Born in Blackness Africa, Africans, and the Making of the Modern World, 1471 to the Second World War

Howard French, normally a journalist, but with many ties to the black diaspora around the world, sets out to do something near impossible: to detail the history of how Africa and its people shaped Western history. From the outset of the immensely rich gold-trading nations in Ghana who first awoke interest in Africa by late medieval Europe, French traces the history of "discovery", trade, cultural hybridization, conquest, enslavement, and eventual emancipation. Special care is given to the material motivations and the economic importance of black people to European and later American civilizations, creating a firm link between the evolution of Western capitalism and the increasing exploitation of Africa and it's descendants. Whether you are just starting out your journey into subjects like colonial history or are already adept in one area of black history yet lacking in another, this will give you starting points and link history in new ways you may have not previously considered.