1/24/23

I’ve read several of McEvedy’s Penguin Atlases now and they’re all winners. If you’ve never seen one what you basically have is an outline map and facing text on each double page. The content of the maps changes chronologically as you read. The beauty of this is that you can see everything that’s happening on the continent at one particular time. Be ready for a few surprises as just a few hundred miles can make for wholly different cultures and stories.

Of particular interest was southern Africa. The stretch of time where nothing appears to happen is staggering. I was reminded of my thoughts on the British Isles where reading the Atlas of Ancient History. You suddenly realise how backwards and isolated the islands have been for most of their history with the delayed arrival of the Bronze and Iron

Ages, and the Renaissance of course. In southern Africa you have no metal working until the colonial period. Why doesn’t it transmit south along the east coast and then inland? This book does not provide answers. There’s no space for anything more than a summary of events and for this area, for most of the history, there’s nothing more than a vague indication of ethnic groups’ territories. There is no real ‘history’ because there was no way to write it down. This book is as old as me though, and perhaps archaeology has since shed more light.

A good format and a good introduction to the subject. ( )

such a big subject. i remember the maps in public school; Africa was mostly red (British empire). and then in history classes soon enough, never mentioned again. in university there were no courses in it. meanwhile, it turned out to be the birth of civilization. this is not so much an atlas as titled, more an outline history, as the author points out. and as such, very useful as an introduction to the continent. ( )