The Golden Rhinoceros by François-Xavier Fauvelle
6.5 out of 10What was going on in Africa between the year 700 and the year 1500? Well, that is a huge amount of land over a long time... so, a lot happened. The ancient Mediterranean empires had flamed out and European imperialism had yet to ignite. There were kings, kingdoms, villagers, merchants, markets, trading posts, explorers, mosques, palaces, cemeteries, mines, sailors, armies, farmers, slaves, monks, artisans, and more. The written records are often flimsy and patchy and are thus supplemented with archeological research. Starting with Du Huan (who was held prisoner by the Abbasid Califate on the horn of Africa before returning to China to tell his story) and ending with Vasco Da Gama (who sailed around Africa on his route from Portugal to India), this author wrote 34 scholarly essays fit for a book.
This information should definitely be available for mass audiences. As it is, academic papers translated into English are almost as dry as the Sahara.