Africa

King Lewanika’s invitation to the coronation of Edward VII was intended to stabilise British relations with the Barotse nation. Instead, it exposed the cracks in the imperial veneer.

The Battle of Tondibi, which resulted in the defeat of the Songhay army, took place on 13 March 1591.

Rhodesia’s ill-fated independence, 55 years on. 

Africa’s continuing dependence on external credit is no accident. Today, it cripples the continent’s economy. From the 16th century, it funded the Atlantic slave trade. 

Supported by both slaveholders and abolitionists for different reasons, the founding of Liberia is a history of the near impossible. Perhaps its greatest feat was survival. 

In the 18th century, Europeans in the tropics found themselves beset by an array of unpleasant afflictions. They blamed black women, the climate and the strength of their own masculinity.

The revolt against President Omar al-Bashir was not the first in Sudan’s history, but it was the first since Africa’s former largest country split in two.

Africa has been global for millennia, but its history is too often eclipsed by narratives that focus on slavery and its abolition.