A Short History of AfricaAfrica. The cradle of civilisation. From the dawn of human time in prehistoric Africa right through to the so called 'Arab Spring' of 2011, Gordon Kerr offers a comprehensive introduction to the sprawling history of this enormous continent. He begins with the origins of the human race and the development of stone age technology, through ancient and medieval times and the significance of the Arab presence, the Muslim states and the trans Saharan trade.