The World and Africa by W. E. B. Du Bois

How hard is The World and Africa to read?

The World and Africa scores 38 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it moderately challenging. The score is a weighted composite of nine measures: four of how hard the prose is to parse, five of how hard the meaning is to extract.

Vocabulary: 68 out of 100

Du Bois deploys an educated early-20th-century vocabulary with specialized terminology from multiple domains: ancient history (Hyksos, Meroitic, Sabean), colonial administration (suzerainty, protectorate, extraterritorial), and political economy (proletariat, exploitation, imperialism). He draws on French, Arabic, and African-language terms without glossing. The prose sits at a consistently elevated register, with periodic archaic turns like 'in such wise' and scholarly diction throughout.

Sentence structure: 62 out of 100

Du Bois writes in long, carefully structured periodic sentences with multiple subordinate clauses, often building to rhetorical climaxes. Paragraphs frequently run half a page or more, layering historical evidence through extended coordination. The sentences are demanding but logical rather than labyrinthine -- readers must track cumulative arguments across many clauses, though each clause is individually clear.

Abstraction: 72 out of 100

The book operates on two simultaneous planes: concrete historical narration (dates, battles, kingdoms, trade routes) and sustained theoretical argument about race, civilization, and economic exploitation. Du Bois constantly moves between specific events and sweeping claims about the nature of European imperialism, the meaning of 'civilization,' and the relationship between labor exploitation and racial ideology. The argumentative framework is more abstract than narrative history but grounded by persistent factual specificity.

Information density: 78 out of 100

Every page packs dates, place names, population figures, trade statistics, and historical actors alongside lengthy quotations from other scholars. A single paragraph may cover three centuries across multiple kingdoms while citing four different authorities. Du Bois rarely pauses for scene-setting or narrative elaboration; the text moves relentlessly through historical evidence. Readers must track dozens of proper nouns, geographic references, and chronological relationships per chapter.

Narrative indirection: 28 out of 100

Du Bois states his thesis directly and repeatedly: European civilization rests on the exploitation of Africa, and historians have systematically suppressed this truth. There is no indirection -- the author tells readers exactly what to think and why, marshaling evidence in service of explicit arguments. The rhetorical mode is persuasive essay and polemic, not implication or suggestion.

Symbolic density: 18 out of 100

This is historical argument, not literary fiction. Du Bois uses occasional metaphorical language -- 'dripping from head to foot with blood and dirt' -- but these are rhetorical flourishes, not sustained symbolic structures. There are no motifs to track, no allegory to decode. The text means what it says and says what it means.

Ironic distance: 22 out of 100

Du Bois writes with passionate sincerity and moral urgency. When he quotes defenders of colonialism, the intent is not subtle irony but direct refutation. The gap between what the text says and what the author means is negligible -- Du Bois wants the reader to share his indignation and acts accordingly. Occasional sardonic asides appear, but the dominant mode is earnest advocacy.

Resolution withholding: 20 out of 100

The book builds to explicit policy demands and programmatic conclusions. Du Bois enumerates specific proposals for African self-governance, Pan-African cooperation, and economic justice. The later appended writings trace the actual achievement of independence in Ghana and elsewhere. There is no ambiguity about what the author believes or what he wants -- the text resolves emphatically.

Structural complexity: 35 out of 100

The book follows a broadly chronological structure from ancient Africa through colonialism to modern independence movements, organized into thematic chapters. Later editions append additional essays and speeches in roughly chronological order. There are no timeline disruptions, POV shifts, or formal experiments -- this is conventional scholarly argument with clear chapter divisions. The only structural complication is the appended materials, which shift from historical argument to personal essay and political commentary.

How The World and Africa is regarded

The World and Africa holds a literary regard score of 64 out of 100, weighing its place in the canon, its critical reception, its influence on other writers, and the standing of its author. Regard is measured separately from difficulty: a demanding book is not necessarily an admired one.

About the author

W. E. B. Du Bois