Four star review, originally posted here on May 20th, 2025.
This is exactly the book I needed. I learned virtually nothing about African history in school. A light look at Egypt in 5th grade, and beyond that, literally nothing. In adulthood, I’ve only picked up very small tidbits here and there, usually in a book or movie, always surrounding stories of colonization and/or the slave trade. Blood Diamonds, King Leopold’s Ghost, Heart of Darkness, The Last King of Scotland, The Power of One, The Woman King, Black AF History, etc. It is, frankly, embarrassing to me how little I know about the history of places that are not the U.S. or Europe, and I’m determined to change that fact. But Africa is so dang big, and it’s the continent about which I know the least. How am I supposed to catch up on thousands of years of history? Is there a beginner’s primer somewhere? Or, even better, a primer that’s not a slogfest to get through?
Enter An African History of Africa. This is the exact book I was looking for. This book does exactly what I needed it to do. This is not an in-depth analysis, and it does not claim to be. It is a very light, quick intro. A baseline. A foundation. But Badawi manages to make this readable by including plenty of engaging stories highlighting some of the unique people and events. In that way its more than just an intro, as it seeks to entertain as well. The book is constantly walking a tighrope between being too dry and academic (due to the large amount of facts that need to be crammed in) and not being academic enough (skipping past thousands of details, or only providing partial analysis.) That ‘s a near-impossible task, and I think Badawi does a fantastic job executing as well as anyone could be expected. I particularly appreciated the final section, which gave some insight into Africa today.
All that being said, I know I would have gotten a lot more out of this if I hadn’t done the audiobook. Because if you asked me, right now, to recite any of the history that I supposedly just learned, then I would have almost nothing to tell you. Without taking notes, or flipping back to check dates or place names, etc, I didn’t really retain anything I read. I didn’t take the time to really stop and digest the information; I just listened to and appreciated it. Not good enough. That’s not a critique of the book, but rather on the way in which I chose to engage with it. I’m still glad I at least listened to it.
Anyway, I highly recommend this or any ignorant Americans such as myself who are looking for a decent starting point in learning African history.
Helga without the H 