Book Review: African Kingdoms: An Encyclopedia of Empires and Civilizations

Abstract

African Kingdoms: An Encyclopedia of Empires and Civilizations succeeds in filling a gap in the literature by providing a centralized, concise, and accessible overview of ninety-one African kingdoms before the 1880s, focusing on how “states, kingdoms, and empires in precolonial Africa provide a clear window into the sophistication of African political, social, religious, and cultural institutions before the era of colonialism” (xi).