The History of African Cities South of the Sahara: From the Origins to Colonization

Distinguished social historian Coquery-Vidrovitch offers a broad, accessible overview of African urban history, taking the pulse of ancient and more recent cities from Awdaghust to Great Zimbabwe. Readers are introducted to fabled centers of Islamic learning like Timbuktu in Mali, holy Christian cities like Axum in Ethiopia, storied royal capitals like Mbanza-Kongo in Angola, and dynamic ports like Kilwa in Tanzania that encouraged trade for millennia. The great cities of Ghana and Nigeria are presented in all their complexity, as are early European enclaves like Saint Louis and Gor'D'ee in Senegal. Architecture and built environments are considered, as are the impacts on African urbanism of trans-Atlantic and Indian Ocean slavery, Islam and trans-Saharan trade, European capitalism, and the rise of cultural synthesis... Outstanding book of the Year-- Choice Magazine