Amazon.com description: Product Description: Providing an interdisciplinary introduction to Africa, this text covers Africa's physical attributes, history, social structure and culture. It considers the diversity and convergence of African people in the cultural and linguistic patterns and describes the main traditional cultural forms and institutions found in Africa. African history is interpreted in terms of state building, alliance formation and the rise and decline of various kingdoms. Coverage extends from the African resistance to colonial rule to how they have faired since Africans inherited or recovered political power.