Routledge Studies in the Modern History of Africa
About the Book Series
This series includes in-depth research on aspects of economic, political, cultural and social history of individual countries as well as broad-reaching analyses of regional issues.
Themes include social and economic change, colonial experiences, independence movements, post-independence governments, globalization in Africa, nationalism, gender histories, conflict, the Atlantic Slave trade, the environment, health and medicine, ethnicity, urbanisation, and neo-colonialism and aid.
If you are interested in submitting a proposal, please contact Routledge African Studies editor Helena Hurd, [email protected]
Constructive Resistance in Somali History: The Wind Before the Rain
1st Edition
By Ebba Tellander
October 21, 2025
In the 1980s, the arrests of a group of teachers, doctors, and other professionals triggered a wave of protests—the first open resistance against Siad Barre’s regime in northern Somalia—helping to pave the way for Somaliland’s self-declaration in 1991. This book provides an extensive analysis of ...
Yoruba Names: Language, Culture, and History
1st Edition
By Taiwo Ehineni
May 09, 2025
This book focuses on the naming tradition among the Yoruba, one of Africa’s largest ethnic groups, consisting of over 40 million people. Investigating the sociocultural significance of names in Yoruba society, the book shows how names act as distinctive markers, separating the Yoruba out from over ...
Remembering Colonialism in Zimbabwe
1st Edition
Edited
By Ivan Marowa, Ushehwedu Kufakurinani
May 06, 2025
This book examines the various ways in which colonialism in Zimbabwe is remembered, looking both at how people analyse, perceive, and interpret the past, and how they rewrite that past, elevating some players and their historical agency. Inspired by the ongoing movement on decoloniality, this book ...
Reconsidering the History of South African Journalism: The Ghost of the Slave Press
1st Edition
By Gawie Botma
March 21, 2025
The concept of the “free press” is often celebrated as the vehicle which finally brought freedom of speech and democracy to post-apartheid South Africa, but historically, the position of the press was more complicated. This book dives into the history of slavery at the Cape between 1800 and 1838, ...
A History of Rwanda: From the Monarchy to Post-genocidal Justice
1st Edition
By Klaus Bachmann
November 29, 2024
A History of Rwanda: From the Monarchy to Post-genocidal Justice provides a complete history of Rwanda, from the precolonial abanyiginya kingdom, through the German and Belgian colonial periods and subsequent independence, and then the devastating 1994 genocide and reconstruction, right up to the ...
Xenophobia and Nativism in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean
1st Edition
Edited
By Sabella O. Abidde, Michael R. Hall, José de Arimatéia da Cruz
November 28, 2024
This book historicises and analyses the increasing incidence of xenophobia and nativism in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. It examines how xenophobia and nativism impact the political cohesion and social fabric of states and societies in the regions and offers solutions to aid policy ...
Photographing the Liberation Struggle in Zimbabwe: Politics, Power, and the Images of Zenzo Nkobi
1st Edition
By Lungile Augustine Tshuma
September 27, 2024
After assuming power in 1980, the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) has sought to control the narrative of the struggle for liberation from colonialism, to the exclusion of other players such as the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU). This book investigates the ways in which photographs ...
Commercial Banking in Kenya: A History from Colonisation to Digital Age
1st Edition
By Christian Velasco
August 05, 2024
This book investigates the impact of commercial banks in Kenya right through from their origins, to their role during the colonial period, the process of adaptation following independence, and up to their responses to new challenges and economic policies in the twenty-first century. The British ...
Anti-Colonial Resistance in South Africa and Israel/Palestine: Identity, Nationalism, and Race
1st Edition
By Ran Greenstein
May 27, 2024
This book provides a comparative historical study of the rise and evolution of anti-colonial movements in South Africa and Israel/Palestine. It focuses on the ways in which major political movements and activists conceptualised their positions vis-a-vis historical processes of colonial settlement ...
The Belgian Congo as a Developmental State: Revisiting Colonialism
1st Edition
By Emizet François Kisangani
May 27, 2024
This book challenges assumptions that poor post-colonial economic performance is always a direct product of colonialism by reconsidering the Belgian Congo (1908–1959) as a developmental state. The book demonstrates that despite the colonial system’s economic exploitation and extraction, brutality, ...
Reconsidering Colonial Heritage in West African Cities: Urban Space in Cape Verde, Senegal and The Gambia
1st Edition
By Krzysztof Górny
December 12, 2023
The material heritage of the colonial era is built into Africa’s cities, from their urban layouts, to their architecture, monuments and street names. This book discusses the varying responses to colonial heritage in West African cities, with a particular focus on the case studies of Praia in Cape ...
Colonialism, Ethnicity and War in Angola
1st Edition
By Vasco Martins
January 09, 2023
Making a fresh contribution to our understanding of the history of Angola, this book explores the impact of social, political and economic change upon the largest ethnic group of the country, the Ovimbundu. Based on extensive fieldwork conducted in Angola, including oral testimonies and life ...