African history Books

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Book SynopsisThis book is a comprehensive history of slavery in Africa from earliest times to the end of the twentieth century, connecting the emergence and consolidation of slavery to specific historical forces both internal and external to the African continent. It examines the different forms of slavery that developed in Africa and presents the lives, work, and struggles of slaves themselves.Trade Review'Sean Stilwell presents us with a powerful entry into the rich debate on the nature and history of slavery and slaving in Africa. His book represents both a valuable point of entry for any scholar moving into this field and a superb synthesis of recent research across the continent for those of us trying to keep up. Stilwell also manages to stake out positions in key debates that respond to recent scholarship, like that from Joe Miller, while inviting new avenues of deliberation. This volume thus serves as a monograph, a historiography, and an excellent teaching text all in one book.' Trevor R. Getz, Professor of History, San Francisco State University'A refreshing reexamination of the place of slavery in the history of Africa, Slavery and Slaving in African History surveys the role of slaves in the economies and societies of Africa throughout history, thereby establishing context for an understanding of the deportation of slaves across the Atlantic, the Sahara, and the Indian Ocean and of the use of slaves in Africa itself.' Paul E. Lovejoy, FRSC Distinguished Research Professor, Canada Research Chair in African Diaspora History, York UniversityTable of ContentsPreface; 1. Defining slavery, defining freedom; 2. Slavery in African history; 3. Slavery without states: land, lineages, and power in Africa; 4. Slavery and African states; 5. Slavery and African economics; 6. The end of slavery in Africa; Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisIn this book, William Kelleher Storey shows that guns and discussions about guns during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries were fundamentally important to the establishment of racial discrimination in South Africa.Trade ReviewReview of the hardback: '… without doubt the most stimulating and significant discussion concerning South Africa's colonial 'gun society' to have appeared since the publication in 1971 of the influential series of articles on guns in colonial Africa in the Journal of African History. Storey's study is consequently absolutely essential reading, not only for military historians of South Africa in the colonial period, but for all those with an interest in related technology, hunting, ecology, culture and society.' Journal of the Society for Army Historical ResearchTable of Contents1. Guns in colonial South African history; 2. Early colonialism and guns at the Cape up to 1795; 3. Guns, conflict, and political culture along the Eastern Frontier, 1795–1840; 4. Hunting, warfare, and guns along the Northern Frontier, 1795–1868; 5. Capitalism, race, and breechloaders, 1840–80; 6. Guns and the Langalibalele Affair, 1873–5; 7. Guns and confederation, 1875–6; 8. Risk, skill, and citizenship in the Eastern Cape, 1876–9.

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Book SynopsisThis book traces the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) across its three decades in exile through rich, local histories of the camps where Namibian exiles lived in Tanzania, Zambia, and Angola and highlights how different Namibians experienced these sites, as well as the tensions that developed within.Trade Review'Drawing upon insights from anthropology as well as a number of remarkable interviews he conducted with Namibians who had been in exile, Williams’s ‘historical ethnography’ is rich and sophisticated. No one concerned with SWAPO’s exile history in future will be able to ignore this book.' Christopher Saunders, Journal of Contemporary HistoryTable of ContentsPart I. Camp, Nation, History: 1. Liberation movement camps and the past of the present in Southern Africa; 2. Revisiting an image of a camp: remember Cassinga?; Part II. Camps and the Formation of a Nation: 3. Living in exile: life and crisis at SWAPO's Kongwa Camp, 1964–8; 4. Ordering the nation: SWAPO in Zambia, 1974–6; 5. 'The spy' and the camp: SWAPO in Angola, 1980–9; Part III. Camps and the Production of History: 6. Namibia's 'Wall of Silence': challenging national history in the international system; 7. Reconciliation in Namibia? Narrating the past in a post-camp nation; 8. The camp and the post-colony.

