A history of the colonization of Africa by alien races

About this book

This work is a scholarly survey of Africa’s encounters with external powers from antiquity to the early twentieth‑century, compiled by Sir Harry H. Johnston, a decorated colonial administrator. The title, “A History of the Colonization of Africa by Alien Races,” signals a focus on the successive waves of foreign influence, Phoenician, Roman, Arab, Portuguese, Dutch, British, French, Belgian, Italian and German, presented in a chronological series of chapters that map each nation’s expansion, treaties, and administrative reforms. The front matter explains that the book belongs to the Cambridge Historical Series, originally issued in 1899 and enlarged in 1913, and that it is accompanied by eight detailed maps and an extensive bibliography for further research. Its preface outlines a purpose to trace the political geography of African colonization, making it a reference for both beginners and more advanced students of European imperial history.

Written in the formal, didactic prose typical of early‑1900s academic publishing, the text combines narrative description with extensive footnotes, statistical tables and cartographic illustrations. Its tone is that of a contemporary British official, emphasizing the “civilising” role of colonial agents while cataloguing their deeds. Readers interested in the historiography of imperialism, the evolution of colonial policy, or the detailed chronology of European and Arab incursions into Africa will find the book’s exhaustive chapter structure and its reliance on primary sources both informative and reflective of its period’s scholarly conventions.