Good Resources

At present, I’m putting the final touches on a short story, a novella, and am knee-deep in revisions for my latest novel, due out next month. So, please excuse the shortness of this post.
Because I write historical fiction, I have a mini-library at home for quick reference. True, historians do not always agree on the date an event occurred. Sometimes I have to check two or three books, and use the information from the two that agree. Take the list of kings in Egypt as an example. The date a pharaoh of Egypt reigned in one historical text can be completely different in another. I’ve worked around that by using the reference that fits the timeline of my story the best. As long as the dynasty is correctly identified, I don’t bother with a few years’ difference in dates.

Aside from the Bible, there are a few books which I consider invaluable:

-Before the Mayflower - A History of the Negro in America 1619-1964 - by Lerone Bennett Jr.

-The Destruction of Black Civilization - Great Issue of a Race from 4500 BC to 2000 AD - by Chancellor Williams.

-Bible Legacy of the Black Race – The Prophecy Fulfilled -by Joyce Andrews.

-Black Spark White Fire – Did African Explorers Civilize Ancient Europe? - By Richard Poe.

-The African Origin of Civilization – Myth or Reality - by Cheikh Anta Diop.

Plus a few books by the late Ivan Van Sertima, Basil Davidson, and Bill Manley. But my all-time favorite is The Black Presence in the Bible by Reverend Walter Arthur McCray.

McCray’s books were the first that I read that broke down who’s who in the Bible. If you remember the story of Noah’s Ark, you know that the whole earth following the flood was populated by Noah’s three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

In the Reverend’s books, he lists all the sons and their descendants, and where they settled. For example, Shem’s first-born son Elam founded Persia. Japheth’s son Javan is the patriarch of the Greek people, and Javan’s son Tarshish is known as Spain.

Ham’s first son, Cush settled a nation in the eastern Sudan, referred to as Ethiopia in the Bible. Though it isn’t the exact location as modern day Ethiopia; the land of Cush in also known as Nubia. The second son of Ham, Mizraim founded one of the most famous civilizations, Kham/Egypt, known in the Bible as “the land of Ham.”

These volumes form the core of my research. If you love African history, I highly recommend each of these books. Now…I have to get back to work.