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Book SynopsisEunuchs were a common feature of pre- and early modern societies that are now poorly understood. Here, Jane Hathaway offers an in-depth study of the chief of the African eunuchs who guarded the harem of the Ottoman Empire. A wide range of primary sources are used to analyze the Chief Eunuch''s origins in East Africa and his political, economic, and religious role from the inception of his office in the late sixteenth century through the dismantling of the palace harem in the early twentieth century. Hathaway highlights the origins of the institution and how the role of eunuchs developed in East Africa, as well as exploring the Chief Eunuch''s connections to Egypt and Medina. By tracing the evolution of the office, we see how the Chief Eunuch''s functions changed in response to transformations in Ottoman society, from the generalized crisis of the seventeenth century to the westernizing reforms of the nineteenth century.Trade Review'Building on an impressive body of work on Ottoman Egypt and the Arab lands, and on the formidable early eighteenth-century Chief Harem Eunuch el-Hajj Beşir Agha, Jane Hathaway focuses here on the careers of these eunuchs and how the office evolved over time. She deftly brings her subjects out of the shadows to reveal the geographic and functional reach of their interests, which oscillated between the poles of Istanbul and Cairo, but also extended from guardianship of the Prophet's tomb to protection of the grain trade on the Danube. Hathaway has written a work with a strong narrative thread that is at once scholarly and accessible. Her careful research allows the Chief Harem Eunuchs to take their place in the constellation of Ottoman power and demonstrates that, as she writes,'the imperial household could not function without eunuchs, and vice versa'.' Caroline Finkel, author of Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire'Long accustomed to despise palace intrigues and the people that used to spin them in the past, we usually prefer to forget the enormous role that 'the backstairs of power' play in our own time. Now Jane Hathaway's wide-ranging and fascinating account shows how eunuchs from East Africa came into the Ottoman palace and how sultans and courtiers elevated or destroyed them for reasons of their own. This study portrays these men as real people, trying to make a place for themselves in an unfamiliar world, to which they had not come of their own volition. Hathaway shows how by clever alliance-building, piety and charity these men attempted to overcome the opprobrium that in Ottoman society (as elsewhere), clung to them as people not fully men and yet not women.' Suraiya Faroqhi, University of Munich'The first book-length account of the black eunuchs of the Ottoman sultanate, Hathaway's study deftly weaves the Istanbul and Egyptian power bases of the Chief Harem Eunuch's office into a riveting story of rise through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and then irrelevance in the reform era of the nineteenth. Individual figures come vibrantly alive, some rivaling the grand vizier in influence. Particularly novel is a chapter on memorializing of the Harem eunuchs through painted images, tombs, and gravestones.' Leslie P. Peirce, New York University'Jane Hathaway's The Chief Eunuch of the Ottoman Harem is as full a picture of African eunuchs in Mediterranean history as readers are likely to find, or construct for themselves.' Madeline C. Zilfi, Journal of the American Oriental Society'Hathaway's book is extensively and deeply researched, focusing on key figures to demonstrate how their careers were shaped by wider political and social transformations.' Nur Sobers-Khan, Journal of Early Modern HistoryTable of Contents1. Introduction to the Chief Harem Eunuch; 2. The African Connection; 3. Arrangement in black and white: eunuchs in the Ottoman Palace; 4. The creation of the office of Chief Harem Eunuch and the career of Habeshi Mehmed Agha; 5. The crisis years of the seventeenth century; 6. Yusuf Agha and the Köprülü reforms; 7. A new paradigm: El-Hajj Beshir Agha and his successors; 8. Exile and the Kingdom: the Chief Harem Eunuch and Egypt; 9. The Chief Harem Eunuch and Ottoman religious and intellectual life; 10. Reformed out of existence: the dénouement of the Chief Harem Eunuch; 11. Memorializing the Chief Harem Eunuch; 12. Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisExamining the process of abolition on the island of Pemba off the East African coast in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, this book demonstrates the links between emancipation and the redefinition of honour among all classes of people on the island. By examining the social vulnerability of ex-slaves and the former slave-owning elite caused by the abolition order of 1897, this study argues that moments of resistance on Pemba reflected an effort to mitigate vulnerability rather than resist the hegemonic power of elites or the colonial state. As the meaning of the Swahili word heshima shifted from honour to respectability, individuals' reputations came under scrutiny and the Islamic kadhi and colonial courts became an integral location for interrogating reputations in the community. This study illustrates the ways in which former slaves used