An Ancient African Town

A tour of Benin City, a West African town and capital of the Edo Empire, located in present-day Nigeria.

Suitable for National Curriculum Key Stage 2, a practical guide in the METROPOLIS series which explores what life was like in an ancient African town. Includes information on where to stay, what to eat and drink, local customs and useful phrases. With colour illustrations (many of which are in cross section) by Gerald Wood.

A tour of Benin City, a West African town and capital of the Edo Empire, located in present-day Nigeria.

Take an incredible tour through an African Town, exploring its relevance to the people who built it and the lives that they lead. Stunning cut-away illustrations and a clear, concise writing style help lead the reader through the often complex social and historical context

This book is comprehensive both in terms of time coverage, from before the Pharaohs to the present moment and in that it tries to consider cities from the entire continent, not just Sub-Saharan Africa. Apart from factual information and rich description material culled from many sources, it looks at many issues from why urban life emerged in the first place to how present-day African cities cope in difficult times. Instead of seeing towns and cities as somehow extraneous to the real Africa, it views them as an inherent part of developing Africa, indigenous, colonial, and post-colonial and emphasizes the extent to which the future of African society and African culture will likely be played out mostly in cities. The book is written to appeal to students of history but equally to geographers, planners, sociologists and development specialists interested in urban problems.

An illustrated book about a 1000 year old civilization Between AD 900 and 1300, the Shashe-Limpopo basin in Limpopo Province witnessed the development of an ancient civilization. Like civilizations everywhere, it consisted of a complex social organization supported by intensive agriculture and long-distance trade. The Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape, as it is now known, was the forerunner of the famous town of Great Zimbabwe, situated about 200 kilometers to the north, and its cultural connection to Great Zimbabwe and the Venda people allows archaeologists to reconstruct its evolution. This generously illustrated book tells the story of an African civilization that began more than 1000 years ago. It is the first in a series of accessible books written by specialists for visitors to South Africa's World Heritage Sites.