"There is a paradox about Africa: it remains a subject that attracts considerable attention yet rarely is there a full appreciation of its complexity. African historiography has typically consisted of writing Africa for Europe - instead of writing Africa for itself, as itself, from its own perspectives. The History of Africa redresses this by letting the perspectives of Africans themselves take center stage." "Authoritative and comprehensive, this book provides a wide-ranging history of Africa from earliest prehistory to the present day - using the cultural, social, political, and economic lenses of Africa as instruments to illuminate the ordinary lives of Africans. The result is a fresh new survey that includes a wealth of indigenous ideas, African concepts, and traditional outlooks that have escaped the writing of African history in the West."--BOOK JACKET.