African identities constitute one of Newman's main themes; thus he discusses the roles played by genetic background; language, occupation, and religion. Population distribution is the other main theme.

As a geographer, the author uses regions, spaces and places as his filters for viewing how Africans have responded through time to differing natural and human environmental circumstances.

Drawing on biology, archeology, linguistics, history, anthropology, and demography, as well as geography, Newman describes the richness and diversity of Africa's inhabitants, the technological changes that transformed their lives, the formation of polities, from small kin groups to states and empires, and the influence of external forces, particularly the slave trade. Maps are an integral part of the book, conveying information and interrelating local, regional, and continental contexts.