The best West African History books: Reddit reviews

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I’m reading the book about him right now. Amazing story! Friend gave it to me because we shared some time in the region.

The Bad-ass Librarians of Timbuktu

> You can't fix the crop of humans that is currently broken.

This is bullshit. Below is a link to a memoir by Ishmael Beah. The dude was a child soldier at 12 years old, was rescued by UNICEF, and rehabilitated. He graduated from college, published several books, and has spoken at the UN. Im very much all for not creating new sociopaths but let us not act like the only way to deal with broken among us is to put a bullet in their heads.

https://www.amazon.com/Long-Way-Gone-Memoirs-Soldier/dp/0374531269

Welcome to the sub, do you want me to give you a flair as a learner

My husband just finished reading this book and he highly recommends it, it’s about the (pre-)colonial history in the formation of Nigeria from the Fulani Jihad to the Amalgamation and shortly after the First World War.

https://www.amazon.com/Formation-Making-Nigeria-Jihad-Amalgamation/dp/191317509X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=formation+the+making+of+nigeria+from+jihad+to+amalgamation&qid=1620928108&sprefix=formation&sr=8-1

A Long Way Gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier (2007) by Ishmael Beah. Firsthand account of Beah's time as a child soldier during the civil war in Sierra Leone (1990s) The last few pages, I just read one per day, an effort to delay the inevitable ending of a good book. *edited link from wiki to amazon

A long way gone: memoirs of a boy Solider https://www.amazon.com/Long-Way-Gone-Memoirs-Soldier/dp/0374531269

I HIGHLY recommend reading it. I absolutely loved it, such a great story but so horrible to have happened

But you can look up their last names here:

https://www.amazon.com/Portuguese-West-Africa-1415-1670-Documentary/dp/0521768942

But obviously, yes.. this conversation ties into Kanye and Kyrie. And Rastafarians. And African Israelites (?). And the seed at the root of the antisemitism a ala Farrakhan, Malcom X and 12 Tribes.. They often allude to this aspect of history, and nobody cares to confirm, deny or debate it.. they aren't even aware of it.

And yes I absolutely do support Kanye and Kyrie's right to express their beliefs about their history, ancestry and culture.

I am very adamant of supporting them and I am completely against boycotting and punishing them. I am out here trying to infuse some other information into the mix, which I find not only relevant but to be purposefully obscured.

I don't get how any aspect of TA slavery can be taboo to talk about.

I am saying, who moved to West Africa and started marrying the African women and establishing the ties that made the start of the Euro/African slave trade possible? Who did that part?

I can't imagine many non-exiled men would have just volunteered to go live permanently among the Africans with the exiled New Cristians, abandoned by their entire society, and surrounded by native Africans and Muslims..... why would non-exiled Portuguese have done that? Historical records do not show that many did.

https://www.amazon.com/Portuguese-West-Africa-1415-1670-Documentary/dp/0521768942

https://www.amazon.com/Portuguese-West-Africa-1415-1670-Documentary/dp/0521768942

Just read the Table of Contents, this book is extremely interesting. Published in 2010, it is groundbreaking for having translated all the Portuguese documents about West African history after 1415, something that was not previously completely available to English speakers.

The US economy? The iPhone ur using to write that message? Where do you think the material to make these technologies comes from? They don't just appear out of thin air

https://www.amazon.com/Scramble-Africa-White-Conquest-Continent/dp/0380719991/ref=asc_df_0380719991/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312154640153&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9911428635977505563&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&a...

Start with this. This is how it all started

Not sure if this will help. I have not read it, but I heard a podcast about the book below. It sounded pretty interesting, they did say, I think, that the authors are not necessarily professional historians fwiw.

https://www.amazon.com/Formation-Making-Nigeria-Jihad-Amalgamation/dp/191317509X

>https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Ass-Librarians-Timbuktu-Precious-Manuscripts/dp/1476777411

Not the person you replied to, but I've just put this book on hold at my local library. Thank you for this.

Well yeah, The poorly located boarders going back the Berlin conference be mentioned.

The Algerian war for independence. The USSR and Soviet union funding rebels against whoever they felt would hurt the other side more. Hell Even Cuban had soldiers running around Africa.

Here’s a good book about IMF, US interference, the oil industry and local corruption fucking everything up. It’s something of a classic at this point.

https://www.amazon.com/Tropical-Gangsters-Experience-Development-Decadence/dp/0465087604

Women's Liberation and the African Freedom Struggle, speeches by Thomas Sankara

Here's a PDF if you're interested in that over a physical copy.

We read a child soldier memoir in high school. It's not really academic, but if your thesis is more personal or incorporates anecdotal evidence, it might be worth checking out: https://www.amazon.com/Long-Way-Gone-Memoirs-Soldier/dp/0374531269

Hi !

Thank you for your prompt answer !

I just reread it to make sure and they do specify 'painted eyes'.

The Portuguese in West Africa, 1415–1670: A Documentary History

written by Malyn Newitt (https://www.amazon.com/Portuguese-West-Africa-1415-1670-Documentary/dp/0521768942)

Document numbered 17, Markets and dances: Africa responds to Europe

'They were also astonished at the ingenuity of our ship with its equipment, its masts, sails and anchors.

They also thought that the eyes that were painted on the prow of the ship were real eyes and that in this way the ship could see where it was going at sea.'

It struck me as looking similar to these egyptian galleys painted with eyes but I never heard of the portuguese nor any other european navy painting eyes on the prow of their ships. It seems (could be wrong here) pagan like, not sure the church would allow for it.

> Equatorial Guinea

I read a book about this place.
Tropical Gangsters: One Man's Experience With Development And Decadence In Deepest Africa

The Fate of Africa

The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World's Most Precious Manuscripts by Joshua Hammer

https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Ass-Librarians-Timbuktu-Precious-Manuscripts/dp/1476777411

Fall of the ottomans.

But that book led me to 7 pillars recently, so I could be incorrectly attributing it to the wrong book.

You probably should read some literature on child soldiers and how they are 'conscripted' and how they are forced to fight in wars. I recommend A Long Way Gone (a memoir of Ishmael Beah an ex-child soldier) and They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children (by Romeo Dellaire).

One method is to use their culture against them, as in they will force you to kill your mother or else they will kill all you or your brother. Then they are taught to believe they are not wanted anymore and they will be killed by their own tribe. This has parallels with gang recruitment. Once this stuff happens in order to reverse this behaviour you need to retrain the individual and attempt to reverse the mindset that they are soldiers or the like and not locking them up in prison.

The Scramble for Africa by Thomas Pakenham

Fantastic book on the colonization of Africa. Impartial, well written and thorough.

If anyone wants a perspective of what it was like to be a child growing up during the civil war in Sierra Leone check out the book "A Long Way Gone." Crazy crazy stuff you don't hear much about.

Reminds me of this book. It had some terrible things described in it. How did your friend make it out? That's also a story to hear.

to understand modern africa, you must understand colonial africa, and for that i suggest this book