A presentation of important issues in the study of modern Africa. It addresses: decolonization and the end of Empire; democracy and the nation state; epidemics in Africa - the human and financial costs; development - failure or success; the African environment - origins of a crisis; and more.

From savannas to rain forests to deserts, the geography of Sub-Saharan Africa is second to none in terms of diversity. Readers will explore the brilliant, dynamic landscapes and cityscapes of Sub-Saharan Africa through fascinating full-color photographs and fact-filled text. How have people adapted to the land and climate of Sub-Saharan Africa, and what lies in store for inhabitants as the climate starts to change? This book includes fact boxes and maps to provide an exciting tour of the geography of Sub-Saharan Africa.

A wealth of information and analysis on the environmental forces that have helped shaped the cultures of the African continent. A scholarly reference work that will also appeal to the general reader, Sub-Saharan Africa sets the story of the African environment within the context of geological time and shows how the continent's often harsh conditions prompted humans to develop unique skills in agriculture, animal husbandry, and environmental management. Part of ABC-CLIO's Nature and Human Societies series, this book enables readers to better grasp the extent of humanity's effect on our world. Of particular interest are the book's sections dealing with the impact of the Biafran famine of the 1960s, the Sahelian drought of the 1970s, population growth, and the ongoing challenges of war and HIV/AIDS. Crucially, the book also shows how, despite their relative poverty, many African states have coped admirably with rapid urbanization and have developed world-class conservation and sustainability programs in order to protect and harness some of the most endangered species in the world.

"For centuries, East Africa has played a central role within the Indian Ocean world. The Arabs built the first trade networks there; these were laid siege to by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century, followed by British colonialists in the nineteenth century. An interregional trade linked different subregions of East Africa to other Indian Ocean economies. For example, Hindu merchants from Gujarat played a leading role in the ivory trade of East Africa during the past four centuries. In the nineteenth century, Zanzibar became a major center of the Asian slave trade. While slave trading, slave raiding, and their consequences provide one thematic focus of this book, the author also demonstrates that Indian Ocean commercial networks were much more complex in the range of products exchanged, including luxury goods and staple food items, as well as enforced labor. Islam provided yet another connective tissue linking East Africa to the Indian Ocean world and served as a cultural matrix through which popular beliefs and practices were transmitted. This book offers an eye-opening perspective on an often neglected area of world history."--Publisher's description.

The first history of Lake Tanganyika and of eastern Africa's relationship with the wider Indian Ocean World during the nineteenth century.

This new monograph serves as an authoritative introduction to an unusual people of eastern Africa known as Swahili. Middleton, who has known these people for a half a century, describes their highly stratified, merchant society and civilization, documenting their importance both for anthropologists and for others interested in Africa. Swahili continue today their centuries-old role as merchants in long-distance international trade, a role that has led them to form a society very distinct from any other in Africa. Middletons brief, personal treatment discusses Swahili recorded history as an integral part of their rich tradition and civilization. He clears up past confusions and mistaken assumptions without trying to define a single Swahili identity. His lucid approach unravels contradictions about Swahili being merchants and yet fishermen, who live in both cities as well as small villages, and who reckon various kinds of kinship and marriage. Swahili are often considered by non-Swahili as being both Africans and Arabs, but Middleton shows that they remain African despite having long adopted Islam and many aspects of Arab and Asian cultures.

This monograph highlights the benefits of public-private partnerships (PPP) for Sub-Saharan Africa. By studying the intertwinement of mainstream and Islamic finance, the author shows how PPPs have emerged as a viable and efficient organizational vehicle for fair rules of economic cooperation where the trade-offs between profit maximization and social justice values required by Islamic finance occur within the organization. The book shows the assumptions under which such compromise is beneficial to all parties, including public entities, multicultural societies and private Islamic and conventional investors. It places particular emphasis on changing the principle of allocating public resources in the uncertain legal and economic environment of the region discussed. Given the cultural idiosyncrasies, political instability, and socio-economic turmoil but high development potential in Sub-Saharan Africa, PPPs with a heterodox approach may prove to be a game-changer in the region and a platform to find a compromise between the interests of various types of investors.