"A long-overdue work for students and interested readers of African history, this set is the first to cover the entire continent since UNESCO's General History of Africa appeared in the 1980s. Nearly 1,100 entries cover historical, political, cultural, economic, linguistic, and anthropological topics. Lengthy historiographical surveys, maps of each of the modern states as well as historically important regions (such as the Songhay Empire), and a substantial number of contributions from African scholars make this source a fine addition to any reference collection."--"Reference that rocks," American Libraries, May 2005.