Books like African Kingdoms (Great Ages of Man) by Basil Davidson

A nonfiction account of King Leopold II’s brutal exploitation of the Congo, exposing the atrocities that sparked the first global human rights movement in the early twentieth century.

A concise exploration of Greek civilization from the reforms of Solon to the philosophical work of Socrates.

Included writings by Harkhuf, Pepi-nakt, Tuthmosis III, Piankhi, Herodotus, Ezana, Desmond Clark, Bernard Fagg, Frank Willett, Muhammed Bello, Samuel Johnson, Saburi Biobaku, Tamsir Niane, Al Yakubi, Al Bekri, Al Omari, Ibn Battuta, Al Maghili, Ahmed Ibn Fartua, Kati, Es-Sa'adi, Egharevba, Al Mas'udi, Freeman-Grenville, Idrisi, Yu-Yang-Tsa-Tsu, Chao Ju-Kua, Chang Hsieh, Vasco da Gama, Duarte Barbosa, Hans Mayr, Diogo de Alcancova, D.P. Abraham, Pedro Vaz Soares, Joao de Barros, Antonio Boccarro, Manoel Barreto, Ruy de Pina, Alonso de Palencia, Affonso of Congo, Abreu de Brito, John Landye, Richard Jobson, John Hawkins, Richard Eden, William Towerson, Oliveira Cadornega, John Casseneuve, William Bosman, Michel Adanson, Richard Brew, James Penny, John Johnston, Archibald Dalzell, Robert Norris, Olaudah Equiano, Abbe Proyart, Thomas Winterbottom, James Bruce, Andrew Sparrman, Frederic Caillaud, Henry Fynn, Edouard Casalis, Robert Moffat, David Livingstone, Antonio Gamitto, James Prior, Mungo Park, Uthman Dan Fodio, Brodie Cruickshank, Heinrich Barth, Martin Delany, Mary Kingsley, Leo Frobenius, Charles Domingo, Placide Tempels, Macemba, Edward Blyden, Winwood Reade, and others.

Basil Davidson gives insights into the depth and sophistication of African cultural and social history in a way that is intelligible and accessible to the lay-reader.