First published 2021
Howard French challenges conventional narratives that place Europe at the center of modern history. He argues that Africa and Africans were central to the development of modernity, not peripheral to it. French traces how Europe's economic rise, Western democracy, and Enlightenment ideals emerged from centuries of engagement with Africa. He reveals that the Age of Discovery began not with European desires to reach Asia, but with Portugal's pursuit of gold from wealthy West African societies. The narrative spans six centuries, from fifteenth century Portuguese-African trade through World War II. French recovers the stories of major African figures: medieval emperors who traded across vast networks, Kongo rulers who resisted European powers, and former slaves who shaped Haitian and American history. He demonstrates how African achievements have been systematically erased from historical accounts, creating space for narratives that glorify Western ascendance. The book examines the trade in gold, tobacco, sugar, and cotton, alongside the forced migration of twelve million Africans to the Americas.
Genres: african-literature, biography-memoir, african-american-historical-fiction, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-fiction, narrative-non-fiction
Setting: Africa, Europe, America, Kongo, Haiti
Period: 15th Century, World War II
528 pages · Kindle Edition · Liveright
Content warnings: colonialism, slavery