Includes index.

Contents: Section I: The Sudanese states and empires: A portrait of Ancient Ghana -- Islam and the fall of Ghana -- The Rise of Mali -- Mansa Musa of Mali -- The Reign of Sunni Ali of Songhai -- The Fall Of the Empire of Songhai -- The Hausa states and the Fulani Jihad -- Section II: The states and kingdoms of the forest and Guinea Coast: The States of the Volta basin The early Akan states -- The Early coastal states -- The rise of the Asante empire -- The decline of Asante -- The Kingdom of Dahomey -- The Culture and civilization of Oyo -- Oyo in the nineteenth century -- Section III: Europe and west Africa: The Coming of the Europeans -- The Atlantic Slave Trade -- The Era of Abolition and exploration -- The Humanitarians and the west coast -- The traders and the west coast -- The partition of Africa -- The colonial powers and west Africa -- The Rise of the present nation- states of west Africa for further reading.