Preface Timeline of Historical Events The Ancient and Precolonial Period Africa: An Overview The Prehistoric Past: The Evolution of Homo Sapiens Sapiens, 40,000 B.C. The Agricultural Revolution, 5000 B.C.+ The Civilization of Ancient Egypt, 3100 B.C.+ The Iron Age and the Spread of Bantu Speakers, 730 B.C.+ The Rise of Kush and Aksum, 730 B.C.+ The Greeks and Romans in North Africa, 332 B.C.+ Ethiopia: The Emergence of a Christian Kingdom, 1250 A.D.+ The Spread of Islam, 622 A.D. Onward Kingdoms of West Africa: Ghana, Mali, and Songhay, A.D. 1000-1600 The Rise of the Swahili City-States of East Africa, Tenth-Fourteenth Century A.D. The Atlantic Slave Trade, 1440-1870 The Organization of Societies, Fifteenth Century A.D. Onward The Nineteenth-Century Period The Outbreak of Islamic Jihad, 1804 Wars and Revolution Among the Yoruba, 1817-93 The Spread of Christianity, 1804 Onward The Rise of Muhammad Ali of Egypt, 1811-47 The Mfecane: Shaka and the Zulu Kingdom, 1816-40 European Conquest and African Response, 1885-1900 The Twentieth-Century Period The Colonial Experience, 1900-39 The Entrenchment of Apartheid in South Africa, 1948 Africa Drawn into the Second World War, 1940-45 The End of European Rule, 1951-90 Violence to Gain National Liberation, 1952-62 Confrontation with the Gains and Pains if Independence, 1958-70 The Formation of the Organization of African Unity, 1963 Coups, Counter Coups, and Military Regimes, 1963 Onward Ufamaa and Policy Choices, 1967 Onward The Creation of the Economic Community of West African States, 1975 Portuguese Colonies Attain Freedom, 1975 Cultural Revival and Cultural Inventory: The Second World Festival of African Arts and Culture, 1977 The Women's Decade, 1975-85 A Continent in Deep Crisis, 1980+ Environmental Challenges, 1980 Onward African Refugees, 1980 Onward Africa in World Politics in Transition, 1980s Onward The Fall of Apartheid and the Advent of Nelson Mandela's Government, 1994-99 Index