A comprehensive introduction to the sprawling history of this enormous continent, from the dawn of human time in prehistoric Africa right through to Arab SpringBeginning with the origins of the human race and the development of stone age technology, this history of the cradle of civilization moves through ancient and medieval times, the significance of the Arab presence, the Muslim states, and the trans-Saharan trade. It continues with the rise and fall of nation states and kingdoms prior to the arrival of Europeans, Ghana, the Kingdoms of the Forest a