Bibliography
The main sources I have used for the history of Africa are two superb books:
J.Iliffe, Africans: The History of a Continent, Cambridge, 1997, and
K. Shilllington, History of Africa, MacMillan, 1995.
Probably the best known book on the subject is B. Davison, Africa in History, Paladin, 1974. This was a pioneering work, but maybe because of this I found it not to be as enlightening as the titles cited above. Both these were published much later.
For historica atlases, C. McEvedy The Penguin Atlas of African History, Penguin, 1995 is probably the best known. On the whole I really admire McEvedy’s atlases, but this is not one of his best. It leaves far too much out.
A lavishly illustrated work on archaeology for the general reader which includes some coverage of African prehistory and history, is Renfrew, C. (ed.), Past Worlds: The Times Atlas of Archaeology, Times Books, 1995, p. 94f., 248ff.
A work on general archaeology aimed primarily at students, but readable and with good coverage of Africa, is Scarre, C. (ed.), The Human Past, Thames & Hudson, 2005, p. 350ff, 432ff.