"This exuberant, visually stunning book, Gates takes the reader across Africa and through the history of its glorious but forgotten civilizations. Illustrated with spectacular color and black-and-white photographs specially commissioned from Lynn Davis. Illustrations. 7 maps." (distributor)

"From the sublime pyramids of Nubia's ancient empire, to Timbuktu's fabled library and university, to the ruins of Ethiopia's magnificent Christian kingdom (where the lost Ark of the Covenant is said to reside), Gates whos us an African virtually unknown to Westerners, and even many Africans." (publisher)
Author - Henry Louis Gates, Jr.