
Born in Blackness: Africa, Africans, and the Making of the Modern World, 1471 to the Second World War book by Howard W. French
By Howard W. FrenchRevealing the central yet intentionally obliterated role of Africa in the creation of modernity, Born in Blackness vitally reframes our understanding of world history. Traditional accounts of the making of the modern world afford a place of primacy to European history. Some credit the fifteenth-century Age of Discovery and the maritime connection it established between West and East; others the accidental unearthing of the “New World.” Still others point to the development of the scientific method, or the spread of Judeo-Christian beliefs; and so on, ad infinitum. The history of Africa, by contrast, has long been relegated to the remote outskirts of our global story. What if, instead, we put Africa and Africans at the very center of our thinking about the origins of modernity? In a sweeping narrative spanning more than six centuries, Howard W. French does just that, for Born in Blackness vitally reframes the story of medieval and emerging Africa, demonstrating how the economic ascendancy of Europe, the anchoring of democracy in the West, and the fulfillment of so-called Enlightenment ideals all grew out of Europe’s dehumanizing engagement with the “dark” continent. In fact, French reveals, the first impetus for the Age of Discovery was not—as we are so often told, even today—Europe’s yearning for ties with Asia, but rather its centuries-old desire to forge a trade in gold with legendarily rich Black societies sequestered away in the heart of West Africa. Creating a historical narrative that begins with the commencement of commercial relations between Portugal and Africa in the fifteenth century and ends with the onset of World War II, Born in Blackness interweaves precise historical detail with poignant, personal reportage. In so doing, it dramatically retrieves the lives of major African historical figures, from the unimaginably rich medieval emperors who traded with the Near East and beyond, to the Kongo sovereigns who heroically battled seventeenth-century European powers, to the ex-slaves who liberated Haitians from bondage and profoundly altered the course of American history. While French cogently demonstrates the centrality of Africa to the rise of the modern world, Born in Blackness becomes, at the same time, a far more significant narrative, one that reveals a long-concealed history of trivialization and, more often, elision in depictions of African history throughout the last five hundred years. As French shows, the achievements of sovereign African nations and their now-far-flung peoples have time and again been etiolated and deliberately erased from modern history. As the West ascended, their stories—siloed and piecemeal—were swept into secluded corners, thus setting the stage for the hagiographic “rise of the West” theories that have endured to this day. “Capacious and compelling” (Laurent Dubois), Born in Blackness is epic history on the grand scale. In the lofty tradition of bold, revisionist narratives, it reframes the story of gold and tobacco, sugar and cotton—and of the greatest “commodity” of them all, the twelve million people who were brought in chains from Africa to the “New World,” whose reclaimed lives shed a harsh light on our present world. Published By National Geographic Books on 2021-10-12
Book details
- Paperback
- 512 pages
- English
- 1631495828
- 9781631495823
About Howard W. French
howard french is a professor at the columbia university graduate school of journalism. prior to joining the columbia faculty, in 2008, he was a reporter an Read More about Howard W. French
More Books By Howard W. French
People who bought this also bought
It Always Seems Impossible Until It's Done: Motivation for Dreamers and Doers book by Kathryn Petras
New Book
Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire book by Caroline Elkins
New Book
Good Health, Good Life: 12 Keys to Enjoying Physical and Spiritual Wellness book by Joyce Meyer
Used Book
The Art of the Good Life: 52 Surprising Shortcuts to Happiness, Wealth, and Success book by Rolf Dobelli
New Book
Everyday Encouragement (Spiritual Refreshment for Women) book by Pamela McQuade
Like New
The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change the World book by John Elkington
New Book
The Dream at the End of the World: Paul Bowles and the Literary Renegades in Tangier book by Michelle Green
Used Book
As Bill Sees It : The A.A. Way of Life...Selected Writings of A.A.'s Co-Founder
Used Book
Come and See: A Photojournalist's Journey Into the World of Mother Teresa
Used Book
The End of Intelligence: Espionage and State Power in the Information Age book by David Tucker
New Book
The Nine Lives of Pakistan: Dispatches from a Precarious State book by Declan Walsh
New Book
Gut Feelings: Short Cuts to Better Decision Making book by Gerd Gigerenzer
New Book
Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable...About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business book by Patrick Lencioni
New Book
Start Where You Are, But Don???t Stay There: Understanding Diversity, Opportunity Gaps, and Teaching in Today???s Classrooms
Used Book
Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul book by John Eldredge
New Book
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness book by Eric Jorgenson
New Book
Money and Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World book by William D. Cohan
New Book
Renegades: Born in the USA book by Barack Obama, Bruce Springsteen
New Book