Africa's Development in Historical Perspective

This edited volume addresses the root causes of Africa's persistent poverty through an investigation of its longue durée history. It interrogates the African past through disease and demography, institutions and governance, African economies and the impact of the export slave trade, colonialism, Africa in the world economy, and culture's influence on accumulation and investment. Several of the chapters take a comparative perspective, placing Africa's developments aside other global patterns. The readership for this book spans from the informed lay reader with an interest in Africa, academics and undergraduate and graduate students, policy makers, and those in the development world.

Author: Emmanuel Akyeampong
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 08/11/2014
Pages: 539
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.55lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 1.30d
ISBN: 9781107691209

Review Citation(s):
Choice 01/01/2015 pg. 858

About the Author
Akyeampong, Emmanuel: - Emmanuel Akyeampong is a Professor of History and of Africa and African American Studies at Harvard University. He is the former editor of the Journal of African History and of African Diaspora and the author or editor of several books, including Drink, Power and Cultural Change: A Social History of Alcohol in Ghana (1996); Between the Sea and the Lagoon: An Eco-Social History of the Anglo of Southeastern Ghana (2001); Themes in West Africa's History (2006); and Dictionary of African Biography, 6 volumes (2013). Professor Akyeampong is an Editorial Advisory Board Member of Economic History of Developing Regions, the International Journal of African Historical Studies, the Journal of African History, and Social History of Medicine.Bates, Robert H.: - Robert H. Bates is Eaton Professor of the Science of Government at Harvard University. His research focuses on the political economy of development, particularly in Africa, and on violence and state failure. Professor Bates has conducted field work in Zambia, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Colombia, and Brazil. He currently serves as a researcher and resource person with the Africa Economic Research Consortium, Nairobi, and as a member of the Political Instability Task Force of the United States government. Among his most recent books are Analytic Narratives with Avner Greif, Margaret Levi, Jean-Laurent Rosenthal, and Barry Weingast (1998); When Things Fell Apart (Cambridge University Press, 2008); and Prosperity and Violence (2009).Nunn, Nathan: - Nathan Nunn is a Professor of Economics at Harvard University. His primary research interests are in economic history, economic development, political economy, and international trade. He is an NBER Faculty Research Fellow, a Research Fellow at BREAD, and a Faculty Associate at Harvard's Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. He is also currently co-editor of the Journal of Development Economics.