‘Simultaneously capacious and personal…a masterful achievement‘ Tom Holland
‘Elegant and powerful, Pepera’s magnificent book elevates our understanding of Africa’s overlooked histories’ Olivette Otele, author of African Europeans
Motherland is a ground-breaking exploration of African culture and identity, told via Luke Pepera’s journey through 500,000 years of history to connect with his extraordinary heritage. Pepera tackles the questions many people of African descent ask – Who are we? Where do we come from? What defines us? And how might knowledge of deep history affect our understanding of our identity?
With illuminating examples, Pepera explores aspects of African identity from nomadic culture to matriarchal society. We meet an array of intriguing characters including Mansa Musa, the wealthiest man who ever lived, and the Kandake Queen Amanirenas, who defeated the Romans in Nubia. We learn how the response to the actor Chadwick Boseman’s death demonstrated Yoruba beliefs about ancestral veneration, and how the rap battle evolved from earlier forms of African oral literature.
Interwoven with Luke’s own experiences of exploring his Ghanaian family history, this is a comprehensive, relevant and beautifully told account of the stories that have shaped Africa.
‘Elegant and powerful, Pepera’s magnificent book elevates our understanding of Africa’s overlooked histories’ Olivette Otele, author of African Europeans
Motherland is a ground-breaking exploration of African culture and identity, told via Luke Pepera’s journey through 500,000 years of history to connect with his extraordinary heritage. Pepera tackles the questions many people of African descent ask – Who are we? Where do we come from? What defines us? And how might knowledge of deep history affect our understanding of our identity?
With illuminating examples, Pepera explores aspects of African identity from nomadic culture to matriarchal society. We meet an array of intriguing characters including Mansa Musa, the wealthiest man who ever lived, and the Kandake Queen Amanirenas, who defeated the Romans in Nubia. We learn how the response to the actor Chadwick Boseman’s death demonstrated Yoruba beliefs about ancestral veneration, and how the rap battle evolved from earlier forms of African oral literature.
Interwoven with Luke’s own experiences of exploring his Ghanaian family history, this is a comprehensive, relevant and beautifully told account of the stories that have shaped Africa.
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Reviews
An original and thought-provoking blend of history, anthropology and Luke Pepera's own personal exploration of his ancestry. Epic in scope, intimate in detail, Motherland gives a rich and vibrant sense of Africa's deep, as well as recent, past
A brilliant gift of truth
Pepera's remarkable exploration of 500,000 years of African history will leave readers both gripped and utterly enthralled. Expertly written with a remarkable eye for detail and storytelling, Motherland is not only extraordinary and powerful, but truly groundbreaking. A superb debut.
Wonderful and illuminating: an historical and personal journey through 500,000 years of African history, power and culture, with a fascinating cast of African leaders and artists, from imperial conquerors and warrior queens to rappers, activists and migrants, from prehistory to the 21st century. An essential read
From prehistory to Black Panther, Motherland explores 500,000 years of African history to transform our understanding of this most remarkable and misunderstood continent. Through masterful storytelling Luke Pepera conjures vivid and colourful lands bursting with extraordinary characters and rich adventure. Epic yet intimate, bold but thoughtful, inclusive and revelatory: this is history at its best
A beautiful, engaging, informative and deeply readable exploration of the multitude of African identities. Motherland gently meanders through stories of past and present, introducing us not only to the cultures and history of a continent's peoples, but to the individuals themselves. Pepera proves that history is a record of personal experiences. Marvellous!
From Eve to the queenly kandakes of Nubia, from Alessandro de' Medici of Renaissance Florence to Hollywood's Chadwick Boseman, Pepera's expansive story of African history and culture is unlike any other you will read. An energetic and impassioned debut from an historian who is sure to go far
A fascinating, personal reappraisal of African cultural history, at once challenging and enlightening
Simultaneously capacious and personal, this achieves what might have been thought impossible: to give the reader 500,000 years of history, spanning an entire continent, without ever becoming reductive. A masterful achievement
An extraordinary achievement showcasing Pepera's skills as both a writer and a scholar. From the continent's role as the midwife of humanity, to the profound global influence of people of African descent, MOTHERLAND leads us expertly through age after age of astoundingly rich history and culture. An enlightening read that is sure to top many awards lists.
Vivid, compelling and powerful, this groundbreaking book masterfully intertwines sweeping history with personal insights. The people, events and places from Africa's rich history and culture featured in the narrative are as illuminating as they are thought-provoking. Few books can lay claim to changing their readers' perceptions so profoundly. A stunning debut
Elegant and powerful, Pepera's magnificent book elevates our understanding of Africa's overlooked histories, re-inscribing them into the timeline of world history. Absolutely riveting.
Magisterial, brilliant, capacious and transformative, this astonishing journey into the heart of Africa is a superb synthesis, an analysis of 500,000 years of history and the most gripping, colourful and marvellous journey possible. The continent of Africa is here, vivid with life, death, survival, hope and stories.
Luke Pepera's Motherland is a brilliant and wide-ranging study of African identity, told through the lens of the continent's unique culture and history. Crucially it reminds us that the darker episodes - the Transatlantic Slave Trade, colonialism and racism - occupy only a tiny portion of the timeframe, and that Africans were not solely their 'inevitable, unwilling and hapless victims'. A stunning debut.
Motherland is a colourful, crisply narrated journey through the history of the continent that made mankind. Luke Pepera folds together political, cultural and spiritual history, dancing deftly between centuries and traditions. Motherland is a splendid, clear-eyed, compelling debut from a brilliant new historian.