CANADIAN JOURNAL OF AFRICAN STUDIES / REVUE CANADIENNE DES ÉTUDES AFRICAINES, 2018
https://doi.org/10.1080/00083968.2018.1438973
BOOK REVIEW
Seven Myths of Africa in World History, by David Northrup, Indianapolis, IN,
Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2017, v + 162 pp.
An experienced historian and textbook writer, David Northrup, emeritus professor of history at
Boston College, delivers another book that will have no doubt a signiicant impact on students
of Africa in the United States and other English-speaking countries. Seven Myths of Africa in World
History is part of Hackett Publishing Company’s new Myths of History Series. One can look no
further than Matthew Restall’s (2003) widely acclaimed Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest for
the series’ inspiration. In it, Restall clariies seven of the greatest misconceptions about that crucial
historical event. Northrup seeks to accomplish a similar objective in his book. He carefully selects
seven of the most popular myths surrounding the place of Africa in world history and subjects
them to a thorough critical examination. Although Northrup does not claim to have the full and
inal answer to the questions raised by each of these myths, readers are left with a clearer and
deeper understanding of not only Africa and its place in world history, but also of the forces that
helped create these myths. US teachers, in particular, may ind the book a valuable resource to
introduce students to the history of Africa.
As one might expect, Northrup divided his new book into seven chapters, accompanied by
a preface and an introduction. The Preface discusses the challenges of writing about Africa and
deines the scope of the book. The Introduction ofers a relection on the origins of the most
pervasive myths surrounding Africa and their staying power. It also reminds readers that Africa is
not a country – another popular mistake or myth – and ofers an outline of the following chapters.
Chapter 1 tackles the classic myth that Africa has no history. Chapter 2 discusses how the idea
of Ethiopia as a special place in Africa emerged. Chapter 3 veers into Africans’ encounters with
non-Africans. Were they good, bad or just complicated? Chapter 4 discusses diferent perceptions
of Africa’s involvement in the Atlantic slave trade. Chapter 5 focuses on common misconceptions
about the continent’s diversity and cultural change since the slave trade era. Chapter 6 throws
light on the issue of whether Islam is a more authentically African religion than Christianity.
Finally, Chapter 7 addresses a more recent myth usually expressed in the motto “Africa Rising” or
its opposite, “Africa Failing”.
Northrup’s book provides an excellent way of introducing students to the history of Africa by
identifying and correcting some of the most pervasive myths of Africa’s past and present. There
are plenty of myths surrounding Africa, but one can hardly criticize Northrup’s selection, because
those he chose are almost self-evident in the literature as well as in popular discussions about
the continent. As previously mentioned, each myth or set of myths is discussed in a separate
chapter. All of them are thoroughly examined, with the support of graphs, maps, illustrations
and footnotes. Readers will also beneit from a list of suggestions for further reading for each
chapter located at the end of the book, with several titles diferent from – and more accessible
than – those listed in the footnotes. Perhaps the book’s most notable strength lies in Northrup’s
attention to detail and efort to trace each myth’s origins and legacies. Consider the chapter on
the Atlantic slave trade, for example. After calling attention to the myths holding that Africans
were easily exploited victims of the trade, Northrup points out that what makes these myths so
attractive is that they can be used to place all blame for the traic on Europeans. Although they