Essential reading for anyone interested in the African continent and the diversity of human history, this Very Short Introduction looks at Africa's past and reflects on the changing ways it has been imagined and represented. Key themes in current thinking about Africa's history are illustrated with a range of fascinating historical examples, drawn from over 5 millennia across this vast continent. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

"A very well informed and sharply stated historiography... should be in every historiography student's kitbag. A tour de force... it made me think a great deal." - Terence Ranger, The Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies

"You will finish this book better informed, with a better understanding of Africa and a clearer idea of the questions." - Robert Giddings, Tribune

"This small book is a smart and stimulating essay exploring issues of history, sources and methods, Africa in the world, colonialism and postcolonialism, and the past in the present as a means of introducing students and others to academic thinking about African history." - Tom Spear, Journal of African History