Volume 5 provides an account and interpretation of the historical development of the region from around 1930 to the end of the twentieth century. Its wide ranging study of the economic, political, religious, social and cultural history of this period brings the series to the authorial present. Highlights include the 'turbulent thirties;' decolonization; the 'turn to the left' made in the 1970s by anglophone Caribbean countries; the Castro Revolution; and changes in social and demographic structures, including ethnicity and race consciousness and the role and status of women.

The result of years of work by scholars from all over the world, The UNESCO General History of Africa reflects how the different peoples of Africa view their civilizations and shows the historical relationships between the various parts of the continent. Historical connections with other continents demonstrate Africa's contribution to the development of human civilization. Each volume is lavishly illustrated and contains a comprehensive bibliography. This fifth volume of the acclaimed series covers the history of the continent from the beginning of the sixteenth century to the close of the eighteenth century in which two themes emerge: first, the continuing internal evolution of the states and cultures of Africa during this period second, the increasing involvement of Africa in external trade--with major but unforeseen consequences for the whole world. In North Africa, we see the Ottomans conquer Egypt. South of the Sahara, some of the larger, older states collapse, and new power bases emerge. Traditional religions continue to coexist with both Christianity (suffering setbacks) and Islam (in the ascendancy). Along the coast, particularly of West Africa, Europeans establish a trading network which, with the development of New World plantation agriculture, becomes the focus of the international slave trade. The immediate consequences of this trade for Africa are explored, and it is argued that the long-term global consequences include the foundation of the present world-economy with all its built-in inequalities.

Volume6 looks at the ways historians have written the history of the region depending upon their methods of interpretation and differing styles of communicating their findings. The authors examine how the lingual diversity of the region has affected the historian's ability to coalesce an historical account. The second half of the volume describes the writing of history in the individual territories, taking into account changes in society, economy and political structure. This volume concludes with a detailed bibliography that is comprehensive of the entire series.

This volume (the first one published) begins with an overview of the slave trade. African slavers and the demography of the Caribbean up to 1750. Scholars go on to study the demographic and social structure of the Caribbean slave societies in the 18 and 19 centuries, their evolution and significance, the social and political control in the slave society and forms of resistance and religious beliefs, as well as Maroon communities in the circum-Caribbean. The phenomenon of pluralism and creolization is analysed. The volume closes with a study of the distintegration of the Caribbean slave systems.

"This volume covers the period from the end of the Neolithic era to the beginning of the seventh century of our era. This lengthy period includes the civilization of Ancient Egypt, the history of Nubia, Ethiopia, North Africa and the Sahara, as well as of the other regions of the continent and its islands."--Publisher's description

"The book first places Africa in the context of world history at the opening of the seventh century, before examining the general impact of Islamic penetration, the continuing expansion of the Bantu-speaking peoples, and the growth of civilizations in the Sudanic zones of West Africa"--Back cover.

An academic study of the history of the Caribbean.

Volume 3 looks at various aspects of slave societies in the region from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. Throughout the tortuous history of the Caribbean, nothing exceeded in fundamental importance the twin experiences of slavery and the plantation system, the defining episodes of Caribbean social reality. Topics addressed include: European 'settler colonies,' the sugar revolutions, forms of resistance, the influence of creolization and religious beliefs, and the place of the Maroon communities. Knight also examines the internal and external forces that led to the eventual collapse of the Caribbean slave system.