NUBIA: The Rise and Fall of African Empires

by Andre Samuels

The Rise and Fall of African Empires introduces readers to the wealthy empires and powerful trading kingdoms that once dominated the African continent. As an international nexus for trade, Africa once attracted merchants and explorers from Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The personal journals and publications of these intrepid adventurers captured their first hand impressions of Africa's Emperors, Queens and wealthy trading elite.Modern discoveries allow us to combine their perspectives with the written histories of Africa's literate kingdoms to develop an accurate picture of the role that African Empires played in world history. Prior to the slave trade, Africa was filled with the sumptuous cities of empires that were intimately engaged with world affairs. They clashed with familiar legends in the ancient world like Rome and Persia and proved themselves to be formidable against the world's most powerful armies.In Nubia, we trace the rise and fall of grand African Kingdoms to explain the condition of Africa in the modern world. The narratives collected in The Rise and Fall of African Empires will bring African history to life, by shining a light on the epic battles and enigmatic personalities that shaped the history of a land erroneously dubbed "The Dark Continent".

Genres: History, Nonfiction

277 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 21, 2017

Reviews

[Book Nerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

"In a unique African custom, the leather covers simply contained the manuscripts which were neatly stacked in order, usually without page numberings or indications for order."
I can just see an African scholar swearing when he dropped a book lol.

Anyway, THIS book was really interesting. It has chapters on Kush, Christian Nubia, the Swahili, Great Zimbabwe, Ghana, Mali, Songhai, Benin, Kanem Bornu, and Hausa. The last part is about Africans in Islamic Societies. It's kind of interesting but not about African history for the most part. I'd have prefered more on the Nok, the Kingdom of Kongo, the Zulu, etc.

But the real reason I didn't give five stars is the format of the book kind of sucks. It jumps back and forth in time and repeats things. It would be easier to follow if it were more linear. Each chapter is one long run-on paragraph. And it would really benefit from a timeline and some maps.

[krzysztof Blazewicz]

Interesting

Very interesting point of view on African history and civilizations. As well controversial. Author too much glorified influence of Islam religion and forgot how it was destructive, intolerant for pure African origin preislamic civilizations. Islamic slave trade in Africa was adopted by European colonial powers, which still continue their shameless policy to divide, destabilise and control the continent.

[Jeanell Blockson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

This is an excellent read. At first, I was a bit confused by the writing style, but then I finally understood how he relayed the information. He talked about each empire in its entirety from start to finish. It's amazing to know how much Africa contributed to history and society. I wish I could find more books about Africa so that I could learn more.