Kings and Queens of East Africa (Watts Library)
Brand: Brand: Franklin Watts
Categories: Books, Children's Books, Geography & Cultures


Used Book in Good Condition

Grade level: 3 - 6
Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.5 x 9.75 inches
Reading age: 8 - 12 years
ISBN-13: 978-0531203736
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0531203735
Publisher: Franklin Watts
Print length: 63 pages
Publication date: January 1, 2000
subtitle: Library Binding – January 1, 2000
author: Visit Amazon's Sylviane A. Diouf Page search results Sylviane A. Diouf
review: Editorial Reviews From Booklist Reviewed with Sylviane Anna Diouf's Kings and Queens of Southern Africa. Gr. 4-7. These volumes in a new Watts Library: Africa--Kings and Queens series offer a brief introduction to a few of the major figures in the continent's royal history. In addition to biographical information about each figure, the straightforward, readable text includes boxed insets that add a few very brief facts about colonial rule; apartheid is mentioned in a few paragraphs. Although slim and generalized, the volumes have enough information for report writing. They are enhanced by archival artwork and contemporary photos, with pictures of modern metropolises offering an unromanticized glimpse of the way Africans live today. A glossary and a list of resources conclude, though the organizations and online sites seem geared more to teachers than students. A welcome offering to complement African history units. Gillian Engberg Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved From the Publisher From ancient times, great kingdoms have flourished in East Africa - a region of great variety in its peoples and cultures. Portraits of some of the regions's most significant rulers provide a fascinating look into history. About the Author Sylviane Anna Diouf is the author of fiction and nonfiction books for adults and children and of numerous articles for international publications and scholarly journals and books. She specializes in the history of Africa and of people of African origin. Of Senegalese and French origin, Sylviane Diouf has lived in various African and European countries and in the United States. She is a university professor and lives in New York with her son. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Eastern Africa is characterized by great variety in peoples, cultures and religions. Bantu, Arabs from North Africa and the Middle East, Nilotic people, black Hebrews, Indonesians and others have lived here for centuries. This area is often called the cradle of mankind because the earliest evidence of human life have been found in its valleys. Great kingdoms have emerged here. The most ancient flourished in Nubia, in the Sudan, 5,000 years ago. Although the Sudan is often considered part of North Africa, geographically and historically, it belongs more closely to East Africa. Christian kingdoms prospered in the Sudan and Ethiopia 1,700 years ago, and Muslim kingdoms developed later. In Zimbabwe, the Great Zimbabwe culture of about 1000 to 1450 left a large, impressive city of stone. An Afro-Asian Kingdom Madagascar symbolizes the diversity of the region. This island's population is a mix of Africans from the continent and Indonesians who sailed to the "Big Island" centuries ago. By the sixteenth century,the ethnic groups that make up the Malagasy people were living in small kingdoms. Soon, Arabians, Portuguese, Dutch, British, and French began sending Malagasy slaves to the Middle East and the West Indies. In the early nineteenth century, the Merina kingdom had emerged as the most powerful state. Its queen, Ranavalona I, (c. 1788-1861), tried to modernize her country and open it to international trade while resisting the French and British who wanted control of the island. The Many Fights of the Azande The Azande, who entered southern Sudan in the eighteenth century, were warriors who subdued several populations and created a powerful state. When Yambio (c. 1835-1905) became its leader, the region was in turmoil. The Azande were preyed on by local peoples and foreigners including the Egyptians, Muslim revolutionaries, British, Belgians and French. The Azande kingdom of Sudan was short-lived. Still, its determined ruler, King Yambio, symbolizes the struggle of many African leaders and peoples to remain independent. Old and New Ethiopia Ethiopia has a long history of powerful empires, starting twenty-three centuries ago in Aksum. Later, Christian and Muslim kingdoms appeared. Their brilliant cultures left monuments and written testimonies of their accomplishments. In the nineteenth century, the kingdoms of Ethiopia united in a strong empire led by Theodoros II and his successor Yohannes IV. Menelik II (1844-1913), who assumed power in 1889, continued the policy of consolidation and lead a powerful empire. He and his wife, Empress Taytu (1840-1918), adopted those foreign elements they thought were useful, while protecting the traditions and independence of their land. Under Menelik II's leadership, Ethiopia remained a free country, escaping the colonization that plagued the rest of the continent. Read more