A History of West Central Africa to 1850

John Thornton is Professor of History at Boston University where he is a specialist in the history of pre-colonial Africa and the African Diaspora. He is the author of numerous books, including Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World (1992, 2nd edition 1998), The Kongolese Saint Anthony (1998), Central Africans, Atlantic Creoles and the Foundation of the Americas (2007) which was awarded the Herskovits Prize by the African Studies Association, and A Cultural History of the Atlantic World (2012) which was awarded the World History Association Book Prize.

• Preface; Introduction; 1. The Development of States in West Central African to 1540; 2. The Struggle for Ambundu and the Founding of Angola; 3. Ndongo and Portugal at War; 4. Queen Njinga's Struggle for Ndongo; 5. The Thirty Years' War Comes to Central Africa; 6. The Emergence of Lunda; 7. The Weight of Lunda on the West; 8. Culmination: Lunda, Luba and the Ovimbundu; Epilog

'Highly recommended.' R. I. Rotberg, Choice