THE FORTUNES OF AFRICA:
A 5000 YEAR HISTORY OF WEALTH, GREED AND ENDEAVOUR

‘I speak of Africa,’ Shakespeare wrote, ‘and of golden joys’.

Africa is a continent of great diversity. It possesses a multiplicity of landscapes and cultures. Some 1,500 languages are spoken there. The hazards it presents are equally diverse. Much of Africa is afflicted by a harsh and variable climate; unreliable rainfall; frequent droughts, challenging terrains; poor soils and a plethora of human and animal diseases. But what also stands out is the vast range of natural resources found there. It is this abundance of riches that has played such a significant role in shaping the fortunes of Africa over the past five thousand years. 

Fortunes of Africa traces the history of the continent from the ancient Pharaohs, who slaughtered their Nubian neighbours for their copper and ebony, through the times of the modern titans who exploited the native Zulu, Xhosa, and Ndebele tribes for their gold, diamonds and ivory, and Africa’s most priceless resource, its people. It confronts the challenges now facing progressive forces striving to bring democracy and justice to lands vulnerable to the violence of insurgents and the intrigues of international entrepreneurs.

Wars, partition, generations of bitterness and corruption have all been generated by the fortunes of Africa and the wealth of the continent has, in turn, shaped the fortunes of the rest of the world.

“A gripping tale” Booklist, starred review

About the Author

Martin Meredith is a journalist, biographer and historian. He was Foreign Correspondent for The Observer (London) and Sunday Times and became a research fellow at St. Antony’s College, Oxford. His books include the best-selling The State of Africa; Diamonds Gold and War; Nelson Mandela: A Biography and Coming to Terms: South Africa’s Search for Truth, an unprecedented look at the moral and political issues that shaped the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which was formed when Nelson Mandela became President of South Africa at the end of the apartheid era.

“A masterpiece… The decades that author Martin Meredith has spent studying and writing about Africa culminate in this fine book about the continent’s rare triumphs and all-too-poervasive tragedies over the past half-century. This is living, breathing history that matters” New York Post on The Fate [State] of Africa

Sales

UK – Simon & Schuster
US – Public Affairs
Holland – De Bezige Bij
Brazil - Zahar
 

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kontakt:

Piotr Wawrzeńczyk

piotr@literatura.com.pl