Born in Blackness : Africa, Africans, and the making of the modern world, 1471 to the Second World War / Howard W. French.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

French, Howard W., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Slave trade--Africa, West--History.

Slave trade.

Relations.

History.

African diaspora.

West Africa.

African diaspora--History.

History, Modern.

Africa--Relations--Europe--History.

Africa.

Europe--Relations--Africa--History.

Europe.

Africa--History.

International relations.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

499 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, N.Y. : Liveright Publishing Corporation, [2021]

Summary:

"Revealing the central yet intentionally obliterated role of Africa in the creation of modernity, Born in Blackness vitally reframes our understanding of world history. In a sweeping narrative that traverses 600 years, one that eloquently weaves precise historical detail with poignant personal reportage, Pulitzer Prize finalist Howard W. French retells the story of medieval and emerging Africa, demonstrating how the economic ascendancy of Europe, the anchoring of democracy in America, and the fulfillment of so-called Enlightenment ideals all grew out of Europe's dehumanizing engagement with the "darkest" continent. Born in Blackness dramatically retrieves the lives of major African historical figures whose stories have been repeatedly etiolated and erased over centuries, from unimaginably rich medieval African emperors who traded with Asia; to Kongo sovereigns who heroically battled seventeenth-century European powers; to ex-slaves who liberated Haitians from bondage. In doing so, French tells the story of gold, tobacco, sugar, and cotton-and the greatest "commodity" of all, the millions of people brought in chains from Africa to the New World, whose reclaimed histories fundamentally help explain our present world"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: pt. I THE "DISCOVERY" OF AFRICA

1. The Crackling Surface

2. Black King, Golden Scepter

3. Rethinking Exploration

4. Enter the Aviz

5. Islands in the Offing

6. The African Main

pt. II THE ESSENTIAL PIVOT

7. The Mine

8. Asia Suspended

9. Wealth in People Versus Wealth in Things

10. Circuits Old and New

11. Unto the End of the World

12. Pathways of Resistance

13. Becoming Creole

pt. III THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICANS

14. For a Few Acres of Snow

15. Fighting for Africans

16. Endless Death in Lands with No End

17. The Perpetual Oven

18. The Cockpit of Europe

19. Dung for Every Hole

20. Capitalism's Big Jolt

21. Masters of Slaves, Masters of the Sea

pt. IV THE WAGES OF THE PYTHON GOD

22. Shatter Zones

23. Negros Seguros

24. The Slave Rush

25. Bargains Sharp and Sinful

26. The Spread of the West African Slave Trade

27. The Wages of Resistance

28. Seized by the Spirit

29. Dark Hearts

30. War for the Black Atlantic

31. People Scattered, a Continent Drained

pt. V THE BLACK ATLANTIC AND A WORLD MADE NEW

32. The Scent of Freedom

33. The Black Jacobins

34. Gilded Negroes

35. Blues and the American Truth

36. The Gifts of Black Folk

37. How the West Was Made and "Won"

38. Toward a New Vision of Our Origins.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 433-483) and index.

Hurston/Wright Legacy Award - Nonfiction, Winner, 2022

ISBN:

9781631495823

1631495828

OCLC:

1255524279