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    Martin Meredith
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    Fortunes of Africa: A 5,000 Year History of Wealth, Greed and Endeavour Paperback – Import, 4 Jun. 2015

    by Martin Meredith (Author)
    4.5 out of 5 stars 697 ratings
    on any 4 Qualifying items | Terms
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    In this vast and vivid panorama of history, Martin Meredith, bestselling author of The State of Africa, follows the fortunes of Africa over a period of 5,000 years. With compelling narrative, he traces the rise and fall of ancient kingdoms and empires; the spread of Christianity and Islam; the enduring quest for gold and other riches; the exploits of explorers and missionaries; and the impact of European colonisation. He examines, too, the fate of modern African states and concludes with a glimpse into their future.

    This is history on an epic scale.
    Read more
    Previous slide of product details
    1. Print length
      768 pages
    2. Language
      English
    3. Publisher
      Simon & Schuster UK
    4. Publication date
      4 Jun. 2015
    5. Dimensions
      13.3 x 5.9 x 20.1 cm
    6. ISBN-10
      1471135454
    7. ISBN-13
      978-1471135453
    Next slide of product details

    Product description

    Review

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    From the Back Cover

    In this vast and vivid panorama of history, Martin Meredith, bestselling author of The State of Africa, follows the fortunes of Africa over a period of 5,000 years. With compelling narrative, he traces the rise and fall of ancient kingdoms and empires; the spread of Christianity and Islam; the enduring quest for gold and other riches; the exploits of explorers and missionaries; and the impact of European colonisation. He examines, too, the fate of modern African states and concludes with a glimpse into their future. This is history on an epic scale.

    Product details

    • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster UK
    • Publication date ‏ : ‎ 4 Jun. 2015
    • Edition ‏ : ‎ 1st
    • Language ‏ : ‎ English
    • Print length ‏ : ‎ 768 pages
    • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1471135454
    • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1471135453
    • Item weight ‏ : ‎ 556 g
    • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.3 x 5.9 x 20.1 cm
    • Best Sellers Rank: 350,055 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
    • Customer reviews:
      4.5 out of 5 stars 697 ratings

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    Martin Meredith

    Martin Meredith

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    Customer reviews

    4.5 out of 5 stars
    697 global ratings

    Customers say

    Customers find the book well-researched and informative, providing a fascinating account of African history. They appreciate its readability and writing quality, with one customer noting it's a well-written summary in 500 pages. The narrative receives positive feedback, with one review describing it as an epic tale of greed.

    Select to learn more

    DepthReadabilityHistoryWriting qualityNarrative quality
    13 customers mention ‘Depth’12 positive1 negative

    Customers appreciate the book's depth, finding it well-researched and providing a readable overview of African history.

    "5000 years seems like a long time. But this book is well researched...." Read more

    "This is a very comprehensive account of the exploitation of Africa by European powers and is very easy to read...." Read more

    "Long, but well worth the read for fans of Africa. Informative, insightful, disturbing and shocking at times, understandably, well written, although..." Read more

    "A good introduction to the history. I wish there was more on pre colonial African history but this book is worth reading...." Read more

    13 customers mention ‘Readability’12 positive1 negative

    Customers find the book to be an excellent read, with one customer noting it is particularly worth reading for those interested in African history.

    "...A really interesting read, it achieves the task of providing an overview of the history of a continent in an engaging narrative...." Read more

    "This is must read book. I was amazed at how much i thought I knew before reading the book to what I actual knew after reading the book...." Read more

    "...Really good read, very well written, highly recommended." Read more

    "A very good read" Read more

    5 customers mention ‘History’4 positive1 negative

    Customers appreciate the historical content of the book, describing it as a fascinating account of African history.

    "...book for a panoramic overview of the characters involved, the historical events and the tragic results which ensued providing a thorough background..." Read more

    "Really fascinating account of African history from Egypt to the start of the 21st century...." Read more

    "An excellent history of Africa from The Pharohs to modern times." Read more

    "...will do this, but it doesn't: it instead mainly is a mixed bag of different historical periods, most of them being treated so quickly and..." Read more

    4 customers mention ‘Writing quality’4 positive0 negative

    Customers praise the writing quality of the book.

    "This book is well written and aimed at the general reader. (Meredith writes with the style of a good journalist rather than a specialist academic.)..." Read more

    "...Really good read, very well written, highly recommended." Read more

    "...Well written and brings to life the historical characters." Read more

    "...insightful, disturbing and shocking at times, understandably, well written, although I appreciate its very hard to squeeze it all in one book,..." Read more

    3 customers mention ‘Narrative quality’3 positive0 negative

    Customers enjoy the narrative of the book, with one describing it as an epic tale of greed.

    "...of providing an overview of the history of a continent in an engaging narrative. Highly recommended." Read more

    "Excellent overview of Africa's history. Manages to make the story interesting by selecting representative events and still gives a convincing..." Read more

    "Epic tale of greed..." Read more

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    Top reviews from United Kingdom

    • Jon
      5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating
      Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 March 2025
      Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
      Really fascinating account of African history from Egypt to the start of the 21st century.

      675 pages excluding notes, index etc divided into chapters averaging 7 or 8 pages each to deal with different events in different countries. Sufficient depth to make the accounts interesting without the book having to spill over into a dozen volumes.

      A really interesting read, it achieves the task of providing an overview of the history of a continent in an engaging narrative.

