Length4h
About this audiobook
Until the lion learns to write; every story will glorify the hunter."
With these words; an ancient Akan proverb; Abakɔsɛm announces its purpose. This is a book written by the lion. For the lion. And about the lion.
Abakɔsɛm follows a young boy who gathers with other children every night around a bonfire to listen to his grandmother Attaa; tell the history of the Akan people. Not from textbooks. Not from colonial records. But from the oral tradition that carried this history across deserts; rivers; oceans; and generations.
The story spans more than three thousand years.
It begins in ancient Nubia and Kush; where the ancestors of the Akan people lived beside the Nile; built pyramids; and produced the first Nubian Pharaohs. It moves through the great empires of Ghana and Mali; tracing the long migration of the Akan clans southward through the African continent. It arrives at the founding of two of West Africa's most powerful kingdoms; Akwamu and Asante.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★★ 5.0 (1)
GenreHistory, Historical Fiction
Length4 hrs
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateMay 12, 2026
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Prologue
2Chapter I: Not Anansesɛm, it's Abakɔsɛm
3Chapter II: Tutu Abo
4Chapter III: The Throne Moves South
5Chapter IV: The Border of Empires
Show all chaptersShow less
6Chapter V: The Long Road of Tutu Abo
7Chapter VI: Questions by the Fire.
8Chapter I (2): Ɛdwoada - The Day of Peace
9Chapter II (2): Ɛbenada -The Day of Brave Waters and Fire Spirit
10Chapter III (2): Wukuada - The Day of Curious Wisdom.
11Chapter IV (2): Yawoada -The Day of the Earth
12Chapter V (2): Efiada - The Day of Crossing Roads, the Travelers
13Chapter VI (2): Memeneda - The Day of Creation
14Chapter VII (2): Kwasiada - The Day of the Ancestors
15Chapter I (3): Into the Forest of Signs
16Chapter II (3): The People Whose End Could Not Be Seen
17Chapter III (3): The Mother's Line
18Chapter IV (3): The Night of Thunder
19Chapter V (3): The Age of Formation and Fire
20Chapter VI (3): The Questions That Remain After Victory
21Chapter VII (3): The Bell That Cannot Be Ignored
22Chapter I (4): The Birth of the king and the priest.
23Chapter II (4): Exile, Spirit, and the Court of Power
24Chapter III (4): The Stool That Chooses
25Chapter IV (4): The Pattern of Forty.
26Chapter V (4): The Return of a King.
27Chapter VI (4): The Game, the Ride, and the Hidden War
28Chapter VII (4): The Stool That Refuses
29Chapter I (5): The Lion Must Speak.
30Chapter II (5): The Night the Fortress Fell
31Our elders say:: On Memory; Oral Tradition; and the Responsibility of the Storyteller Part 1
32Our elders say:: On Memory; Oral Tradition; and the Responsibility of the Storyteller Part 2
A Brief History of IntelligenceMax S. Bennett12h 18m4.6 (6.6K)$29 · $0.00
Ghosts of HiroshimaCharles Pellegrino8h 59m4.5 (877)$23
The Happiest Man on EarthEddie Jaku3h 48m4.6 (178K)$7 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m4.7 (2.5K)$40 · $0.00
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m4.7 (351)$20 · $0.00
RevolutionariesSanjeev Sanyal11h 23m4.6 (2.6K)$29 · $0.00
We Crossed a Bridge and It TrembledWendy Pearlman6h4.6 (5.2K)$24 · $0.00
Unbroken Bonds of BattleJohnny Joey Jones8h 31m4.6 (2.6K)$8 · $0.00
The Daughter of AuschwitzTova Friedman, Malcolm Brabant7h 54m4.6 (16.7K)$26 · $0.00
Lily's PromiseLily Ebert, Dov Forman8h 54m4.6 (16.1K)$29 · $0.00
On Democracies and Death CultsDouglas Murray10h 38m4.6 (6.5K)$29 · $0.00
Across the RiverKent Babb11h 40m4.6 (927)$29 · $0.00
