Past works have reinforced misconceptions about Africa, from its oral traditions and languages to its resistance to colonial powers. Other books have treated African achievements as a parade of honorable mentions and novelties. This book is different-refreshingly different. It tells the stories behind the milestones and provides insights into how great Africans thought, and how they passed along what they learned. Provided by publisher.

Introduction -- Comparative Chronology -- Building Blocks -- Tall Tales and Confessions -- A Historian Meets a Khan -- An African Midas -- Church and State... of Mind -- African Antecedents -- Immortal Queens -- The Activist -- Two Economists and a Diplomat -- Words, Bards, and "Tribes" -- Masks -- Attitudes -- Tanks Versus Spears -- Success Stories -- The Worth of Words, the Value in Pictures -- The Shadow of Mau Mau and the Echoes of Algiers -- The Sphinx and the Minotaur -- Because Biko -- Cheetahs and Hippos, Oil and Trees -- Exiles and Expats -- Concluding Remarks.