A comprehensive introduction to the sprawling history of this enormous continent, from the dawn of human time in prehistoric Africa right through to Arab SpringBeginning with the origins of the human race and the development of stone age technology, this history of the cradle of civilization moves through ancient and medieval times, the significance of the Arab presence, the Muslim states, and the trans-Saharan trade. It continues with the rise and fall of nation states and kingdoms prior to the arrival of Europeans, Ghana, the Kingdoms of the Forest and Savanna, Yoruba, Oyo, Benin, Asante, Luba, Lunda, Lozil, and many others, on to the beginning of the slave trade, and the European conquest and colonization of sub-Saharan Africa, the "Scramble for Africa." Finally moving onto the often bitter struggles for independence from that period of colonization and exploitation, it concludes with an assessment of Africa in the 21st century.