"Deeply penetrating, intensely thought-provoking and thoroughly informed . . . one of the most important general
surveys of Africa that has been produced in the last decade."
--The Washington Post
"Breathtaking in its scope and detail."
--San Francisco Chronicle
Publisher web site, October, 2001
Summary
In 1978, paleontologists in East Africa discovered the earliest evidence of our divergence from the apes: three
pre-human footprints, striding away from a volcano, were preserved in the petrified surface of a mudpan over three
million years ago. Out of Africa, the world's most ancient and stable landmass, Homo sapiens dispersed across the
globe. And yet the continent that gave birth to human history has long been woefully misunderstood and mistreated
by the rest of the world.
In a book as splendid in its wealth of information as it is breathtaking in scope, British writer and photojournalist
John Reader brings to light Africa's geology and evolution, the majestic array of its landforms and environments,
the rich diversity of its peoples and their ways of life, the devastating legacies of slavery and colonialism as
well as recent political troubles and triumphs. Written in simple, elegant prose and illustrated with Reader's
own photographs, Africa: A Biography of the Continent is an unforgettable book that will delight the general reader
and expert alike.
