This timely book provides a comprehensive historical overview of the issues and challenges of contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa. An interdisciplinary perspective is driven by an emphasis on development issues and the four pillars of sustainability: social, cultural, economic and environmental. An audit approach is used to evaluate the experiences of Sub-Saharan Africa since the mercantile and colonial eras through the era of independence and development, the structural adjustment decades and the contemporary resource boom. Stimulated by an abundance of reports in the media criticizing China's presence in Sub-Saharan Africa, a comparison is made between China's 50 years of involvement in the region and the 500 years of Western colonialism.Globalization and Sustainability in Sub-Saharan Africa is an important reference for academics, researchers and students. It is also written in an accessible style that is suitable for the general reader.