From the ancient Nile Valley to the savannas of medieval West Africa, the highlands of Ethiopia and on to the forests, lakes and grasslands to the south, African civilizations have given rise to some of the world’s most impressive kingdoms. Yet Africa’s history is often little known beyond the devastation wrought by the slave trade and European colonial rule. In this groundbreaking book, nine leading historians of Africa take a fresh look at these great kingdoms and empires over five thousand years of recorded history.

How was kingship forged in Africa and how did it operate? Was dynastic power maintained by consent or by coercion? Did kings – and queens – display and project that power for all to see, or did they hide it away, as beneath the fringed crowns that concealed the faces of sacred Yoruba rulers? In what ways have African peoples themselves recorded, celebrated and critiqued the deeds of their kings? Great Kingdoms of Africa explores some of the most important questions in the continent’s deep past.

Extent: 336 pp
Format: Paperback
Illustrations: 59
Publication date: 2026-05-07
Size: 19.8 x 12.9 cm
ISBN: 9780500298954

Introduction: Kings, Kingship and Kingdoms in African History, John Parker • 1. Ancient Egypt and Nubia: Kings of Floods and Kings of Rain, David Wengrow • 2. The Sudanic Empires: The Gold, the Arts, the River, Rahmane Idrissa • 3. The Solomonic Christian Kingdom of Ethiopia, Habtamu Tegegne and Wendy Laura Belcher • 4. The Yoruba and Benin Kingdoms, Olatunji Ojo • 5. The Kongo Kingdom, Cécile Fromont • 6. Buganda, John Parker • 7. From Hausa Kingdoms to the Sokoto Caliphate, Muhammadu Mustapha Gwadabe • 8. The Akan Forest Kingdom of Asante, John Parker • 9. The Zulu Kingdom, Wayne Dooling

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