piety, reputation, gossip, education, kinship and witchcraft to negotiate the gap between emancipation and local notions of belonginTrade Review'This detailed, absorbing and thought-provoking study is the most explicit attempt so far to address the aftermath of slavery in East Africa, a topic that has shown up in many previous studies but rarely been the main focus.' Felicitas Becker, H-Soz-KultTable of ContentsPreface; 1. Introduction; 2. Mzuri Kwao and slavery in eastern Africa; 3. Reputation and disputing in the courts; 4. Reputation, heshima, and community; 5. Mitigating vulnerability and kinship; 6. Magic, witchcraft, power, and vulnerability; Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisThis book examines the economic history of ancient Egypt through the entire pharaonic period, 300030 BCE, using current economic theories and models. It argues that the increased use of writing and silver money were important factors in the evolution of the ancient Egyptian economy.Table of ContentsIntroduction; 1. The Early Dynastic Period (c.3000–2686 BCE); 2. The Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period (c.2686–2025 BCE); 3. The Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period (c.2025–1550 BCE; 4. The New Kingdom (c.1550–1069 BCE); 5. The Third Intermediate Period (c.1069–664 BCE); 6. The Saite and Persian Periods (664–332 BCE); 7. The Ptolemaic Period (332–30 BCE); Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisShows how powerful states and empires seek to know and understand parts of the world they consider to be unknown, dangerous or violent. Spanning multiple disciplines, this book will appeal to students and researchers working in the fields of history, international relations, diplomacy, conflict and foreign policy.Trade Review'Focusing on the shifting parameters of 'knowledge communities', this impressive book situates Afghanistan and the Afghan frontier in a multi-layered and evolving set of British Imperial and colonial policies and practices during the nineteenth century. It is essential reading for all students of modern Afghanistan and for those concerned with colonial knowledge formations and the history of imperialism.' Shah Mahmoud Hanifi, James Madison University, Virginia'According to Edward Said, 'From travelers' tales … colonies were created'. In recent years scholars have explored the details of the dialectical relationship between colonial knowledge and imperial policy. In Taming the Imperial Imagination, Martin J. Bayly continues the work begun by Christopher Bayly on British information gathering in India, pushing the investigation north of the Durand Line into Afghanistan. Bayly reconstructs the images of Afghanistan upon which British officials drew in crafting their policy decisions. After discussing the work of the founding figures, he tracks the emergence after 1830 of a more unified concept of the Afghan polity. This book is an important contribution to the histories of British imperialism and Anglo-Afghan relations and to the re-historicization of the international relations discipline.' George Steinmetz, Charles Tilly Professor of Sociology, University of Michigan'Bayly, in a single volume, demolishes powerful self-fulfilling myths. Speaking to multiple audiences with interests across the historical and thematic spectrum, this book is a must-read for anyone wanting to understand why Afghanistan looks the way it does in 2017, and more importantly, why many view it the way they do.' Avinash Paliwal, International Affairs'Taming the imperial imagination is at once an intellectual history of British constructions of Afghanistan as well as a critical theoretical argument regarding the variegated manifestations of space, sovereignty and territory - the currency of much IR literature - over time. … ultimately, the book's intellectual ambition is equalled by the author's sophisticated and compelling argument.' Benjamin D. Hopkins, Cambridge Review of International Affairs'This is no ordinary book about British colonial-era engagement with Afghanistan. In fact, it is as far removed from orthodox military histories of the Anglo-Afghan experience as it is possible to be. More than anything it chooses to intellectualise the subject in an uncommon fashion and in the process delivers an entirely refreshing approach to what is in danger of becoming a tired and unimaginative field of study. … It is as much a book about the present as it is about the past, and for that reason is a must-read for anyone interested in the formulation of foreign policy and military strategy with respect to those dark corners of our world that stoke the fears of Western imagination.' Christian Tripodi, International Journal of Military and HistoriographyTable of ContentsIntroduction; Part I. Knowledge: 1. Early European explorers of Afghanistan; 2. Knowledge entrepreneurs; Part II. Policy: 3. 'Information … information': Anglo-Afghan relations in the 1830s; 4. Contestation and closure: rationalising the Afghan polity; Part III. Exception: 5. The emergence of a violent geography, 1842–53; 6. Overcoming exception, 1853–7; 7. 