History Resources

The result of years of work by scholars from all over the world, "The UNESCO General History of Africa" reflects how the different peoples of Africa view their civilizations and shows the historical relationships between the various parts of the continent. Historical connections with other continents demonstrate Africa's contribution to the development of human civilization.
*Volumes available:
Vol. II: Ancient civilizations of Africa; Vol III: Africa from the seventh to the eleventh century; and, Vol VII: Africa under colonial domination, 1880-1935

Nubia's remote setting has not only lent it an air of mystery, but also isolated it from exploration. This book attempts to document some of the recent discovers about ancient Nubia, with its remarkable history, architecture, and culture. By doing so, the authors of the essays give us a picture of this rich, but unfamiliar, African legacy.

Discusses the Gorta Mor in 1840s Ireland, the famine in British-controlled Bengal in 1943, and the string of famines in Ethiopia in the late 20th century, and explores the concept that while famine can be caused by crop failures and weather conditions, famines are worsened by man-made choices such as politics and social and religious ideology.

In April 1994 up to a million people were slaughtered in Rwanda during a murderous campaign of horrifying efficiency.The ferocity of the killing and the cruelty inflicted on defenseless people has no comparison in modern times. Conspiracy to Murder is the story of how that genocide was planned. It reveals how, from as early as 1990, the political, military and administrative leadership of Rwanda became involved in planning the complete extermination of the Tutsi population. A vicious hate campaign filled the media, urging Hutus to kill; a network of roadblocks was devised to prevent any escape; civil-defense groups were established throughout the country, with eventually every third Hutu being armed; half a million machetes and other agricultural tools were imported, and 85 tons of munitions were distributed country-wide, in the year leading up to the genocide. In an outstanding example of investigative journalism, Linda Melvern reveals the full story behind the conspiracy, detailing the involvement of world governments whose responses ranged from complicity to apathy. She shows how the killers outmaneuvered the Security Council and led UN peacekeepers into a steady trap; how the French military trained the killers and how their 'humanitarian intervention' in June 1994 enabled many of those killers to escape justice; how the John Major government ignored warnings and then proceeded to mislead the British Parliament about what was really happening; how the US is still withholding wiretap and satellite evidence showing that the genocide had begun; and how significant was the knowledge of then Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

After being released from prison and winning South Africa's first free election, Nelson Mandela presided over a country still deeply divided by fifty years of apartheid. His plan was ambitious if not far-fetched: Use the national rugby team, the Springboks--long an embodiment of white supremacist rule--to embody and engage a new South Africa as they prepared to host the 1995 World Cup. The string of wins that followed not only defied the odds, but capped Mandela's miraculous effort to bring South Africans together in a hard-won, enduring bond.

Just over 50 years ago, several African countries drew up new constitutions that included additions such as the Protocol on the Rights of Women. Decades later, has constitutional reform brought gender equality to women in Africa? And what does gender equality mean in the everyday lives of women on the continent? The contributors to this volume provide insights into women’s rights in seven African countries: Cote d'Ivoire, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda. Each looks at the causes, context, and consequences of the struggle to uphold women’s rights. Their case studies illustrate property-grabbing in Malawi, women’s citizenship in Nigeria, and the rise of hate crimes and sexual violence against black lesbians in South Africa, among other issues.

With nearly 600 new entries and 1,000 updates, the second edition of this authoritative resource reflects the far-reaching changes the Middle East has undergone in recent years, making the work more relevant and more necessary than ever before. The set covers the modern history of the Middle East and North Africa, with major sections on Colonialism and Imperialism, the World Wars, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the United Nations involvement in the region. Each country in the region is reviewed, detailing its population, economy and government. With 3,000 nonpartisan articles written by specialists in anthropology, history, political science, religion and social sciences, this four-volume set is an indispensable tool.