An African History of Africa: From the Dawn of Humanity to Independence by Zeinab Badawi
Publication: January 14th, 2025
For too long, Africa’s history has been dominated by western narratives of slavery and colonialism, or simply ignored. Now, Zeinab Badawi sets the record straight.
In this fascinating book, Badawi guides us through Africa’s spectacular history—from the very origins of our species, through ancient civilizations and medieval empires with remarkable queens and kings, to the miseries of conquest and the elation of independence. Visiting more than thirty African countries to interview countless historians, anthropologists, archaeologists and local storytellers, she unearths buried histories from across the continent and gives Africa its rightful place in our global story.
The result is a gripping new account of Africa: an epic, sweeping history of the oldest inhabited continent on the planet, told through the voices of Africans themselves."
What I liked: I really loved what this book was trying to accomplish--a true history of Africa encompassing a wide swath of its history told from local African scholars and those from the regions she discusses, rather than yet another history of Africa told by outsiders. I really appreciated this goal and I think Badawi made an honest effort to achieve this. Because of the expansiveness of this topic, I think this book works wonderfully as a sort of general overall survey of African history that provides many opportunities for interested readers to pick areas of interest to dive into deeper on their own, or with Badawi's sources (I know I myself found many areas of interest that I wanted to start researching more about on my own). I also think Badawi is an excellent writer and managed to tell so much history in an engaging and accessible manner, and I think many readers will be able to learn a lot from this book.
What I didn't: I didn't have too many negatives for this book. Due to the sheer breadth and scope of the book, I found some areas to be slightly shallower than I would've liked, and with some details sacrificed, but I hesitate to really call this a criticism given what the book was trying to accomplish. I did find some of the jumps in narrative or time periods a bit abrupt at times, and or simple cut shorter or extending longer than I anticipated in areas that felt a bit more jarring to the narrative. Additionally, as accessible as I found Badawi's writing, I also found it slightly lacking in any sort of strong voice. Now, this is perhaps a debatable opinion, but I tend to appreciate when historians insert more commentary on what they are writing about, and I felt that Badawi's journalistic background may have made this feel more 'to-the-point' with the information and relaying of accounts, rather than one that really dives into more of the complexities of various topics. That being said, it is, again, a large scope of a book, so perhaps this is not the right avenue for such deep discussion, though I would certainly appreciate it.
Publication: May 27th, 2003
The company also sent along a new employee to guard its treasure. He was Jeronimus Corneliszoon, a disgraced and bankrupt man with great charisma and dangerously heretical ideas. With the help of a few disgruntled sailors, he hatched a plot to seize the ship and her riches. The mutiny might have succeeded, but in the dark morning hours of June 3, 1629, the Batavia smashed through a coral reef and ran aground on a small chain of islands near Australia. The captain and skipper escaped the wreck, and in a tiny lifeboat they set sail for Java—some 1,500 miles north—to summon help. More than 250 frightened survivors waded ashore, thankful to be alive. Unfortunately, Jeronimus and the mutineers had survived too, and the nightmare was only beginning."
What I liked: Batavia's Graveyard is meticulously researched and provides a vivid portrayal of everything that happened on board the Batavia, as well as everything that happened after she wrecked as well. Mike Dash does a great job of really weaving in the psychological elements at play, both with how people reacted to both conditions on the ship and once shipwrecked, with plenty of background and context for the time period, as well as extensive dives into the history of various figures who were a part of this event (and plenty of description of how truly deplorable conditions were on the ship, and let me just I cannot express how grateful I am that I don't have to experience it). There are also a lot of horrors to share, and I have to applaud Dash's thoroughness in relaying every last brutal deed in ways that felt both factual and encompassing of the horrors of what was happening--though at times it ended up feeling like lists of those who were murdered, which perhaps relays how it felt to those there as well. This is easily a very memorable read.
What I didn't: While I find Dash's extensive research and history to generally be a strength, I do want to note that some areas felt a little too dense and tangential and really slowed down the pace for me. At a certain point in the beginning, I found myself slogging my way through just to get to the beginning of the ship's actual journey, and it felt like a long slog. I've read a number of shipwreck and survival nonfiction stories, and I have to say that I expected this one to grip me more than it did. In fact, I found myself not feeling as compelled by this story as I have others, and I do think it was something to with Dash's denser writing that somehow took away from what was happening. Lastly, I know this book isn't necessarily centered around the women who happened to be onboard the ship, but I found myself frustrated with how the author talked about the women in this book at almost every turn. For instance, he described the "women kept for common service" on island--and I'm sorry, are we talking about the the women who were raped and kept as sex slaves? There was also barely anything about their experiences, as well as rather egregiously comparing their suffering to the men and implying that since they weren't in fear of being murdered imminently, somehow being a sex slave was much better. Perhaps I'm reacting too strongly to this aspect, but it definitely struck and kept making me wonder if I was missing something.