Balcony Over Jerusalem: A Middle East Memoir - Israel, Palestine and BeyondJohn Lyons12h 37m4.6 (1.4K)$33 · $0.00
BeyondStephen Walker15h 39m4.6 (3.2K)$33 · $0.00
Kings and PawnsHoward Bryant10h 9m4.6 (678)$29 · $0.00
No EscapeNury Turkel9h 30m4.6 (809)$28 · $0.00
Jubal Stone: U.S. Marshal: Blood Trail To Hell: A Western Adventure NovelCasey Nash3h 42m4.6 (3.2K)$18 · $0.00
Fall and RiseMitchell Zuckoff17h 23m4.6 (9.8K)$40 · $0.00
The SurvivorJosef Lewkowicz, Michael Calvin9h 22m4.6 (2.5K)$29 · $0.00
Always FaithfulThomas Schueman, Zainullah Zaki12h 12m4.6 (977)$29 · $0.00
The Ghost by the Billabong (The Matilda Saga, #5)Jackie French14h 58m4.6 (773)$33 · $0.00
The Labyrinth of the SpiritsCarlos Ruiz Zafon27h 55m4.5 (77.2K)$53 · $0.00
The Things We Cannot SayKelly Rimmer13h 48m4.5 (359.1K)$33 · $0.00
Lieutenant Hornblower (Annotated)C. S. Forester11h 41m4.5 (2.9K)$2 · $0.00
Rilla of InglesideLucy Maud Montgomery11h 44m4.5 (48.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Viennese DressmakerKathryn Gauci11h 46m4.5 (2.1K)$23 · $0.00
The Man in the Brown Suit & They Came to BaghdadAgatha Christie15h 43m4.6 (495)$33 · $0.00
Under the Light of the Italian MoonJennifer Anton12h 28m4.5 (5.3K)$23 · $0.00
Jubilee, 50th Anniversary EditionMargaret Walker15h 43m4.5 (9.5K)$25 · $0.00
Pride and PrejudiceJane Austen14h 44m4.4 (4.7M)$2 · $0.00
Flying Colours (Annotated)Cecil Louis Troughton Smith9h 26m4.4 (10.1K)$2 · $0.00
With Love from HarlemReShonda Tate13h 48m4.5 (2K)$6 · $0.00
Sweet Home Highland ChristmasMay McGoldrick, Jan Coffey2h 54m4.5 (1.4K)$7 · $0.00
Rilla of InglesideL. M. Montgomery12h 25m4.4 (67.5K)$2 · $0.00
Death Comes for the Archbishop (Annotated)Willa Cather9h 13m4.4 (4.7K)$2 · $0.00
The Alice NetworkKate Quinn15h 7m4.4 (887.1K)$33 · $0.00
The Goddess of WarsawLisa Barr13h 4m4.4 (36.4K)$33 · $0.00
The Ohio River Trilogy: Betty Zane, The Spirit of the Border & The Last TrailZane Grey29h 8m4.4 (1.8K)$1 · $0.00
The Attic ChildLola Jaye14h 46m4.4 (21K)$33 · $0.00
Martyr of the CatacombsJames De Mille3h 41m4.5 (744)$1 · $0.00
You may also like
Plutarch: Lives of the noble Grecians and RomansBy A. H. Clough78h 16m4.2 (2.1K)Free
Dwapar KathaSudipta Bhawmik11h 56m4.5 (294)$29 · $0.00
The Story of the GreeksH. A. Guerber8h 35m4.1 (665)$1 · $0.00
Norse SagasSnorri Sturluson, Anonymous100h 55m4.4 (1.3K)$2 · $0.00
The History of the Kings of BritainGeoffrey of Monmouth10h 25m4.0 (9.9K)$21 · $0.00
Idylls of the King By Baron Alfred Tennyson Tennyson8h 21m4.1 (18.1K)Free
The Kebra NagastAnonymous10h 20m4.2 (1.4K)$1 · $0.00
The Antiquities of the Jews (Annotated)Flavius Josephus59h 14m4.6 (2K)$3 · $0.00
Tanakh - The Holy Scriptures (Annotated)Various Authors46h 59m4.5 (9K)$1.99 · $0.00
Le Morte d'Arthur (Annotated)Thomas Malory35h 53m4.1 (45.7K)$2 · $0.00
The History of Rome (Vol. 1-4)Livy102h 20m4.2 (759)$2 · $0.00
Masters of Rome: 15 Leaders Who Forged the History of Roman EmpireW. Lucas Collins, Evelyn S. Shuckburgh, Jacob Abbott, A. H. Beesly, Edward Spencer Beesly, John Charles Tarver, Philo, Stephen Phillips, Tacitus, Georg Ebers, George Lang, John B. Firth98h 52m$1.99
The White Conquerors, A Tale of Toltec and AztecKirk Munroe8h 12m$2.30
The History of the Ancient CivilizationsMax Duncker92h 50m$1 · $0.00
RamayanamDushyanth Sridhar13h 25m4.4 (67)$33 · $0.00
A Thousand Years of Jewish HistoryMaurice H. Harris8h 4m$2 · $0.00
The Coming of CuculainStandish O'Grady4h 4m4.1 (170)$2 · $0.00
The History of Eternal RomeF. Marion Crawford16h 22m3.9 (102)$1 · $0.00
The Book of the EpicH. A. Guerber19h 13m3.1 (23)$1 · $0.00
Ancient Wonders (Illustrated Edition) (Annotated)Mary Macgregor24h 7m$1.99 · $0.00