{"product_id":"wonders-of-the-african-world-9780375402357","title":"Wonders of the African World","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Companion Volume to the PBS Television Series  Wonders of the African World is an exuberant  visually stunning journey across Africa and through the history of its glorious but forgotten civilizations.  Traveling by camel  by dhow  by Land Cruiser  and on foot  the renowned scholar Henry Louis Gates  Jr.  takes us to twelve countries in search of Africas magnificent past  the now neglected civilizations that in their day were as grand and sophisticated as any on the face of the earth. From Nubias ancient empire  which for a time ruled Egypt and centuries before had established the earliest known African city  to the fabled town of Timbuktu  where during the medieval period there thrived a center of scholars that rivaled any in Europe and where books were as prized as gold  to Ethiopias Christian kingdom  where the Lost Ark of the Covenant is said to reside under perpetual vigil  Gates reveals an Africa little known to Westerners. And as he shows us the achievements that exploiters of the continent have ignored or denied for centuries  he introduces us as well to the fascinating variety of modern-day Africans  many of whom are descended from the great peoples who built Africas most formidable cultures  including the Asante  the Swahili  the Tuareg  and the Shona.  As Gatess compelling narrative shows  the continents past continues to be felt in the lives of many Africans today. And in America for the descendants of those brought here as slaves  that past has been a controversial inheritance  passionately embraced by some  fiercely rejected by others. For this reason  Gatess deeply personal account of discovery is charged throughout by a question posed by Countee Cullen in his 1925 poem \"Heritage\" and perennially asked by African Americans: What is Africa to me? Finally  though  it is the wisdom of this book that the legacy of Africa?no less than that of Greece or Rome?belongs to all the worlds civilized peoples.  Illustrated with spectacular full-page photographs specially commissioned from the internationally acclaimed Lynn Davis  Wonders of the African World is Africa as we have never known or seen it before.  With 66 photographs by Lynn Davis  132 illustrations in black-and-white and full color  and 7 full-color maps\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45665879294005,"sku":"ByrdShop_0375402357","price":22.88,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780375402357.jpg?v=1782412122","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/wonders-of-the-african-world-9780375402357","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}