'Science' and sentiment: the era of frontier management, 1857–78; Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisThis is the first book-length treatment of the history of motherhood in pre-colonial Africa. This book takes a new approach to longue durée African history through a focus on a highly gendered social institution, and changes our understanding of social and political organization in a region depicted as intensely patriarchal.Trade Review'This work is a major contribution to the expanding new, groundbreaking field of African historical studies, which aims to bring to light the hitherto neglected precolonial social history of the continent. The author shows a full and finely tuned grasp of the techniques of linguistic historical reconstruction and a complete knowledge of - and an ability to effectively incorporate - the literature and the historical sources.' Christopher Ehret, University of California, Los Angeles'This study provides a fascinating analysis of language regarding the nature of marriage and matrilateral relationships in patrilineal societies. It makes a convincing case for seeing marriage and motherhood as lying at the heart of alliance-building in precolonial Africa. This is the most readable and comprehensible text available based on African historical linguistics.' Shane Doyle, University of LeedsTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Writing pre-colonial African history: words and other historical fragments; 2. Motherhood in North Nyanza, eighth through the twelfth century; 3. Consolidation and adaptation: the politics of motherhood in early Buganda and South Kyoga, thirteenth through the fifteenth century; 4. Mothering the kingdoms: Buganda, Busoga, and East Kyoga, sixteenth through the eighteenth century; 5. Contesting the authority of mothers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisRice today is food to half the world's population. Its history is inextricably entangled with the emergence of colonialism, the global networks of industrial capitalism, and the modern world economy. The history of rice is currently a vital and innovative field of research attracting serious attention, but no attempt has yet been made to write a history of rice and its place in the rise of capitalism from a global and comparative perspective. Rice is a first step toward such a history. The fifteen chapters, written by specialists on Africa, the Americas, and Asia, are premised on the utility of a truly international approach to history. Each brings a new approach that unsettles prevailing narratives and suggests new connections. Together they cast new light on the significant roles of rice as crop, food, and commodity, and shape historical trajectories and interregional linkages in Africa, the Americas, Europe, and Asia.Trade Review'To see the world in a grain of rice! Beyond mere matters of taste, rice is possibly the world's most important food crop. Its cultivation and consumption have affected vast areas of Asia, Africa, and the Americas, not to mention the billions who rely on it as their principal dietary staple. We reflexively think of rice as the food of Asia par excellence, but since the voyages of Columbus, the African contributions - with an ancient and independently domesticated rice species - have played no small part in the history of the Americas. This is a story of globalization: rice's geographical reach is worldwide, its histories complex and deep. Now, Rice: Global Networks and New Histories brings together scholarship that recovers in one peerless volume the modern history of a truly global crop.' Judith Carney, University of California, Los Angeles'The editors of this volume have gathered expert voices from across the spectrum of study, and together they have painted a dynamic portrait of the world's most important food. In so doing, they have shown us once again that rice is more than just rice. It is a powerful force that shapes societies and landscapes, a tool wielded across centuries and on every agricultural continent. Even as some of this book's histories reach into the deep past, their words are sharply relevant to the questions of food production and culture in the twenty-first century.' Lisa M. Hamilton, author of Deeply Rooted: Unconventional Farmers in the Age of Agribusiness'A stunningly sophisticated and comprehensive examination of the worldwide peregrinations of rice - its genes, its growers, its merchants, its consumers, and its cultural effects. As a model, or arguably the world's most important staple - both materially and symbolically - wheat and maize can only dream of a day when they too will have a volume that does them such justice.' James C. Scott, Co-Director, Program in Agrarian Studies, Yale University'Reflecting a good balance of experts on rice production and consumption, the contributors incorporate innovative approaches and collaborations in their research, considering, for example, plant genetics, paleohydrology, and historical linguistics. Of benefit not only to those interested in environmental and economic history, this comprehensive book provides another tool for those making policy decisions around food security and sustainable development through its illumination of the social, environmental, and economic history of this vital grain. Summing up: essential.' E. G. Harrington, Choice'This substantial and informative work aims to construct and articulate a nuanced appreciation of rice, as traded commodity or local staple, connected across its diverse geophysical, ecological and human settings … I recommend the work to all who are practically concerned with rice or food security … It is often said that one cannot claim to be seriously engaged with a crop until one has woken up from dreaming that one was re-embodied as a crop plant in the ground. This book will provide much material to invigorate, contextualize and add vivid colour to such dreams.' Food Security'Rice features a dazzling variety of methodologies and employs them in an eclectic collection of case studies. Different essays consider quantitative correlations, compare DNA structures from different strains of rice, and make use of historical linguistics, in a truly interdisciplinary collection that includes the work of historians, anthropologists, agricultural scientists, historians of science, and area studies scholars.' Agricultural HistoryTable of ContentsForeword Giorgio Riello; Preface: global networks and new histories of rice Francesca Bray; Part I. Purity and Promiscuity: Introduction Francesca Bray; 1. Global visions vs local complexity: experts wrestle with the problem of development Jonathan Harwood; 2. Rice, sugar, and livestock in Java, 1820–1940: Geertz's Agricultural Involution 50 years on Peter Boomgaard and Pieter M. Kroonenberg; 3. A desire to eat well: rice and the market in eighteenth-century China Sui-wai Cheung; 4. Rice and maritime modernity: the modern Chinese state and the South China Sea rice trade Seung-Joon Lee; 5. Promiscuous transmission and encapsulated knowledge: a material-semiotic approach to modern rice in the Mekong David Biggs; 6. Red and white rice in the vicinity of Sierra Leone: linked histories of slavery, emancipation and seed selection Bruce Mouser, Edwin Nuijten, Florent Okry and Paul Richards; Part II. Environmental Matters: Introduction Edda Fields-Black; 7. Rice on the Upper Guinea Coast: a regional perspective based on interdisciplinary sources and methods Edda Fields-Black; 8. Reserving water: environmental and technological relationships with colonial South Carolina inland rice plantations Hayden Smith; 9. Asian rice in Africa: plant genetics and crop history Erik Gilbert; 10. When Jola granaries were full Olga F. Linares; 11. Of health and harvests: seasonal mortality and commercial rice cultivation in the Punjab and Bengal regions of South Asia Lauren Minsky; Part III. Power and Control: Introduction Peter Coclanis; 12. The cultural meaning of work: the 'Black Rice Debate' reconsidered Walter Hawthorne; 13. White rice: the Midwestern origins of the modern rice industry in the United States Peter Coclanis; 14. Rice and the path of economic development in Japan Penelope Francks; 15. Commodities and anti-commodities: rice on Sumatra 1915–25 Harro Maat; Index; Bibliography.

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Book SynopsisToby Green has written the first full and best documented account of the rise of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. His book shows which African peoples suffered most and why, as well as the effect this had on societies both in Africa and in the colonies of the New World.Trade Review'Many current scholars lay claim to a transnational and cross-cultural 'Atlantic' history but very few have brought together the detail, scope, and vision of Toby Green. This remarkable book, focusing on Cabo Verde, Senegambia, and Upper Guinea, reveals how Iberian imperial authorities, a New Christian/Crypto-Jewish diaspora, and African economic and political agents combined to produce a wide-ranging early modern order of commerce and cultural identity around the violence of the slave trade.' Ralph Austen, University of Chicago'… original and thoroughly researched … Green recasts our understanding of the early years of Africa's engagement with Atlantic merchants. He 'Africanizes' Atlantic history by showing that a cultural framework established in Africa before the Portuguese 'discoveries' … influenced the nature of African-European exchanges for more than a century … Green crafts a 'culturally centered approach', which stands in contrast to quantitative approaches popular in much recent scholarship. He also shows that a widely held view that a region known as Upper Guinea was relatively unimportant in the early years of Atlantic exchange is incorrect … Well written and well argued, Green's is a story that had to be told.' Walter Hawthorne, Michigan State University, and author of From Africa to Brazil: Culture, Identity, and an Atlantic Slave Trade, 1600–1830'Green's book is learned and wide-ranging. It is also deeply humane and marked by an imaginative empathy of rare quality. The result is one of the best and most rewarding works I have read on the trans-Atlantic slave trade. This is a major contribution to West African and Atlantic history and marks Green as a scholar to watch.' T. C. McCaskie, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London'This book offers a real window [into] the history of the diversity of West African societies before the seventeenth century. The protagonists are slaves, women, Jews, Mestizos, Capeverdeans and African merchants - all of whom contributed to new identities. The space of reflection opened by T. Green is rich in ways of thinking about the formation of West African societies, the first Atlantic exchanges and the configuration of new identities in American space.' António