The Royal Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay

A children’s introduction to the medieval history of West Africa—“An ambitious introductory survey. . . . This will be extremely useful as a springboard to books and articles that offer more depth but are less accessible to students” (Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books).

For more than a thousand years, from A.D. 500 to 1700, the medieval kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay grew rich on the gold, salt, and slave trade that stretched across Africa. Scraping away hundreds of years of ignorance, prejudice, and mythology, award–winning authors Patricia and Fredrick McKissack reveal the glory of these forgotten empires while inviting us to share in the inspiring process of historical recovery that is taking place today.

“The history of medieval Africa, long ignored and distorted, is here given full attention. The McKissacks are careful to distinguish what is known from what is surmised; they draw on the oral tradition, eyewitness accounts, and contemporary scholarship; and chapter source notes discuss various conflicting views of events.” —Booklist