Africa's Discovery Of Europe, 1450-1850 - 2nd edition

Summary: Brilliantly written and thoroughly engaging, the new edition of this groundbreaking book examines the full range of African-European encounters from an unfamiliar African perspective rather than from the customary European one. Updated to include new research, maps, and illustrations, Africa's Discovery of Europe, 1450-1850, Second Edition, concludes with an expanded epilogue that extends the themes of African-European commercial and cultural interaction to the present day. By featur ...show moreing vivid life stories of individual Africans and drawing upon their many recorded sentiments, David Northrup presents African perspectives that persuasively challenge stereotypes about African-European relations as they unfolded in Africa, Europe, and the Atlantic world between 1450 and 1850. Acclaimed by students in classroom settings ranging from secondary schools to graduate colloquia, the text features thematically organized chapters that explore first impressions, religion and politics, commerce and culture, imported goods and technology, the Middle Passage, and Africans in Europe. In addition, Northrup offers a thoughtful examination of Africans' relations--intellectual, commercial, cultural, and sexual--with Europeans, tracing how the patterns of behavior that emerged from these encounters shaped pre-colonial Africa. The book concludes with an examination of the roles of race, class, and culture in early modern times, pointing out which themes in Africa's continuing discovery of Europe after 1850 were similar to earlier patterns, and why other themes were different. Brief, inexpensive, and accessible, the second edition of Africa's Discovery of Europe offers an insightful look at the tumultuous and enduring relations between these two continents. ...show less

Edition/Copyright: 2ND 08
Cover: Paperback
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 07/29/2008

View Table of Contents

Lists of Maps and Illustrations Preface
Chapter One: First Sights--Lasting Impressions Elite Africans in Europe to 1650 Enslaved Africans in Europe Discovering Europeans in Africa Southeast Africa, 1589-1635 Kongo Cosmology
Chapter Two: Politics and Religion The Meanings of Religious Conversion Benin and Warri The Kingdom of Kongo Swahili and Mutapa Ethiopia Conclusion
Chapter Three: Commerce and Culture African Trading Strategies The Eighteenth Century Language, Trade, and Culture Sexual Encounters Conclusion
Chapter Four: Atlantic Imports and Technology Evaluating Inland Trade Textiles and Metals Tobacco and Distilled Spirits Guns and Politics Economic and Social Consequences
Chapter Five: Africans in Europe, 1650-1850 African Delegates and Students Servants High and Low in Continental Europe Anglo-Africans Scholars and Churchmen Conclusion
Chapter Six: Passages in Slavery Capture in Africa The Middle Passage New Identities Creolization Africanization Conclusion Epilogue: Trends after 1850

Index