The study traces the history of the writing of African history since the 1950s when African history became radically redefined and reassessed and African historical studies started to move beyond the limitations of the previous historical scholarship. It attempts to reflect some of the difficulties specific to the study of African history, to assess some of the developments and issues regarding the constitution of African history as a field of academic specialisation in Africa and outside the continent, to consider the traditions of African history writing and the theoretical and ideological debates about past, present and future challenges African historical studies have been facing, concentrating mainly on historical research and writing in some regions of sub-Saharan Africa, Anglophone and Francophone.
