Decolonisation in British Africa
Anthony Kirk-Greene looks at the remarkably rapid 'end of empire' of Britain in Africa, and argues that perspective and objectivity can now yield a useful stocktaking.
Africa
St. Helena Honours Boer War Prisoners
Rosemary Laurent discovers a British outpost in the south Atlantic.
Rhodesia’s War of Independence
The brutal war to maintain white supremacy in what is now Zimbabwe eventually led to the rule of Robert Mugabe.
Great Zimbabwe's Trading Past
The grandest African ruins south of the Sahara and the enigmatic discovery of Ming China there.
Portugal's Impact on Africa
Bartholomew Dias' voyage to the Cape of Good Hope in the late 15th century marked the apex of an extraordinary Portuguese expansion overseas and the start of a fateful European impact on South Africa.
The Revolution in South African Historiography
Iain R. Smith looks at the changes in the study of South Africa's past.
West Africa’s Mary Kingsley
‘England… requires markets more than colonies.’ Mary Kingsley’s espousal of the African cause was founded on the empathy between second-class citizens in a white, male-dominated society, as Deborah Birkett reveals.
Ghana: Thirty Years On
Richard Rathbone takes a look at the first African colonial state to gain independence.
Lugard and Colonial Nigeria - Towards an Identity?
'More like sovereign heads of state than servants of the same British Crown' - the rivalry and 'diplomacy' of imperial proconsuls hampered the creation of Nigeria between 1900 and 1914.
The Berlin West Africa Conference - A Timely Centenary?
John D. Hargreaves looks at the 1884 meeting of European nations and the impact on Africa.