FEMINA

AN INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER A Radio 4 Book of the Week Selected as a book to look out for in 2024 by the Guardian and The Rest is PoliticsEveryone is originally from Africa and this book is therefore for everyone For too long Africa s history has been dominated by western narratives of slavery and colonialism or simply ignored Now Zeinab Badawi sets the record straight In this fascinating book Badawi guides us through Africa s spectacular history from the very origins of our species through ancient civilisations and medieval empires with remarkable queens and kings to the miseries of conquest and the elation of independence Visiting more than thirty African countries to interview countless historians anthropologists archaeologists and local storytellers she unearths buried histories from across the continent and gives Africa its rightful place in our global story The result is a gripping new account of Africa an epic sweeping history of the oldest inhabited continent on the planet told through the voices of Africans themselves