Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1705515 in Books
• Published on: 1973-02-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 300 pages

Customer Reviews

detailed study of 2 significant West African kingdoms
During the centuries between 8AD and 16AD, the history of the West African sub-region was dominated by three successive empires- Ghana, Mali and Songhay. In this work, Levtzion examines the political history and the key social features of the first of these two empires. The book is divided into two parts. The first examines the rise of the Soninke kingdom of Ghana and its subsequent fall, the resulting political vacuum that was then filled by the rise of Mali. Part one ends with an account of the political decline of Mali. In part two, Levtzion examines such factors as the economic basis of government in these kingdoms, participation in the saharan trade, the impact of islam, the nature of the towns and the different peoples that were present in these kingdoms. The account in part two paints a vivid picture of life in these kingdoms. I enjoyed this book because it satisfied a need I had to visualize what life was like in pre-colonial West Africa. Other books that have also proved helpful in this regard are "Medieval West Africa" (by the same author) and Ibn Battuta in Black Africa (Said Hamdun and Noel King).