Rabih az-Zubayr
Rabih az-Zubayr built a powerful military state around Lake Chad and fought French expansion, but his rule was also founded on conquest, slave raiding and severe extraction.
People
Lat Dior
Lat Dior, damel of Cayor, used warfare, diplomacy and shifting alliances to defend Senegalese political autonomy against French expansion.
Béhanzin
Béhanzin was the final independent ruler of Dahomey, defending the kingdom’s sovereignty against French conquest in two wars from 1890 to 1894.
Samuel Maharero
Samuel Maharero led the Ovaherero uprising of 1904 against German colonial rule, a war followed by genocide, dispossession and exile.
Hendrik Witbooi
Hendrik Witbooi was a Nama captain, diplomat and author whose long struggle against German colonial power made him one of Namibia’s foundational resistance figures.
Nelson Mandela
An expanded contextual biography of Nelson Mandela, examining institutions, decisions, conflict, historical debate and legacy.
Thomas Sankara
An expanded contextual biography of Thomas Sankara, examining institutions, decisions, conflict, historical debate and legacy.
Patrice Lumumba
An expanded contextual biography of Patrice Lumumba, examining institutions, decisions, conflict, historical debate and legacy.
Kwame Nkrumah
An expanded contextual biography of Kwame Nkrumah, examining institutions, decisions, conflict, historical debate and legacy.
Kimpa Vita
An expanded contextual biography of Kimpa Vita, examining institutions, decisions, conflict, historical debate and legacy.
