African Empires

Africa is the continent where the first humans were born. They explored the vast land and produced the first tools. And although we migrated from that continent, we never completely abandoned it. From the beginning of time, humans lived and worked in Africa, leaving evidence of their existence in the sands of the Sahara Desert and the valleys of the great rivers such as the Nile and the Niger.

Many people know about the Mali Empire and its famous ruler, Mansa Musa. But did you know there was a major empire that came before it? Medieval African history tends to get ignored in favor of medieval European history. However, there is so much rich history to uncover, especially in the region of West Africa. The Ghana Empire is considered one of the greatest empires in African history. There was an abundance of gold in the region, and the Ghana Empire was a powerful trading partner. Advancements were made in administration, allowing it to become a dominant power in the region.

Have you ever wondered why the Mali Empire was so wealthy and well-known? Find your answer in our guide about the Mali Empire, and learn about its foundation and rise to fame under Mansa Musa. Within this audiobook, you’ll listen to the humble beginnings and hardships that befell Sundiata Keita as he founded the Mali Empire. His thrilling story leads into how the empire was structured and its early laws and customs.

Pick up almost any book on early and medieval world history and empire, and where do you find West Africa? On the periphery. This pioneering book tells a different story. Interweaving political and social history and drawing on a rich array of sources, Michael Gomez unveils a new vision of how categories of ethnicity, race, gender, and caste emerged in Africa and in global history.

Dive into the captivating world of ancient African civilizations with Ancient African Empires. Perfect for history enthusiasts and curious minds alike, this audiobook uncovers the rich stories and groundbreaking achievements of Africa’s greatest ancient kingdoms.

For more than two centuries, the story of the Zulu kingdom has captured the world’s imagination—its warriors, its kings, its endurance. But behind the legend lies a deeper, more human saga of ambition, ingenuity, betrayal, and survival. Empire of the Zulu is a sweeping narrative history that traces the rise of one of Africa’s most remarkable civilizations—from the boy Shaka, born under a shadow of shame, to the modern monarchs who inherited his legacy under the glare of colonial rule and beyond. Blending vivid storytelling with meticulous research, Temba Khumalo brings to life the ...

In Oakland, California, in 1966, community college students Bobby Seale and Huey Newton armed themselves, began patrolling the police, and promised to prevent police brutality. Unlike the Civil Rights Movement that called for full citizenship rights for blacks within the US, the Black Panther Party rejected the legitimacy of the US government and positioned itself as part of a global struggle against American imperialism.

As the old saying goes, a man never knows what he would do until he’s faced with adversity. Carmelo Davis AKA Big Mel was the owner of one of the hottest Record labels in the industry Black Money Empire. At the peak of his success an advisory from the past that came back with intentions of seeing his empire crumble. What was all good just a week ago turns into a total nightmare… ​Big Mel and his BME family found themselves in a fight until the death. As lives are lost and lines get crossed, witness the true definition of love and loyalty as they help each other survive by any means ...

An exciting, hugely revealing account of China’s burgeoning presence in Africa - a developing empire already shaping, and reshaping, the future of millions of people. A prizewinning foreign correspondent and former New York Times bureau chief in Shanghai and in West and Central Africa, Howard French is uniquely positioned to tell the story of China in Africa. Through meticulous on-the-ground reporting, French crafts a layered investigation of astonishing depth and breadth.

A sweeping history of power, conquest, and memory — and how an empire that no longer exists still shapes one of the world’s most influential nations. For over three centuries, France ruled vast colonies across Africa, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific. From the sugar plantations of Saint-Domingue to the battlefields of Algeria and Indochina, the French Empire reshaped global politics and left behind a legacy as complex as it is contested. In The Long Shadow of Empire, historian Julien Peltier traces the rise and fall of France’s colonial project and shows how its ...

In just over a hundred years - from the death of Muhammad in 632 to the beginning of the Abbasid Caliphate in 750 - the followers of the Prophet swept across the whole of the Middle East, North Africa, and Spain. Their armies threatened states as far flung as the Franks in Western Europe and the Tang Empire in China. The conquered territory was larger than the Roman Empire at its greatest expansion, and it was claimed for the Arabs in roughly half the time.

Africa in the 13th century lay in ruins due to countless civil wars and the ensuing famine. Amid the hopelessness arose a man who began to rebuild the ravaged diaspora. He instituted a government that was so efficient at managing the country of Mali that soon it was the most progressive nation on the continent. Not long after, one by one, the neighboring countries began to join the fold, until all of West Africa constituted a single empire.

Immerse yourself in the intricate story of Africa and discover Africa's true place in world history. Spanning more than 200,000 years, from the emergence of the first humans to the rise of megacities, Africa explores the history and cultures of the world's second-largest continent in vivid...

A narrative history of how Attila, Genghis Khan and the so-called barbarians of the steppes shaped world civilization. The barbarian nomads of the Eurasian steppes have played a decisive role in world history, but their achievements have gone largely unnoticed. These nomadic tribes have produced...

In the tradition of The Lost City of Z and Skeletons in the Zahara, Astoria is the thrilling, true-adventure tale of the 1810 Astor Expedition, an epic, now forgotten, three-year journey to forge an American empire on the Pacific Coast. Peter Stark offers a harrowing saga in which a band of...

What if Mussolini was given a second chance—and this time, he forged an empire that held? Here’s What Unfolds in This Strategic and Gripping Sequel to CASCADING DIVERGENCE 1940: An Alternate World History Begins—and Parallel Companion to CASCADING DIVERGENCE 1941: Lebensraum: A Realignment of Power – With Britain neutral and Germany focused on the East, Hitler gives Mussolini a different mission: conquer Africa. Italy Transformed – Facing failure and ridicule, Mussolini unleashes the Steel Doctrine—a brutal, efficient remaking of the Italian state and military. The Conquest ...

Kwasi Kwarteng is the child of parents whose lives were shaped as subjects of the British Empire, first in their native Ghana, then as British immigrants. He brings a unique perspective and impeccable academic credentials to a narrative history of the British Empire, one that avoids sweeping judgmental condemnation and instead sees the Empire for what it was: a series of local fiefdoms administered in varying degrees of competence or brutality by a cast of characters as outsized and eccentric as anything conjured by Gilbert and Sullivan.

Husband-and-wife treasure hunters Sam and Remi Fargo run afoul of a dictator who uses false facts about Aztec history to further his claim to power in this #1 New York Times-bestselling series. While scuba diving in Tanzania, Sam and Remi Fargo come upon a relic belonging to a long-lost...

The Great Boer War (1899-1902) - more properly the Great Anglo-Boer War - was one of the last romantic wars, pitting a sturdy, stubborn pioneer people fighting to establish the independence of their tiny nation against the British Empire at its peak of power and self-confidence. It was fought in the barren vastness of the South African veldt, and it produced in almost equal measure extraordinary feats of personal heroism, unbelievable examples of folly and stupidity, and many incidents of humor and tragedy.

Novelization of the Academy Award winning screenplay of the epic motion picture starring Charlton Heston and Sir Laurence Olivier. In 1883, a Holy War rages across Egypt. The Mahdi, devout prophet of Allah and leader of countless thousands of armed tribesman, is about to descend upon the city of Khartoum, in the Sudan. A city that has become the arsenal to Egypt and that the Mahdi pledges to kill ever man, woman, and child within it. William Gladstone, Britain's Prime Minister, vows that he will not send British troops to defend the city. Instead he would sacrifice one man and enlists the ...