The Fortunes of Africa
A 5000-Year History of Wealth, Greed, and Endeavor
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The Fortunes of Africa
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Narrated by:
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Kevin Stillwell
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Written by:
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Martin Meredith
About this listen
A sweeping history of the fortune seekers, adventurers, despots, and thieves who have ruthlessly endeavored to extract gold, diamonds, and other treasures from Africa and its people.
Africa has been coveted for its rich natural resources ever since the era of the pharaohs. In past centuries, it was the lure of gold, ivory, and slaves that drew merchant-adventurers and conquerors from afar. In modern times, the focus of attention is on oil, diamonds, and other rare earth minerals.
In this vast and vivid panorama of history, Martin Meredith follows the fortunes of Africa over a period of 5,000 years. With compelling narrative, he traces the rise and fall of ancient kingdoms and empires; the spread of Christianity and Islam; the enduring quest for gold and other riches; the exploits of explorers and missionaries; and the impact of European colonization. He examines, too, the fate of modern African states and concludes with a glimpse of their future.
His cast of characters includes religious leaders, mining magnates, warlords, dictators, and many other legendary figures - among them Mansa Musa, ruler of the medieval Mali empire, said to be the richest man the world has ever known.
©2014 Martin Meredith (P)2019 Hachette AudioWhat the critics say
"Mr. Meredith artfully weaves together exploration, trade, and geography in a narrative that is both detailed and arresting.... [He] leaves the reader bursting with a wealth of facts."—The Economist
"Even the longtime specialist is likely to learn lots of things because of the extraordinary amount of ground the author covers."—Howard French, Wall Street Journal
"This is the new standard against which future histories will be considered."—Publishers Weekly, starred review
What listeners say about The Fortunes of Africa
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Von Nyala
- 2022-09-13
Well Researched
An outstanding product. Very detailed and interesting. Good read that I would recommend any day.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Derwyn
- 2020-11-17
Very eye opening.
Man this book is a roller coaster of feelings. Anger, sadness stints of hope. Read/listen with open mind.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Robert Hoskins
- 2023-05-20
Fascinating account of the rape of a continent
The terrible truth of greed and corruption and how it could and did devastate a simple people
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- FIDELIS ODOGBO
- 2021-08-19
A must Read for Every True African
It was indeed an enjoyable listening. The narrator was actually the best I have heard since using audible for reading audio books. The story about Africa was well told. I'm from Nigeria and I'm surprised at the research put into this book about Nigeria history and it's glories, greed, ineptitude and poor leadership exhibited by the nationalists and military rulers.
Thank you for taking the time to produce this excellent work of telling the true Africa history. It is exhaustive, indepth, elaborate and incisive. This book should be in the libraries of every African nation. Great work!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Teedo
- 2023-09-04
Great for someone who knows nothing about Africa
Gives me a way better idea of what happened in Africa and why the map is cut the way it is today.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 2022-03-26
Awesome book
Really enjoyed this one, great fairly comprehensive overview where almost every country got some time spent on their history through the ages, I wish there was more time spent on deeper dives on a few subjects, but the baseline was there.
Narration was very good, clear and reasonably engaging ✔️
Would recommend if you have an interest in African history and in particular the colonial aspect of it.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 2022-06-30
Incomplete
Very well researched work and educational in most areas of African history. The analyses herein are generally objective and the author does not seem to spare any punches where they're deserved. My main gripe with this work, especially in relation to the 20th and 21st centuries, is the almost lazy assertion that the insatiable greed of African leaders is primarily to blame for African demise, without seriously attempting to address the effects of neo-colonialism and the myriad effects of divisive administrative tactics employed by colonial masters that have proved hard to delete in the modern epoch. Tribalism, nepotism, incessant civil wars and even genocides can be traced to divide-and-rule policies. Besides, who provides all the weapons used to perpetuate strife in Africa? I don't know of many arms manufacturers on the continent. Contemporary Western governments are portrayed as benevolent yet they are also complicit in buoying corrupt African leaders as long as their interests are secure, resorting to moralizing when relationships sour. Some of the language exhibits a prejudicial disdain for African players (who are obviously not angels) and an apologist's air in relation to the role of non-Africans, especially the West and East (Russia and China mainly), in African problems.
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