Considers the meaning and power of images in African history and culture. This title assembles a range of collection of essays dealing with specific visual forms, including monuments, cinema, cartoons, domestic and professional photography, body art, world fairs, and museum exhibits.

Images and Empires is a lively and engaging collection of essays on images and iconography, their meanings, uses, and influences in colonial and post-colonial Africa. The book offers a new way of understanding Africa beyond debates about oral versus written texts, by engaging with the visual.