de Almeida Mendes, translated from Annales: Histoire, Sciences Sociales'This book is a transnational history par excellence, with multiple places, communities, regions, peoples, cultures, identities, and overlapping agendas in simultaneous dialogues. It is written with reflection, compassion, and good judgement. Green tackles the complications, the beauty, and the ugliness of the human condition without making excuses for the actions of men whose deeds, travails, and pragmatism gave birth to and sustained the transatlantic slave trade for more than 400 years.' Akin Ogundiran, English Historical Review'Green's book is a welcome and valuable contribution to Atlantic history and fills a lacuna with regard to the early period of its evolution. It will no doubt enliven and encourage the debate on West Africa's position in the trans-Atlantic context and on the agency of different social groups in the making of Afro-Atlantic cultures based on the ignominious trade in humans.' Philip Jan Havik, Journal of African History'[This book] makes a significant contribution to historical understanding of the beginnings of European trade in Africa and places the Cape Verde islands in their rightful place at the centre of this important story. It will interest scholars of the Atlantic World and a general audience interested in European expansion and maritime trade.' Journal of World History'A study of an impressive wealth of material.' translated from Cahiers des Etudes AfricainesTable of ContentsPart I. The Development of an Atlantic Creole Culture in Western Africa, c.1300–1500: 1. Culture, trade, and diaspora in pre-Atlantic West Africa; 2. The formation of early Atlantic societies in Senegambia and Upper Guinea; 3. The settlement of Cabo Verde and early signs of Creolization in Western Africa; 4. The new Christian diaspora in Cabo Verde and the rise of a Creole culture in Western Africa; 5. The new Christian/Kassanké alliance and the consolidation of Creolization; Part II. Creolization and Slavery: Western Africa and the Pan-Atlantic, c.1492–1589: 6. The early trans-Atlantic slave trade from Western Africa; 7. Trading ideas and trading people: the boom in the contraband trade from Western Africa, c.1550–80; 8. Cycles of war and trade in the African Atlantic, c.1550–80; 9. Creole societies and the pan-Atlantic in late sixteenth-century Western Africa and America; Part III. Conclusion: 10. Lineages, societies, and the slave trade in Western Africa to 1589.

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Book SynopsisThe Slave Trade and Culture in the Bight of Biafra dissects and explains the structure, dramatic expansion, and manifold effects of the slave trade in the Bight of Biafra. By showing that the rise of the Aro merchant group was the key factor in trade expansion, G. Ugo Nwokeji reinterprets why and how such large-scale commerce developed in the absence of large-scale centralized states. The result is the first study to link the structure and trajectory of the slave trade in a major exporting region to the expansion of a specific African merchant group - among other fresh insights into Atlantic Africa's involvement in the trade - and the most comprehensive treatment of Atlantic slave trade in the Bight of Biafra. The fundamental role of culture in the organization of trade is highlighted, transcending the usual economic explanations in a way that complicates traditional generalizations about work, domestic slavery, and gender in pre-colonial Africa.Trade Review'The best analysis yet of the interaction between the demand for African captives in the Americas and an African society that, relatively late in the slave trade era, came to generate many of those captives. It largely resolves the problem of how a stateless society with no tradition of sending slaves out of the region could be drawn into a highly significant role in the largest coerced migration in history. This is a major contribution to both Atlantic and African history and is a compelling read.' David Eltis, Emory University'Nwokeji has written a much-needed and masterful account of the intricacies of human trafficking as they pertain to the Bight of Biafra. Refreshing and innovative, his work breaks new ground. Original in perspective and interpretation, The Slave Trade and Culture in the Bight of Biafra is essential reading for the history of West Africa and the transatlantic slave trade.' Michael A. Gomez, New York University'Nwokeji treats the Atlantic slave trade as an interactive process among supply and demand, cultural features, and local institutions. This is an important, innovative, impressive work.' Gwendolyn Midlo Hall, Rutgers University'It should be indispensable for scholars and students of slavery and the Atlantic slave trade. It will serve as a model for future work on the mechanics of the slave trade within Africa.' The Journal of African HistoryTable of Contents1. Introduction; 2. The Aro in the Atlantic context: expansion and shifts, 1600s–1807; 3. The trade diaspora in regional context: commercial organization in the era of expansion, 1740–1850; 4. Culture formation in the trading frontier, c.1740–c.1850; 5. Household and market persons: deportees and society, c.1740–c.1850; 6. The slave trade, gender, and culture; 7. Cultural and economic aftershocks; 8. Summary and conclusions.

