A comprehensive evaluation of how to read African history.Writing African History is an essential work for anyone who wants to write, or even seriously read, African history. It will replace Daniel McCall's classic Africa in Time Perspective as the introduction to African history for the next generation and as a reference for professional historians, interested readers, and anyone who wants to understand how African history is written. Africa in Time Perspective was written in the 1960s, when African history was a new field of research. This new book reflects the development of African history since then. It opens with a comprehensive introduction by Daniel McCall, followed by a chapter by the editor explainingwhat African history is [and is not] in the context of historical theory and the development of historical narrative, the humanities, and social sciences. The first half of the book focuses on sources of historical data while thesecond half examines different perspectives on history. The editor's final chapter explains how to combine various sorts of evidence into a coherent account of African history. Writing African History will become the most important guide to African history for the 21st century. Contributors: Bala Achi, Isaac Olawale Albert, Diedre L. Badéjo, Dorothea Bedigian, Barbara M. Cooper, Henry John Drewal, Christopher Ehret, Toyin Falola, David Henige, Joseph E. Holloway, John Hunwick, S. O. Y. Keita, William G. Martin, Daniel McCall, Susan Keech McIntosh, Donatien Dibwe Dia Mwembu, Kathleen Sheldon, John Thornton, and Masao Yoshida. John Edwards Philips is Professor of International Society, Hirosaki University, and author of Spurious Arabic: Hausa and Colonial Nigeria [Madison, University of Wisconsin African Studies Center, 2000].

What is African History? - John Edward PhilipsArchaeology and the Reconstruction of the African Past - Susan Keech McIntoshWriting African History from Linguistic Evidence - Christopher EhretPhysical Anthropology and African History - Shomarka Keita MDThe Importance of Botanical Data to Historical Research on Africa - Dorothea BedigianOral Tradition as a Means of Reconstructing the Past - David HenigeOral Sources and the Challenge of African History - Barbara CooperArabic Sources for African History - John O. HunwickEuropean Documents and African History - John K. ThorntonMission and Colonial Documents - Toyin FalolaData Collection and Interpretation in the Social History of Africa - Isaac Olawale AlbertAfrican Economic History: Approaches to Research - Masao YoshidaSigns of Time, Shapes of Thought: The Contributions of Art History and Visual Culture to Historical Methods in Africa - Henry John DrewalMethodologies in Yoruba Oral Historiography and Aesthetics - Deidre L. Badejo Ph.D.Local History in Post-Independent Africa - Bala AchiAfrica and World-Systems Analysis: A Post Nationalist Project? - William G. MartinWhat Africa Has Given America: African Continuities in the North American Diaspora - Joseph E. HollowayHistory and Memory - Donatien DIBWE dia MwembuWriting About Women: Approaches to a Gendered Perspective in African History - Kathleen SheldonWriting African History - John Edward Philips