What they had in common was that they were unsure of where to begin their reading and study but they still wanted to find out more information. This book was written to simplify that journey. As the author of When We Ruled a 700 plus page book on African history, I could also see the need to produce a smaller book that condenses and simplifies the information. I want to make the data as accessible as possible--hence this book. This book is in two parts. The first part is called If you want to learn Early African History START HERE. The second part is called 50 Questions and Answers on the History of Black People. The first part of the book, If you want to learn Early African History START HERE, is a general introduction to Classical African history covering the most important ancient and medieval empires. It began life as two separate lectures that I gave to introduce African history. One of the lectures was called When We Ruled: Thousands of Years of a Visible African Heritage. The second lecture was called The Lost Civilisations of Central Africa. To write this section of the book, I combined these two lectures into one narrative. In the final part of this section, I suggest other sources that a student could read to advance their knowledge even more. The second part of the book, 50 Questions and Answers on the History of Black People, began life when a colleague approached me to give him an extended interview on Black or African history. The colleague posed 50 varied questions to me to which I gave extended answers. He asked me about Nile Valley history, Ancient Kingdoms and Empires, The Slave Trade, earlier Black historians and their writings, etcetera. I hope that the 50 questions answer most of the questions that people raise concerning Black or African history. Robin Walker

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