North Africa
Subtitle: a history from antiquity to the present
By: Phillip C. Naylor.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Published: 2009
Place of publication: Austin
Language: eng
Number of pages: 355
ISBN-13: 9780292719224
Subjects: Africa, North -- History
Description: North Africa has been a vital crossroads throughout history, serving as a connection between Africa, Asia, and Europe. Paradoxically, however, the region's historical significance has been chronically underestimated. In a book that may lead scholars to reimagine the concept of Western civilization, incorporating the role North African peoples played in shaping "the West," the author describes a locale whose transcultural heritage serves as a crucial hinge, politically, economically, and socially. The book begins with an acknowledgment that defining this area has presented challenges throughout history. It encompasses the Paleolithic period and early Egyptian cultures, leading readers through the pharonic dynasties, the conflicts with Rome and Carthage, the rise of Islam, the growth of the Ottoman Empire, European incursions, and the postcolonial prospects for Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Western Sahara. It emphasizes the importance of encounters and interactions among civilizations.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Ancient North Africa and its expansive civilizations; title: Rome and North Africa; title: Medieval North Africa; title: The Almoravid and the Almohad empires and their successor states; title: Turkish ascendance and Moroccan independence; title: European colonialism in North Africa; title: The decolonization of North Africa; title: Post-colonial and contemporary North Africa; title: Post-colonial and contemporary North Africa.