Book Launch
Season of Rains: Africa in the World
Date: 7th June, 6pm,
Venue: Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre, SOAS (WC1H 0XG)
The Author
Stephen Ellis is a historian, with a broad range of interests in contemporary history and politics. He is the author of Season of Rains: Africa in the World and co-authored of Worlds of Power: Religious Thought and Political Practice in Africa
Respondent
William Wallis – Africa editor, Financial Times
Chair
Richard Dowden – Director of the Royal African Society
The Book
Most of what is written about Africa is framed in terms that have been out of date for years. Too often it is seen as heading for either disaster or salvation; the realities are more subtle, more complicated than this binary opposition suggests.
The continent has over the last century experienced the fastest population growth in the entire history of our planet. This brings pressures environmental and human, but it also changes the logic of Africa’s economics.
Season of Rains explains how one billion Africans are changing their continent and changing the world. Stephen Ellis dissects how the postcolonial legacy has been overcome, how Africans are seizing the commercial and political initiative, and why this matters. In a series of short, punchy chapters, Ellis surveys the continent today, offering the reader an indispensable guide to how money, power, religion and indigenous development will shape Africa’s coming generations.
The launch will be followed by a drinks reception
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