Subject: Africa

Sub-categories:

The African Diaspora in the Mediterranean Lands of Islam
Hunwick, John and Eve Troutt Powell, editors

Subject: Africa, Middle East, History of Slavery

For every gallon of ink that has been spilt on the trans-Atlantic slave trade and its consequences, only one very small drop has been spent on the study of the forced migration of black Africans into the Mediterranean world of …

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The Agony of Asar: A Thesis on Slavery by the Former Slave—Jacobus Elisa Johannes Capitein, 1717–1747
Capitein, Jacobus (translated by Grant Parker)

Subject: Africa, History of Slavery, World History

“Scholars and readers the world over thank Grant Parker for giving us both the first English translation of Capitein’s manuscript and a brilliant analysis of its significance.” — Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

The Agony of Asar is the first …

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The Akan People in Africa and the Diaspora: A Historical Reader
Konadu, Kwasi

Subject: African History

This is a collection of key essays about the Akan people, their history, and their culture. The Akans are an ethnic group from West Africa, predominately Ghana and Togo, of roughly 25 million people. From the twelfth century on, Akans …

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The Akan People: A Documentary History
Konadu, Kwasi

Subject: Africa, Documentary Readers

The 25-million-strong Akan, a cultural-linguistic group found predominantly in present-day Ghana and to a lesser extent Togo and Ivory Coast, has established a legacy as widely known as its bright kente cloth. From the fourth century on, the Akan created …

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The Bamana Empire by the Niger: Kingdom, Jihad, and Colonization, 1712-1920
Djata, Sundiata A. K.

Subject: Africa

The powerful Bamana state emerged in 1712 and centered around the Middle Niger, where most inhabitants were Bamanas with their own language and religion. It was a sophisticated society with nobles, casted groups, and slaves. The Bamanas built an empire …

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The Berbers and the Islamic States
Shatzmiller, Maya

Subject: Africa, Middle East, Religion

Medieval Fez was a main center of education, art, and commerce from the 13th to the 16th centuries after the Berber tribe of the Marinids seized power in Morocco and moved the capital from Marrakesh to Fez. As non-Arabs, they …

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The Biography of Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua: His Passage from Slavery to Freedom in Africa and America
Law, Robin and Paul E. Lovejoy

Subject: Africa, U.S. History, Latin America, Caribbean, History of Slavery

This is the biography of an American slave who was born in Africa. His adventures took him to Rio de Janeiro, New York, Boston, Canada, and Britain; he knew Arabic, Dendi, probably Hausa, Portuguese, English, and French. In recent times …

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The Bitter Legacy: African Slavery Past and Present
Klein, Martin, Alice Bellagamba, Sandra Greene, Editors

Subject: Africa, Slavery

This collection of essays explores the ways that memories of African slavery and the slave trade persist into the present, as well as the effect those memories have in shaping political, social, economic, and religious behavior today. The …

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The Book of Strangers: Medieval Arabic Graffiti on the Theme of Nostalgia
Crone, Patricia and Shmuel Moreh, editors

Subject: Middle East

A tenth-century Iraqi longing for the happy days of the past took to collecting verse graffiti left behind by travelers and others who did not feel at home where they were in order to console himself. Some of the graffiti …

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The Dominican People: A Documentary History
Sagás, Ernesto and Orlando Inoa

Subject: Caribbean

The vanquished Taíno Indians, the Spanish conquistadors, rebellious slaves, common folk, foreign invaders, bloody dictators, gallant heroes, charismatic politicians, and committed rebels — all have left their distinct imprint on Dominican society and left behind printed records. Nevertheless, the five-hundred-year …

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