W H Allen pre-empts Badawi’s ‘groundbreaking’ history of Africa in six-figure deal

W H Allen has landed An African History of Africa by broadcast journalist and president of SOAS university Zeinab Badawi in a six-figure pre-empt.

Jamie Joseph, editorial director and head of W H Allen, acquired world all-language rights to the “epic story of humanity” from Tom Killingbeck at A M Heath for publication in spring 2024.

An African History of Africa is described by the publisher as “both a sweeping guide through history, and also an urgent, conversation-starting book about why this history has been side-lined and neglected for so long."

Badawi, whose work includes interviewing some of the world’s most notable personalities and politicians on the BBC’s "Hardtalk" show and hosting "Global Questions" on BBC World TV and the BBC News Channel, said: “Although I was born under the African sun in Sudan, I had always struggled to find an accessible and comprehensive history of Africa that brought to life the key figures and moments in the amazing African story.

“My book is an Africans’ history of Africa that foregrounds how the people of the continent themselves see and interpret their history, and that showcases the brilliant African academics whose painstaking historic research has rarely gained the attention it deserves. But this is a book for everyone and anyone who wants to learn about Africa’s rich and engrossing narratives. For there is nobody on earth today who cannot say that they originally came out of Africa – this is a history for all of us.”

Badawi was previously chair of the Royal African Society, and amongst other posts she has served as a Queen’s appointment to the Board of Historic Royal Palaces and as a board member of the National Portrait Gallery, the British Council, the Institute for Historical Research and the Overseas Development Institute, and a member of the Rhodes Commission on the future of the statue of Cecil Rhodes.

Killingbeck said: “From the moment Zeinab shared her plans for An African History of Africa, I knew it was going to be a bravura feat of storytelling and a ground-breaking book.

“Seeking out occluded histories from across the continent and meeting with countless historians, anthropologists, archaeologists and local storytellers in travels throughout 30-plus countries, she has managed to weave vast, complex swathes of history into a joyous, celebratory narrative that is quite simply a pleasure to read. I’m thrilled that in Jamie, Laura and all at Ebury, she has found a publishing team to match her boundless energy and ambition for this book.”