“This book is the liveliest account of African history ever written, covering over [one] thousand years of trans-Saharan trade. “Finely written and researched. … This edition will no doubt whet the appetites of a fresh generation of scholars and students for greater knowledge of parts of Africa still surprisingly little-known to the outside world.” ― Journal of Islamic Studies “A unique source book.” – The New York Times “Utterly enthralling … splendidly romantic.” ― The New Yorker
“An utterly enthralling, scholarly study . . . very blunt about all the hot little towns, sharp traders and the brutal rulers who figure in this book-but Bovill’s truths turn out to be splendidly romantic. — The New Yorker
“Bovill is a gifted teller of tales . . . it is a delightfully written and well-organized account of a vast and neglected field of history . . . a unique source book on Saharan trade routes, caravan organization and Sudanese history. . . . Mr. Bovill not only reveals a firm grasp of history but of anthropology and economic geography.” — New York Times
“Bovill writes, as a historian, of the Sahara’s golden age, threading his way clearly and with learning through a maze of Berber and Sudanese dynasties. . . .” – — Spectator
About the Author
About Edward William Bovill: The late Edward William Bovill was a historian and author of numerous books.
Editor: Robert O. Collins, professor of history at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is the author of Shadow in the Grass: Britain in the Southern Sudan, 1919-1956 and The Waters of the Nile: Hydropolitics and the Jonglei Canal, 1900-1988, as well as 24 other books.
- Publisher : Markus Wiener Publishers; 2nd Revised ed. edition (July 18, 2009)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 332 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1558760911
- ISBN-13 : 978-1558760912
- Item Weight : 15.8 ounces
- Dimensions : 6 x 0.74 x 9 inches
Transition Studies 