From the Introduction: "Humanity started in Africa. We have the bones to prove it, the skeletal remains of our early ancestors in Ethiopia from millennia ago. ... Everything that followed came from these ancestors on this continent who learned how to walk upright, who first learned how to hunt and live in communal groups. Whoever you are reading this book-whether your roots are Croat or Brazilian, Scottish or Chinese, whether you're brown, white, Asian, one of the aboriginal peoples of the Americas or Australia or New Zealand-you carry this heritage of ancient Africans within you. Africans were the first wanderers, the first explorers, the first human beings who looked up at the night sky and shuddered in terror at its vast dark canvas-and then held the original, orphaned, brave speculations of curiosity." The Gifts of Africa is an exciting, engaging exploration of the intellectual legacy that Africa has given the world. Past works have reinforced misconceptions about Africa, from its oral traditions and languages to its resistance to colonial powers. Other books have treated African achievements as a parade of honorable mentions and novelties. This book is different-refreshingly different. From the ancient Nubians to a Nigerian superstar in modern painting and sculpture, from the father of sociology in the Maghreb to how the Mau Mau in Kenya influenced Malcom X, this important contribution takes the reader on a journey of thousands of years up to the ongoing innovations of the present day. Book jacket.