The textbook provides an in-depth overview of African history and politics from the Atlantic slave trade, through the phases of colonialism and decolonization, to the development problems of the present. Various development theories are used to explain successful and failed development paths of individual countries after 1960. Thematic foci include Europe's colonial legacy, state formation and state failure, democratization, the curse of raw materials, population growth, hunger and poverty, ethnic conflicts, and the roles of the World Bank, EU, and China as external actors in Africa.

Prof. Dr. em. Rainer Tetzlaff is a lecturer at the Europa-Kolleg of the University of Hamburg, chairman of the Africa-Kollegium Hamburg and Senior Research Fellow of the Academy of World Regions Hamburg.