INTO THE LIGHT

A debut author challenges Eurocentric notions of African history in this nonfiction book.

Seeking to dispel historical stereotypes, this primer takes readers to some of the most esteemed African civilizations, spanning from the West African Songhai Empire, whose city of Timbuktu was a center of the world gold market and Islamic scholarship, to central Africa’s Great Zimbabwe, a centuries-old trading center whose residents dined on Chinese porcelain hundreds of years prior to European colonization. Colonial-era history is well covered, as Bailey is careful to highlight the ways in which colonial thinkers deliberately created a false (but psychologically powerful) dichotomy between “primitive” Africa and “civilized” Europe to justify their misdeeds (“Nativessupposedly were in need of the balm of European-administered progress”). While the book largely focuses on Africa itself, it often touches upon a wider diasporic history that includes figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and tracks how colonial stereotypes of Africa spawned some of the most violent ideologies in recent history. The author’s intended audience ranges from kids to grandparents, and the text is written in an absorbing, accessible writing style. Encouraging reader engagement, there are dozens of maps, photos, and other visual images (one minor critique: Some of these images are rather low-resolution and appear blurry). At just over 50 total pages of narrative text, this is a concise book designed not to offer a comprehensive history but to inspire readers to continue their own exploration of the subject. The book’s brevity is not an indication of simplicity; Bailey provides more than 150 research endnotes that demonstrate a firm grasp on the relevant scholarship. The book is particularly strong delivering a top-down history of Africa, offering readers wide-angled views of powerful civilizations and important rulers like Mansa Musa. But those looking for cultural history—from Africa’s rich musical traditions to its distinctive spiritual cosmologies and folklore—will be left wanting.

An engaging, concise primer of Africa’s great civilizations throughout history.