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The Fortunes of Africa

A 5000-Year History of Wealth, Greed, and Endeavor

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The Fortunes of Africa

Written by: Martin Meredith
Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
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A "gripping" (Booklist) and "richly detailed" (Kirkus Reviews) history of the fortune seekers, adventurers, despots, and thieves who have ruthlessly endeavored to extract gold, diamonds, and other treasures from Africa and its people.

Africa has been coveted for its rich natural resources ever since the era of the Pharaohs. In past centuries, it was the lure of gold, ivory, and slaves that drew merchant-adventurers and conquerors from afar. In modern times, the focus of attention is on oil, diamonds, and other rare earth minerals.

In this vast and vivid panorama of history, Martin Meredith 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 colonization. He examines, too, the fate of modern African states and concludes with a glimpse of their future.

His cast of characters includes religious leaders, mining magnates, warlords, dictators, and many other legendary figures-among them Mansa Musa, ruler of the medieval Mali empire, said to be the richest man the world has ever known. Africa Politics & Government World Middle East Middle Ages Royalty Imperialism Iran Latin America Explorer
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What the critics say

"Mr. Meredith artfully weaves together exploration, trade, and geography in a narrative that is both detailed and arresting.... [He] leaves the reader bursting with a wealth of facts."
—The Economist
"Even the longtime specialist is likely to learn lots of things because of the extraordinary amount of ground the author covers."
—Howard French, Wall Street Journal
"This is the new standard against which future histories will be considered."
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
"A gripping tale of insatiable greed-personal and collective."
—Booklist, starred review
"[A] broad-ranging history of Africa from the age of the pharaohs to the present, with a solid emphasis on economics...richly detailed...a useful study."
—Kirkus Reviews
All stars
Most Relevant
An outstanding product. Very detailed and interesting. Good read that I would recommend any day.

Well Researched

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It was indeed an enjoyable listening. The narrator was actually the best I have heard since using audible for reading audio books. The story about Africa was well told. I'm from Nigeria and I'm surprised at the research put into this book about Nigeria history and it's glories, greed, ineptitude and poor leadership exhibited by the nationalists and military rulers.
Thank you for taking the time to produce this excellent work of telling the true Africa history. It is exhaustive, indepth, elaborate and incisive. This book should be in the libraries of every African nation. Great work!

A must Read for Every True African

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The terrible truth of greed and corruption and how it could and did devastate a simple people

Fascinating account of the rape of a continent

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Man this book is a roller coaster of feelings. Anger, sadness stints of hope. Read/listen with open mind.

Very eye opening.

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This is a very informative book about Africa. It is rich in detail to the point that sometimes it is a bit hard to follow what area his is talking about. I think a pdf download would have def aided here a bit. But overall a great book on a much maligned and overlooked continent. Easy to recommend for history fans.

really good book on African history

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