North Africa has been a vital crossroads throughout history, serving as a connection between Africa, Asia, and Europe. Paradoxically, however, the region's historical significance has been chronically underestimated. In a book that may lead scholars to reimagine the concept of Western civilization, incorporating the role North African peoples played in shaping "the West," Phillip Naylor describes a locale whose transcultural heritage serves as a crucial hinge, politically, economically, and socially.

Ideal for novices and specialists alike, North Africa begins with an acknowledgment that defining this area has presented challenges throughout history. Naylor's survey encompasses the Paleolithic period and early Egyptian cultures, leading readers through the pharonic dynasties, the conflicts with Rome and Carthage, the rise of Islam, the growth of the Ottoman Empire, European incursions, and the postcolonial prospects for Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Western Sahara.

Emphasizing the importance of encounters and interactions among civilizations, North Africa maps a prominent future for scholarship about this pivotal region.

Now with a new afterword that surveys the “North African Spring” uprisings that roiled the region from 2011 to 2013, this is the most comprehensive history of North Africa to date, with accessible, in-depth chapters covering the pre-Islamic period through colonization and independence.

• List of Maps
• A Note to the Reader
• Preface to First Edition
• Preface to Revised Edition
• Introduction
• 1. Ancient North Africa and Its Expansive Civilizations
• 2. Rome and North Africa
• 3. Medieval North Africa: From the Arrival of Islam to the Berber Empires
• 4. The Almoravid and the Almohad Empires and Their Successor States
• 5. Turkish Ascendance and Moroccan Independence
• 6. European Colonialism in North Africa
• 7. The Decolonization of North Africa
• 8. Post-Colonial and Contemporary North Africa: Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia
• 9. Post-Colonial and Contemporary North Africa: Algeria, Morocco, and Western Sahara
• Conclusion. The Peril and Promise of North Africa
• Afterword. The North African Spring
• Notes
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index