The History of Ghana

Subjects:

• History » African History
• History » World History (General)
• Anthropology » Cultural Anthropology

Reviews:

• [T]his volume is quite comprehensive, spanning the history of Ghana from the Stone Age to the twenty-first century. It also provides a thorough treatment of specific political and economic themes in the contemporary history of Ghana....Roger Gocking does not paint the history of Ghana in broad simple strokes. Rather, he seamlessly navigates Ghana's complex political history of colonialism, nationalist movements, independent republics, and military coups....This volume also succeeds in presenting the history of Ghana not as the isolated history of a British colonial outpost but as an integral part of world history....[A] welcome contribution to the growing list of works that seek to take African history beyond the confines of university and college curricula to a broader audience.
  —African Studies Review .
• The History of Ghana is in the series Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations. It is an historical overview - the kind that every library needs as basic, general academic research material....The first section of the book covers the beginnings of pre-Colonial statehood in the area of West Africa that would become Ghana. It discusses the interactions with various European Colonial powers and the creation of the Gold Coast - a colonial system designed to exploit the resources of the area. Those resources included gold and slaves. The book then continues with the struggles for independence that wracked all of Western Africa in the 20th century, and the struggles and problems faced by Ghana since gaining independence from Great Britain in 1957. The book is recommended for collections in African history, but also as a valuable asset to any basic library reference collection.
  —Academia September 2006
• A specialist in African colonial history and especially Ghana, Gocking offers non- specialist students and general readers a concise history of the West African country. The first third covers the emergence of early precolonial states, the increasing contact with Europeans, and colonial rule to the end of the 19th century. The rest focuses on the struggle for independence and the challenges that Ghana has faced through 1994.
  —Reference & Research Book News November 2005
• Few other books on Africa allow such depth and detail for Ghana, making History of Ghana an important survey which many will find intriguing.
  —Midwest Book Review November 2005
• [A] balanced and complex narrative that gives readersa sense of both continuity and transformation in Ghanaian history....[t]his text will become a standard reference for a student planning to study modern Ghanaian history, and as a reference for scholars it is superior to previous works.
  —Africa News February 13, 2006

Table of Contents:

• Preface and Acknowledgments
  List of Abbreviations
  List of Photographs
  Timeline of Historical Events
  Introduction: Ghana in Perspective
  Precolonial States and Societies
  Colonial Rule
  Politics and Protest in the Model Colony
  The Model Colony at War and the Aftermath
  The Convention People's Party and the Road to Independence
  Independence: The Nkrumah Years
  From Military Coup to Second Republic
  Return of the Soldiers
  The Third Republic and the PNDC
  The First NDC Administration: 1993-1997
  The Second NDC Administration: 1997-2001
  The NPP in Power: 2001-2004
  Epilogue: Moving Forward Looking Backwards
  Notable People in the History of Ghana
  Selected Bibliography
  Index