Study by subject
The library, cut a different way.
The ten books tell Africa's story in order. Themes cut across them — so you can follow science, or women's leadership, or climate, from the deep past to next decade.
Where our species began and how we know.
The First Humans
Africa is not part of the human story. Africa is where it starts.
270,000 – 40,000 years agoOut of Africa — and Back Again
The migrations that populated the planet, and the ones that returned.
c. 590 BCE – 350 CEMeroë
An industrial city of the ancient Nile.
c. 1500 BCE – 500 CEThe Nok Culture
Terracotta heads from a society we are still learning to read.
c. 250 BCE – 1400 CEJenné-jeno
A city that grew without a king.
Present scienceAfrican Genetic Diversity
What DNA can tell you — and what it cannot.
25 million years ago – presentThe Great Rift Valley
The trench that preserved the human record.
c. 335,000 – 236,000 years agoHomo naledi
A small-brained relative who may have buried its dead.
c. 100,000 – 70,000 years agoBlombos Cave
The oldest known drawing, and jewellery 75,000 years old.
c. 30,000 years ago – 20th centuryAfrican Rock Art
The continent's oldest and largest picture archive.
c. 3000 BCE – 1000 CEThe Bantu Expansion
The migration that shaped half a continent.
Deep past – presentKhoe and San Peoples
Among the deepest human lineages alive.