Filtrer
howard w. french
-
Noires origines : L'Afrique et la création du monde moderne, 1471-1945
Howard W. French
- Calmann-Lévy
- Sciences Humaines
- 9 Octobre 2024
- 9782702190517
LE RÔLE ESSENTIEL DE L'AFRIQUE DANS L'HISTOIRE DU MONDE MODERNE
L'essor de l'ère moderne, avec les grandes découvertes et l'établissement de nos sociétés telles que nous les connaissons, prend traditionnellement l'Europe comme point de départ et centre de ce phénomène. Or, c'est en Afrique que l'on trouve les origines de ces profonds changements, une vérité encore largement ignorée.
Cet essai captivant couvre près de six siècles d'histoire et redonne une place centrale au continent africain dans le récit du monde moderne. Il nous emmène à la rencontre de figures historiques méconnues - empereurs ayant tenu tête aux puissances européennes du XVIIème siècle, riches marchands commerçant avec l'Asie, héros de la libération des esclaves haïtiens - et nous fait comprendre les bouleversements socio-économiques liés au commerce de l'or, du sucre, du tabac et du coton, et surtout à la traite de millions d'Africains.
Mais plus que des éléments inédits, c'est un changement nécessaire de paradigme sur notre histoire que nous propose Howard W. French au travers de cet ouvrage riche, documenté et passionnant.
« French offre une vision plus large de comment et pourquoi l'Afrique et l'histoire de ses peuples ont été ignorées. »Peter Frankopan, auteur des Routes de la soie -
In a sweeping narrative that traverses 600 years, one that eloquently weaves precise historical detail with poignant personal reportage, Pulitzer Prize finalist Howard W. French retells the story of medieval and emerging Africa, demonstrating how the economic ascendancy of Europe, the anchoring of democracy in America and the fulfillment of so-called Enlightenment ideals all grew out of Europe's dehumanising engagement with the "darkest" continent.
Born in Blackness dramatically retrieves the lives of major African historical figures whose stories have been repeatedly etiolated and erased over centuries, from unimaginably rich medieval African emperors who traded with Asia; to Kongo sovereigns who heroically battled seventeenth-century European powers; to ex-slaves who liberated Haitians from bondage. In doing so, French tells the story of gold, tobacco, sugar and cotton-and the greatest "commodity" of all, the millions of people brought in chains from Africa to the New World, whose reclaimed histories fundamentally help explain our present world. -
CHINA''S SECOND CONTINENT - HOW A MILLION MIGRANTS ARE BUILDING A NEW EMPIRE IN AFRICA
Howard W. French
- Vintage Usa
- 3 Février 2015
- 9780307946652
A New York Times Notable Book Chinese immigrants of the recent past and unfolding twenty-first century are in search of the African dream. So explains indefatigable traveler Howard W. French, prize-winning investigative journalist and former New York Times bureau chief in Africa and China, in the definitive account of this seismic geopolitical development. Chinas burgeoning presence in Africa is already shaping, and reshaping, the future of millions of people. From Liberia to Senegal to Mozambique, in creaky trucks and by back roads, French introduces us to the characters who make up Chinas dogged emigrant population: entrepreneurs singlehandedly reshaping African infrastructure, and less-lucky migrants barely scraping by but still convinced of Africas opportunities. Frenchs acute observations offer illuminating insight into the most pressing unknowns of modern Sino-African relations: Why China is making these cultural and economic incursions into the continent; what Africas role is in this equation; and what the ramifications for both parties and their people--and the watching world--will be in the foreseeable future. One of the Best Books of the Year at The Economist The Guardian Foreign Affairs
