This essay is drawn from eight lectures that I presented in Southern and Eastern Africa during the past two decades. In each talk, I deal with political, economic, and cultural dimensions of African history.
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I begin with South Africa (written in 2008). I first discuss the settlement of South Africa, the pattern of Afrikaner 19th-century expansion, and British colonization. Then I seek to explain the causes and overthrow of Apartheid and how its legacies constrain South Africa. I next turn to Namibia (2003), looking at how southwestern Africa was settled, the impact of German and South African colonization, and the challenges facing independent Namibia. I move on to Madagascar (2012) and investigate the Malagasy settlement of that unique island, the rise and fall of the Merina Empire, the legacies of French colonial rule, and the political cycles and economic decline in independent Madagascar. Next I examine the explorations of David Livingstone and Henry M. Stanley (2008) and the consequences of British conquests in southern and eastern Africa (2008). I wind up with an analysis of political and economic development in independent Tanzania (2015). I append a time line, a bibliography, and a description of sites that I visited in Southern and Eastern Africa.
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The Seychelles, Chobe National Park, Botswana, Mauritius, Dzanga-Sangha Park, Central African Republic, gorillas, Antananarivo and Anjajavy, Madagascar
, Ste. Gilles-les-Bains, Réunion, Cape Town and Kruger Park, South Africa, Maputo, Mozambique, Zanzibar, Tanzania, Gabon, Central African Republic, Namibia, and South Africa, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, South Luangwa National Park, Zambia, Gombe Chimpanzee Preserve, Tanzania, Virunga National Park, Rwanda, Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, Okavango Delta and Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana, Mala Mala, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, Ngorongoro Conservation, Tarangire National Park, Arusha National Park,