For thousands of years, the Amazigh people—also known as the Moors, Numidians, and Libyans—have shaped the history of the Mediterranean world. From resisting empires to building their own, their influence spans across vast lands and critical moments in time. Yet their stories are often overlooked. This book brings their legacy to light through the lives of ten powerful Amazigh figures—from fearless queens and rebel commanders to visionary rulers and cultural icons. Each chapter dives into a different era, revealing battles won, empires built, and legacies carved into the history of North Africa.

Tafukt is an Amazigh girl from the city, but her heart has been longing to visit her Amazigh village in the Atlas Mountains where she was born. Read the story to learn more about Tafukt and to understand the connection the Amazigh people have with the land.

The Berbers is the first attempt by English scholars to provide a comprehensive overview of the history of the Berber-speaking peoples. From the first appearance of humans in the Maghreb, through the rise of the formidable Berber kingdoms of Numidia and Mauretania, the book traces the origins of the distinct characteristics of these disparate peoples, regarded as the indigenous inhabitants of North Africa. In examining, too, the responses to external overlords, whether Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Turks, or, most recently, European imperial powers, the authors indicate the importance for the various Berber communities of such factors as language, tradition, social organization and geographical location.

For thousands of years, the Amazigh people—North Africa’s indigenous inhabitants—have shaped the region’s history, culture, and identity. From ancient times, they built thriving communities, resisted invasions, and established powerful empires like Numidia, Mauretania, Almoravids and the Almohads. They stood against Carthage, Rome, Byzantium, and the Arab conquests, leaving behind a legacy of resilience and adaptation. This book explores their origins, their diverse societies, and the wars that defined their fate, including the legendary battles of Queen Dihya and the Great Amazigh Revolt against the Umayyads.

Inventing the Berbers examines the emergence of the Berbers as a distinct category in early Arabic texts and probes the ways in which later Arabic sources, shaped by contemporary events, imagined the Berbers as a people and the Maghrib as their home.