Zeinab Badawi

In this lecture, the award-winning author and BBC broadcaster Zeinab Badawi will guide us through Africa’s spectacular history, as explored in her new book An African History of Africa: From the Dawn of Humanity to Independence (2024). With a conversation between Badawi and writer Vamba Sherif, moderated by journalist Phaedra Haringsma.

In her new book An African History of Africa (2024), Sudanese-British journalist and broadcaster Zeinab Badawi traces the sprawling history of the African continent through the voices of Africans themselves – of countless historians, anthropologists, archaeologists and local storytellers from across more than 30 countries. ‘The history of Africa is the story of the origins of human civilisation’, states Badawi, yet little of its early and modern history is widely known. The continent has been neglected, overlooked and dominated by Western narratives of poverty, slavery and colonialism. In this lecture, Badawi will reveal the engrossing tales of warrior queens, mighty civilisations, lavish buildings, and bustling markets that show how Africa’s history is so much more than the story we think we know.

Join Badawi and Vamba Sherif, author of The Emperor’s Son (2023), as they discuss the significance of books like theirs, in a conversation moderated by research journalist and program maker Phaedra Haringsma. From the origins of ancient civilisations and medieval empires, to the miseries of conquest and the elation of independence, you will leave with a deeper understanding of the epic and sweeping history of the planet’s oldest inhabited continent.

About An African History of Africa

Everyone is originally from Africa, and this book is therefore for everyone. For too long, Africa’s history has been dominated by western narratives of slavery and colonialism, or simply ignored. Now, Zeinab Badawi sets the record straight. In this fascinating book, Badawi guides us through Africa’s spectacular history – from the very origins of our species, through ancient civilisations and medieval empires with remarkable queens and kings, to the miseries of conquest and the elation of independence. Visiting more than thirty African countries to interview countless historians, anthropologists, archaeologists and local storytellers, she unearths buried histories from across the continent and gives Africa its rightful place in our global story. The result is a gripping new account of Africa: an epic, sweeping history of the oldest inhabited continent on the planet, told through the voices of Africans themselves.