An African History of Africa by Zeinab Badawi review – an insider’s take

The journalist and broadcaster offers a refreshing corrective to narratives imposed on the continent by others

• Simukai Chigudu
• The Guardian

There is no shortage of big tomes about Africa written by old Africa hands – those white journalists, memoirists, travel writers or novelists who know Africa better than Africans.

This genre, lampooned by Binyavanga Wainaina’s satirical essay How to Write About Africa, weaves together stories that exalt the continent’s landscape but decry its politics, that revere its wildlife but patronise its people, that use words such as…

• An African History of…