      Highly recommended.
      Helpful
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    • Scorchio
      4.0 out of 5 stars The invasions of Africa
      Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 March 2023
      Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
      I bought this book thinking that it is a 5000 year history of Africa. There are some chapters of this large book devoted to the internal history of Africa, particularly ancient Egypt and medieval/modern Ethiopia. But the great bulk of the book deals with invasions of Africa, mostly by Arabs and Europeans. I found this a little bit disappointing. I already know something about the history of Europe and the Islamic world, and their interactions with sub-Saharan Africa. I was hoping to learn a bit more about the story of Africa itself. It's not quite clear why the author doesn't tell us more about ancient and medieval sub-Saharan Africa. It may be that historians just don't know very much about it. But it would have been helpful at least outline what is known and what is not known.

      From chapter to chapter the book jumps around different locations in Africa rather than trying to present a general outline of the history of Africa. Most the the book deals with the modern period, with a particular focus on European explorers and invaders. The chapters on southern Africa, especially the Dutch and English invasions, are excellent. These chapters give an excellent account of the Boer invasions, the structure and politics of their societies, and their interactions with the much more powerful English. Unfortunately, we don't learn all that much about the African people of southern Africa who were subject to slavery and dispossession at the hands of the Europeans.

      Overall, this book absolutely fails to provide a coherent 5000 year history of Africa. Nonetheless, it provides an engaging account of various invasions of Africa by Europeans in modern times and to a lesser extent by Arabs in medieval and modern times. It's a big book with over 700 pages, but it is always interesting and difficult to put down.
      11 people found this helpful
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    • MJ
      5.0 out of 5 stars A heroic overview of the history of a continent
      Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 November 2020
      Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
      This book is well written and aimed at the general reader. (Meredith writes with the style of a good journalist rather than a specialist academic.) It attempts to give an overview of the whole history of the whole continent Africa. Inevitably it treats different periods and places with different levels of detail.

      Although sub-Saharan Africa is very different from the northern coast of Africa, which is part of the Mediterranean world, looking at both in the same book is interesting, particularly to see the impact which North Africa had on sub-Saharan Africa via overland trade routes.

      The book is more detailed on the history of English-speaking southern Africa, but is also a useful introduction to the history of Portuguese and French activity in Africa, which is probably less familiar to English-speaking readers. For example, it is very interesting to understand that the North African peoples were acquiring gold and slaves in sub-Saharan Africa before the Europeans got there, and that the Portuguese were active in West Africa quite some time before Columbus made it to the West Indies.

      Although this book is not aimed at an academic audience, if you are interested in finding out more about specific aspects, it does have useful references to further reading at the end of the book. This provides a guide to more detailed and more academic works. For example, on the subject of African slavery it points to Paul Lovejoy's authoritative and well written academic work, Transformations in Slavery - A History of Slavery in Africa.
      15 people found this helpful
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    • Chris de C
      5.0 out of 5 stars Important
      Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 February 2025
      Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
      5000 years seems like a long time. But this book is well researched.

      If you have the time and want to be better informed about how every major super power across the known world including within Africa, used & abused Africa, through the ages, then read it.
      Helpful
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    Top reviews from other countries

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    • Deep Das
      5.0 out of 5 stars Best read of the history of Africa.
      Reviewed in India on 6 May 2023
      Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
      It's the best book written on African continent.
      Martin Meredith had written this book so good and had researched a lot . Explosive content huge amount of information on how this continent is exploited by Europeans .The different regions and their different groups of people has a great role in the Historical Saga .
      Bought it for Rs 599 and it's worth.
      Customer image
      Deep Das
      5.0 out of 5 stars
      Best read of the history of Africa.

      Reviewed in India on 6 May 2023
      It's the best book written on African continent.
      Martin Meredith had written this book so good and had researched a lot . Explosive content huge amount of information on how this continent is exploited by Europeans .The different regions and their different groups of people has a great role in the Historical Saga .
      Bought it for Rs 599 and it's worth.
      Images in this review
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    • Yann Airoldi
      5.0 out of 5 stars In lingua originale
      Reviewed in Italy on 14 February 2019
      Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
      Libro splendido
      Report
    • KannE
      5.0 out of 5 stars Swift delivery
      Reviewed in Germany on 21 February 2025
      Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
       
      Customer image
      KannE
      5.0 out of 5 stars
      Swift delivery

      Reviewed in Germany on 21 February 2025

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    • gt surber
      5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Survey of African History
      Reviewed in the United States on 22 November 2014
      Verified Purchase
      Review - The Fortunes of Africa: A 5,000 Year History of Wealth, Greed and Endeavor by Martin Meredith

      "The Fortunes of Africa" is a rather large survey of the long, complicated history of Africa. As such it picks out highlights of the history. The book gives the reader a brief taste of the various parts of Africa in turn as it's focus shifts round and round the huge geography of the continent and through the 5000 years. The huge amount of material this book surveys limits it's ability to do any location or era true justice. Yet, Martin Meredith, who has written other books on Africa, succeeds in giving the reader a creditable taste of the huge table.

      The book is well written and enjoyable to read. There are almost no pictures, only two or three maps in my Kindle edition. The maps on my iphone were too small to be of use. The selection of the material is by necessity eclectic. The coverage of the various selections Martin Mededith choose is adequate to understand and appreciate the breadth of the history and to come away better informed than before reading the book.

      I found the book enlightening and informative on a continent and a history of which I have seldom been exposed. I would recommend "The Fortunes of Africa" to persons wanting to know more of an important part of human history that is all to often passed by.
      Report
    • lucien c
      5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book!
      Reviewed in Brazil on 14 November 2017
      Verified Purchase
      This is an all-encompassing view of African history since times immemorial up to nowadays. Very well reserched and convincingly exposed. I liked it very much, read it like a romance! Strongly recommended.
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