Geography of Africa

Abstract

THE publication of this little text-book in Macmillan's Geographical Series will be welcomed by all who are interested in geographical education, or who desire a handly and trustworthy compendium on Africa. Books made up mainly of tables of chief towns, lengths of rivers, and other statistical information, are, we hope and believe, on the decline, and rightly so; for they represent the worst methods of teaching geography. Throughout Mr. Heawood's volume, the principles kept in view are: “In the first place, the rule laid down by Dr. Mill in the ’General Geography’ of this series, of proceeding from the general to the particular, has been adhered to ; and in the second, a clear understanding of the broad physical features of each region described has been taken as the necessary basis on which to build up the complete picture of such region as the sphere of human activity.” A book constructed on these lines claims attention at the outset; and when, as is the case with the volume before us, the pages give evidence that the author is thoroughly familiar with all the geographical facts pertaining to the region with which he deals, we have the factors which combine to make a work useful as an educational instrument, valuable for reference, and interesting to geographical readers. It is, indeed, not too much to say that no book now in existence contains within such a small compass so much accurate information on the African continent as is given in Mr. Heawood's little volume. The book should be widely used in schools, and for this purpose the summary of the geography of Africa will be found very serviceable. To every one who wishes to possess a concise statement of the physical features, native inhabitants, history, and political development of Africa, the volume can be confidently recommended.

Geography of Africa.

By Edward Heawood Pp. viii + 262. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1896.)