Includes bibliographical references (pages [343]-358) and index

Introduction: understanding the contours of Africa's past -- Western transitions: slave trade and "legitimate" commerce in Atlantic Africa -- Eastern intrusions: slaves and ivory in eastern Africa -- Southern frontiers: colony and revolution in southern Africa -- Revival and reaction: north African Islams -- Jihad: revolutions in western Africa -- The eastern crescent: the Islamic frontier in eastern Africa -- The lonely cross: missionary frontiers -- The wandering white man: Africa explored -- "Whatever happens": towards the scramble -- African adapting: conquest and partition -- Empires of soil and service -- Bush wars and distant shadows: Africa in global war (1) -- "Pax colonia"? Notions of progress, manifestation of change -- Hard times: protest, identity, and depression -- Other people's battles (again): Africa in global war (2) -- The beached whale: colonial strategies in the postwar world -- Conceiving and producing nations -- Compromising conflict: routes to independence -- Crowded house: friends, foes, and ideologies in the Cold War -- Unsafe foundations: challenges of independence -- Rectification, redemption and reality: contemporary Africa