New releases from Robert Forster, Self Esteem, and Arve Henriksen
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Africa, but not as you know it
BOB NEWLAND applauds a demonstration of the existence of a substantial African history that contributed much to world development long before European colonialism
ANCIENT SPLENDOUR: The Great Zimbabwe dates back to the Gokomere people, an eastern Bantu subgroup, which lived in the area from around 200AD and flourished from 500AD to about 800AD. The stone city spans an area of 7.22 square kilometres (2.79 sq mi) and could have housed up to 18,000 people at its peak. It is suggested that Zimbabwe is a contracted form of 'dzimba-hwe,' which means ‘venerated houses’ in the Zezuru dialect of Shona - usually the houses or graves of chiefs. It is recognised as a World Heritage Site by Unesco. Infamously during the white government of Rhodesia it pressured archeologists to deny its construction by black Africans
SIMON PARSONS is gripped by a psychological thriller that questions the the power of the state over vulnerable individuals
KEN COCKBURN assesses the art of Ian Hamilton Finlay for the experience of warfare it incited and represents
The bard gives us advance notice of his upcoming medieval K-pop releases
GORDON PARSONS steps warily through the pessimistic world view of an influential US conservative
HENRY BELL takes issue with the assertion that basic income is a remedy for poverty when it doesn’t address the inbuilt inequality of capitalism
RON JACOBS welcomes an investigation of the murders of US leftist activists that tells the story of a solidarity movement in Chile
An African History of Africa: From the Dawn of Humanity to Independence
Zeinab Badawi, WH Allen, £25
ZEINAB BADAWI, reflecting today’s widely recognised view, begins this amazing story: “Everyone is originally from Africa and this book is therefore for everyone.”
She spent eight years touring Africa, researching this mammoth project. Her purpose was to write an “accessible and relatively comprehensive history of Africa” which, unlike that of most people’s experience which began with the arrival of Europeans, “reflected the continent’s rich history told by Africans themselves.”
The scene is set by a detailed exploration of several phases of man’s development on the African continent to arrive at today’s Homo sapiens-sapiens. This encompasses the first large-scale movements of populations of which there have been so many since.
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