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The Story of Africa

The events and people who shaped a continent

World Service,23 episodes

Episodes

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The Cradle of Humankind
Exploring the scientific evidence that human life began in Africa
12 Feb 2001,28 mins
Africa and the Nile Valley
The great civilisations of Egypt and Kush and their links with other parts of Africa
13 Feb 2001,28 mins
The Berbers of North Africa
How the peoples of North Africa reacted to wave upon wave of colonisation
15 Feb 2001,28 mins
The Bantu Migration
As the Bantu migrated, did they arrive as conquerors, colonisers or explorers?
04 Mar 2001,28 mins
African Traditional Religions
Africa's sacred beliefs, how they evolved, and the influence that remains today.
11 Mar 2001,28 mins
The Coming of Christianity
The rise of Christianity in Egypt and powerful Christian states in Axum and Nubia
20 Mar 2001,28 mins
The Rise of Islam
Islam is one of the two biggest religions in Africa. But how did it spread, and why?
26 Mar 2001,28 mins
The Ancient Kingdom of Ghana
Exploring Ancient Ghana, the first of the magnificent empires of west Africa
30 Mar 2001,28 mins
The Great Empires of Mali and Songhay
The kings and warriors who dominated west Africa for 300 years
11 Apr 2001,28 mins
The Swahili Coast
The prosperity, peoples and trade routes of the east African coast.
13 Apr 2001,28 mins
The Kongo and Great Zimbabwe
The rise of two 14th Century empires...and the coming of the Portuguese
20 Apr 2001,28 mins
Art in Africa
How African art is a window into the past
27 Apr 2001,28 mins
The Hausa City States
How the diverse people of Hausaland in northern Nigeria were unified
04 May 2001,28 mins
The Roots of Slavery
The history of Africans as both the enslaved and the enslavers
25 May 2001,28 mins
The Transatlantic Slave Trade
The history, practise, and legacy of the transatlantic slave trade.
01 Jun 2001,28 mins
Africa on the Eve of Colonialism
How might Africa have developed had its fate not been taken out of African hands?
15 Jun 2001,28 mins
The Mfecane
How an 18th Century Zulu king changed the political landscape of South Africa
27 Jun 2001,28 mins
Partition and Resistance
How and why did Europe decide to impose a political partition on Africa?
04 Jul 2001,28 mins
Life Under Colonialism
What was life like for African people under European rule?
05 Jul 2001,28 mins
Challenges to Colonialism
The growing African resistance to racism and colonialism
06 Jul 2001,28 mins
Independence
How changing political forces in middle of the 20th Century made independence possible.
07 Jul 2001,28 mins
Apartheid
How apartheid affected the lives of Africans and how was it overcome
27 Jul 2001,28 mins
The Nation State
Could the new generation of African politicians live up to expectations they had raised?
28 Jul 2001,28 mins