ANTHONY ATMORE

Para comprender los complejos procesos que se desarrollan en el continente africano y que asaltan periódicamente los titulares de los medios de comunicación es necesario profundizar en su peculiar pasado, especialmente en el mas reciente. La presente obra se ocupa de la historia de Africa desde 1800, fecha en la que la mayor parte del interior del continente era ya conocido, pero en la que aun no se habia iniciado el gran proceso colonizador que alteraria sustancialmente las relaciones de poder y las estructuras economicas. Roland Oliver y Anthony Atmore situan Africa, y no a sus invasores, en el centro de este estudio, dividido en tres partes. La primera describe la historia precolonial del continente, la segunda trata tematicamente de la particion y el regimen colonial y la tercera aborda el surgimiento de los Estados nacionales modernos. La presente edicion abarca los acontecimientos ocurridos hasta mediados de los años noventa, da cuenta completa de las nuevas perspectivas derivadas del fin de la Guerra Fria y examina las tendencias demograficas, una de las principales causas de los problemas que sufre el Africa actual.

This is a radically revised version of The African Middle Ages 14001800, and the companion volume to the authors well-known Africa since 1800. It follows the overall plan of the original, but now begins 150 years earlier, and considers recent literature in African historical studies. The earlier starting date enables a more distinctly African viewpoint. By about 1250 AD African societies were greatly expanding their political and economic scope. Islam was spreading south across the Sahara from Mediterranean Africa, and down the Indian Ocean coast. Medieval Africa continues into the period of European contacts from the 15th century onwards, with some emphasis on the growth of the trans-Saharan, Atlantic and Indian Ocean slave trade. The book stresses both the strengths and weaknesses of African societies as the eighteenth century drew to a close. This volume will be an essential introduction to African history for students, as well as for the general reader. It is illustrated with a wealth of maps.

This book begins by looking at the peoples of Africa at the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and goes on to study the commercial and ideological penetration of Africa by the outside world. The partition and colonisation of Africa by the European powers are discussed, and there is comprehensive discussion of the colonial rule between 1885 and 1960. The last third of the book is concerned with the history of independent Africa during the last years of the twentieth century. The new edition covers events up to the middle of 2003, and takes account of the fresh perspectives brought about by the end of the Cold War and the new global situation following the events of September 11, 2001. It is also concerned with the demographic trends, with the ravages of diseases such as AIDS and malaria, and with the conflicts waged by warlords.