Surveying Africa in World History: A View from the South (Part 2)

This is part 2 of a review article of a series of books on African history. They are mostly designed as textbooks or can be used as such in courses. Some signal the development of learning historical skills as integral to understanding African pasts while balancing this with an attempt to present an analytical narrative. I examine the different ways that they open up debates in African history through this emphasis on skill development. They also all present some sort of survey of African history, set by region, time, and/or historiographical encounter. The comprehensiveness in some of these books and claims to a type of overview assert a stable entity that is referred to as “Africa.” This enables a return to the question that was left in abeyance in the previous review: Is there use in asserting categories of location and identity as starting points, and are there any alternatives?