The textbook provides an in-depth overview of African history and politics from the Atlantic
slave trade through the phases of colonialism and decolonization to the development problems
of the present. Various development theories are used to explain successful and failed
development paths of individual countries after 1960. Thematic foci include Europe's colonial
legacy state formation and state failure democratization the curse of raw materials
population growth hunger and poverty ethnic conflicts and the roles of the World Bank EU
and China as external actors in Africa.
