Majestic River

Majestic River

Author: Charles W. J. Withers

Publisher: Birlinn Ltd

Published: 2022-11-03

Total Pages: 491

ISBN-13: 1788855663

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One of the greatest stories of world exploration ever told. By the late eighteenth century, the river Niger was a 2,000-year-old two-part geographical problem. Solving it would advance European knowledge of Africa, provide a route to commercial opportunity and help eradicate the evil of slavery. Mungo Park achieved lasting fame in 1796 by solving the first part of the Niger problem – which way did the river run? Park died in 1806, in circumstances which are still uncertain, in failing to solve the second – where did the Niger end? Numerous expeditions explored the river in the decades following Park's death, but not until 1830 was its final course revealed following in-the-field exploration. By then, however, the Niger problem had been solved by 'armchair geographers' who had never even visited Africa. Majestic River celebrates Mungo Park's achievements and illuminates his rich afterlife – how and why he was commemorated long after his death. It is also the thrilling story of the many expeditions that sought to determine the Niger's course and the facts of Park's disappearance, as well as a biography of the Niger itself as the river slowly took shape in the European imagination.


The Brontës and War

The Brontës and War

Author: Emma Butcher

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2019-12-03

Total Pages: 221

ISBN-13: 3319956361

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This book explores the representations of militarisim and masculinity in Charlotte and Branwell Brontë’s youthful writings. It offers insight into how the siblings understood and reimagined conflict (both local and overseas) and its emotional legacies whilst growing up in early-nineteenth-century Britain. Their writings shed new light on a period little discussed by social and military historians, providing not only a new approach to Brontë Studies, but also acting as a familial case study for how the media captivated and enticed the public imagination.


The Asante World

The Asante World

Author: Edmund Abaka

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-05-30

Total Pages: 429

ISBN-13: 1351184059

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The Asante World provides fresh perspectives on the Asante, the largest Akan group in Southern Ghana, and what new scholars are thinking and writing about the "world the Asante made." By employing a thematic approach, the volume interrogates several dimensions of Asante history including state formation, Asante-Ahafo and Bassari-Dagomba relations in the context of Asante northward expansion, and the expansion to the south. It examines the role of Islam which, although extremely intense for just a short time, had important ramifications. Together the essays excavate key aspects of Asante political economy and culture, exemplified in kola nut production, the kente/adinkra cloth types and their associated symbols, proverbs, and drum language. The Asante World explores the Asante origins of Jamaican maroons, Asante secular government, contemporary politics of progress, governance through the institution of Ahemaa or Queenmothers, epidemiology and disease, and education in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Featuring innovative and insightful contributions from leading historians of the Asante world, this volume is essential reading for advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, and scholars concerned with African Studies, African diaspora history, the history of Ghana and the Gold Coast, the history of Islam in Africa, and Asante history.


Queen Victoria's Wars

Queen Victoria's Wars

Author: Stephen M. Miller

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2021-06-17

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 1108803490

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This is a new history of Britain's imperial wars during the nineteenth century. Including chapters on wars fought in the hills, on the veldt, in the dense forests, and along the coast, it discusses wars waged in China, Burma, Afghanistan, and India/Pakistan; New Zealand; and, West, East, and South Africa. Leading military historians from around the world situate the individual conflict in the larger context of British domestic history and British foreign policy/grand strategy and examine the background of the conflict, the war aims, the outbreak of the war, the forces and technology employed, a narrative of the war, details about one specific battle, and the aftermath of the war. Beginning with the Indian Rebellion and ending with the South African War, it enables readers to see the global impact of British imperialism, the function of the army in the service of British political goals, and the evolution of military technology.


Africa and the World

Africa and the World

Author: Lewis H. Gann

Publisher: University Press of America

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 548

ISBN-13: 9780761815204

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First published in 1972, Africa and the World places the African past within the wider context of world events, while providing a wealth of geographical and ethnographic information about the continent. The book specifically focuses on the pre-colonial and early colonial history of sub-Saharan Africa. Designed for those interested in the impact of Europe on the non-Western world, the volume provides an account of the major economic and social factors that have shaped African history. Information from studies in anthropology, archaeology, history, and art are included as well. Africa and the World is an essential and accessible resource for those interested in world history or African studies.