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Book SynopsisThe Archaeology and Ethnography of Central Africa provides the first detailed description of the prehistory of the Loango coast of west-central Africa over the course of more than 3000 years. The resulting 'anthropology of archaeology' highlights the connections between past and present in west-central and southern Africa.Trade Review'… the almost total lack of prior archaeological work in the Tong hills, and the relative lack of such research across much of northern Ghana, makes this an important contribution to regional history …' Peter Mitchell, Antiquity'There is much to like about this book: it provides information on a little known area and a brief discussion of larger regional connections, and the personal narratives provide a good description of the processes of fieldwork in Congo, sometimes on a shoestring.' Scott MacEachern, Azania: Archaeological Research in AfricaTable of Contents1. Behind the scenes of research; 2. Pride and prejudice: big oil, eucalyptus, and the people without history; 3. Natural and cultural environment; 4. Preservation: heritage and reconnaissance; 5. Ceramic later Stone Age excavations; 6. The early Iron Age; 7. Later Iron Age sites and the historic period; 8. Opening Pandora's box: from Loango to the Okavango; 9. Summation.

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Book SynopsisThis book traces the development of arguments about race over a period of more than 350 years in the Niger Bend in northern Mali. Bruce S. Hall reconstructs an African intellectual history of race that long predated colonial conquest, and which has continued to orient community relations ever since.Trade Review'Bruce Hall embarked on a great project to understand why racial arguments were so common in West Africa's political contexts and yet so invisible in history books. His book is an objective and nuanced analysis of race relations. Anyone who wants to know about race relations in West Africa must read this brilliant study.' Chouki El Hamel, Arizona State University'In this provocative and audacious challenge to the most influential paradigm of 'race' in African studies - Mamdani's 'contemporary racism as colonial legacy', Bruce Hall posits race as an atemporal language imbued with both deep historical meaning and widespread contemporary exigency. [He] brings to his analysis not only the texts of Islamic scholars, but also the voices and views of local Songhay slave-descendants and farmers. Conceptualized in the context of the present, it draws on an enormous interdisciplinary arsenal of languages, methodologies, and theories to engage with an historical concern that spans time and space - namely when, why, and how do people 'chose' racial construction to order their lives? And with what consequences? This is African history at its best because, like the world about which Hall writes, it will take its place in the ongoing dialogue about race that extends well beyond Africa.' Ann McDougall, University of Alberta'What makes this work so outstanding is that it is for the larger part based on local Arabic source material, which ensures that the local visions of race and society are indeed local and not inferred through an interpretation of French source material … For many of us, reading this book will mean reconsidering much of what we thought we knew about Islam, history, and society in the Sahel.' Baz Lecocq, Islamic AfricaTable of ContentsIntroduction; Part I. Race Along the Desert-Edge, c.1600–1900: 1. Making race in the Sahel, c.1600–1900; 2. Reading the blackness of the Sudan, c.1600–1900; Part II. Race and the Colonial Encounter, c.1830–1936: 3. Meeting the Tuareg; 4. Colonial conquest and statecraft in the Niger Bend, c.1893–1936; Part III. The Morality of Descent, 1893–1940: 5. Defending hierarchy: Tuareg arguments about authority and descent, c.1893–1940; 6. Defending slavery: the moral order of inequality, c.1893–1940; 7. Defending the river: Songhay arguments about land, c.1893–1940; Part IV. Race and Decolonization, 1940–60: 8. The racial politics of decolonization, 1940–60; Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisAfrican History through Sources presents the history of colonial Africa using more than 100 primary sources, each with an introduction to provide context. This work complements standard textbook narratives with varied and non-traditional accounts of life during Africa's colonial past.Trade Review'Jacobs' clear overview and her selection of compelling sources, including photographs, make this a tremendous resource for students. As one student put it, 'Jacobs challenges students to work as historians'.' Allison K. Shutt, Hendrix College, Arkansas'This volume opens a new window into a familiar but poorly understood era in African history, and it is destined to become a treasured instructional companion in courses on modern African history. The text is a model of how to make African history come alive and speak to us through the oral, written, and visual artifacts of actors and agents in that history.' Moses Ochonu, Vanderbilt University, Tennessee'This is the book we have all been waiting for. Nancy Jacobs has combined the 'textbook' and the 'sourcebook' into one rich, readable volume on Africa's colonial past that will serve teachers, students, and the general public for years to come.' Jamie Monson, MacAlester College, MinnesotaTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Life before the imperialist scramble; 2. Imperial occupation; 3. Colonialism in the everyday; 4. Race, imperial citizenship, and colonial subjecthood; 5. Colonial subjecthood and popular politics; 6. The undoings of empire; 7. Africa's war for freedom.

