The history of Africa—the way it is taught in our US schools—focuses on the timeline of the material culture of great African civilizations and empires of the past, on population migrations, and colonization by the Europeans. The historical figures of the African past appear mostly in the context of their interactions with the Europeans—trading with them, or resisting colonization. Their personal traits, triumphs, and tragedies rarely come to light. Meanwhile, there is a wealth of biographical information and fascinating historical anecdotes about the kings and queens of African nations coming from African legends, epic poetry, carved stone monuments, chronicles, and memoirs by European, Arab, and, later, American travelers. So, for this book I went through dozens of sources to find facts and stories that breathe life into the silhouettes of these great Africans, in keeping with the traditional, story-based, route of teaching history.

We best remember things that surprise us and move us emotionally. That's why the tales of twists and turns of individual human destinies help our kids (and us, grownups, too!) relate to history in a way that promotes authentic life-long interest in its course and its lessons. The lives of African rulers—from antiquity to modern times—are a treasury of astonishing facts, fast-paced stories of victories and defeats, and moral lessons that our kids will benefit from learning.

Selecting material for this book, I have omitted certain things and facts. Anything gruesome, off-color, or outside traditional-family-friendly morality is not included.

Historical figures included in this book:

The Black Pharaohs (Kush), Queen Amanirenas (Kush), Ezana of Axum (Aksum), Sundiata Keita (Mali), Mansa Musa (Mali), Askia The Great (Songhai), Afonso I (Kongo), Queen Nzinga (Ndongo, Angola), Shaka Zulu (Zulu), Menelik and Taytu Betul (Ethiopia), Yaa Asantewaa (Ashanti, Ghana), Haile Selassie (Ethiopia).