explains the long and bloody warfare waged by the Southerners to achieve independence, which they did in July 2011. So this hefty book actually covers not one but two states. This fourth edition of the Historical Dictionary of the Sudan does so, first, through a lengthy and detailed chronology tracing its relatively few successes and numerous failures. The introductory essay does an admirable job of putting it all in perspective. But the most informative part is the dictionary, with now over 700 entries for this fourth edition. They deal with important personalities, politics, the economy, society, culture, religion and inevitably the civil war. There are also appendixes and an extensive bibliography.
The second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Angola is a thorough examination of Angola. It includes a chronology, bibliography, maps, appendixes, and over 600 cross referenced dictionary entries. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Angola.
Historical Dictionary of the Central African Republic, Third Edition, fills the gap in the literature about a country for which very little information exists in English, covering events that have taken place since the publication of the last edition in 1992. Substantial new material covers the persons, events, institutions, and parties that have played a significant role in the history of the Central African Republic. A list of acronyms and abbreviations, an extensive chronology, and an introductory essay complement the more than 800 dictionary entries. The bibliography profiles the available literature, and provides numerous journal articles and websites as sources of current events and developments.