Reviews

This book, by one of the premier historians of Africa, is a slightly revised and expanded edition of his The African Past ( LJ 4/15/64). As before, it consists of snippets of historical source materials from western, eastern, and southern Africa, emphasizing pre-19th century times. The study of black African history was relatively new when this book was originally published, so it was useful as a demonstration that Africa indeed had a history. Now, over 25 years later, one wonders if the point needs to be made yet again. Still, its greatest use may be to point out to students the variety of sources available for the study of African history. This is recommended for collections not having the original edition.-- Paul H. Thomas, Hoover Inst. Lib., Stanford, Cal.