Coming on the heels of two previously published collections of essays, Critical Insights resumes the all important question of the relevance of African History. But unlike its predecessors it widens the debate to include women's perspectives on African History and Panafricanism. The omission of these topics by the prevailing orthodoxy is owing to its conservative outlook which takes the African nation-states for granted and is backward looking. It is argued in conclusion that a forward-looking African historiography is intimately linked to the solution of the continent's underdevelopment.