Until comparatively recent times, knowledge that black Africa was the seat of highly evolved civilizations and cultures during a time when Europe stagnated was limited to a small group of scholars. That great empires such as Ghana and, later, Mali flourished for centuries while Europe slept through its Dark Ages almost has been ignored by historians. Thousands of years before that , as Rudolph R. Windsor notes in this enlightening book, civilization began with the black races of Africa and Asia, including the Hebrews who in the biblical times were jet black. Then, Western Europe had no nations as such and its Stone age inhabitants had the crudest of tools and lived in caves. Because of the scarce literature on the contributions of blacks in world civilizations, most people today hold the erroneous opinion that the black races have little real history. It was not known, for instance, that the ancient Hebrews, Mesopotamians, Phoenicians, and Egyptians were black. Now a growing body of literature is presenting the illustrious history of the blacks and their enormous contributions. This carefully researched book is a significant addition to this vital field of knowledge. It sets forth in fascinating detail the history, from earliest recorded times, of the black races of the Middle East and Africa. Mr Windsor's discussion of Islamic civilization and the movement of the black Hebrews to all parts of Africa is edifying and absorbing. Readers, regardless of race, will find this factual story of a noble heritage a valuable enrichment of to their knowledge of world history.