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Book SynopsisThe first single-volume history of Zimbabwe with detailed coverage from pre-colonial times to the present, this book examines Zimbabwe's pre-colonial, colonial and postcolonial social, economic and political history and relates historical factors and trends to recent developments in the country. Zimbabwe is a country with a rich history, dating from the early San hunter-gatherer societies. The arrival of British imperial rule in 1890 impacted the country tremendously, as the European rulers exploited Zimbabwe's resources, giving rise to a movement of African nationalism and demands for independence. This culminated in the armed conflict of the 1960s and 1970s and independence in 1980. The 1990s were marked by economic decline and the rise of opposition politics. In 1999, Mugabe embarked on a violent land reform program that plunged the nation's economy into a downward spiral, with political violence and human rights violations making Zimbabwe an international pariah state. This book wiTrade Review'The absence of a single text dedicated to the longue durée of Zimbabwe's history can now be said to be a thing of the past. At long last, Professor Alois Mlambo has, for the first time, produced a crisp single-volume book that documents the country's rich historical experience, covering the entire precolonial, colonial and postcolonial continuum. Easily readable but deeply incisive in its evaluations, A History of Zimbabwe coherently weaves together historiographical debates, which scholars have been engaged in over time, with a clear content analysis framed by recognizable themes and chronology. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the long historical trajectory of contemporary socio-economic and political developments in Zimbabwe. Professor Mlambo's book will become the classic text on the history of Zimbabwe for a long time to come.' Muchaparara Musemwa, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg'This volume, written by one of Southern Africa's premier historians, admirably fills the long-felt need for an accessible yet comprehensive synthesis of the disparate historiographies of precolonial, colonial, nationalist and independent Zimbabwe. Alois Mlambo showcases the factors that are uniquely interesting about Zimbabwe's path in a way that will also facilitate comparisons with Zimbabwe's neighbours and other countries of the global South.' Teresa Barnes, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign'Certainly the most comprehensive and informed history of Zimbabwe to date, it is also a joy to read so much good writing, with appropriate case studies and apt quotations. Alois Mlambo does not shrink from criticism of the post-independence government, but his judgments are always well thought out and tempered by consideration of the internal and international political and economic contexts. A good companion for The Cambridge History of South Africa.' Neil Parsons, Former Professor of History, University of BotswanaTable of Contents1. Introduction: Zimbabwe in historical perspective; 2. Early states, c.900–1900; 3. The British conquest state; 4. Colonial economy and society to 1953; 5. The federation years, 1953–63; 6. Nationalist movements to 1965; 7. Udi and African response; 8. Independent Zimbabwe, 1980–2000; 9. The crisis years, 2000–8; 10. Conclusion: Zimbabwe past, present and future prospects.

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Book SynopsisWhy has Africa remained persistently poor over its recorded history? Has Africa always been poor? What has been the nature of Africa's poverty and how do we explain its origins? This volume takes a necessary interdisciplinary approach to these questions by bringing together perspectives from archaeology, linguistics, history, anthropology, political science and economics.Trade Review'A cast of formidable scholars has written a powerful book with provocative propositions on development, the core of African modernity, brilliantly revealing its long roots and complexities in time, culture, people, and institutions. This will serve as an engaging teaching text for students and compelling instructional tool for policy makers.' Toyin Falola, Jacob and Frances Mossiker Chair in the Humanities, University of Texas, Austin'It has long been time for Africa to be inserted into the Europe-Asia 'great divergence' debate. This volume, containing contributions from the leading practitioners of African economic history, sets us firmly upon such a voyage.' Ralph A. Austen, Professor Emeritus, University of Chicago'Africa's economic and political history is a challenge to most well-established approaches in economics and political science. This book has much to teach and will inspire anybody interested in confronting that challenge.' Daron Acemoglu, Elizabeth and James Killian Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology'The authors have done a great job assembling an excellent group of papers dealing with today's economic development issues through a historical prism. All the key areas are touched upon, with the political economy, health, social capital and trust issues all discussed. A really wonderful book on African development.' Yaw Nyarko, New York University'This volume provides plenty of food for thought … and it is to be hoped that it is not the last of its kind.' Felicitas Becker, ComparativTable of ContentsPart I. Introduction: La Longue Durée: 1. Africa in history Christopher Ehret; 2. Reversal of fortune and socioeconomic development in the Atlantic world: a comparative examination of West Africa and the Americas, 1400–1850 Joseph Inikori; 3. The impact of malaria on African development over the longue durée David N. Weil; 4. African population, 1650–2000: comparisons and implications of new estimates Patrick Manning; Part II. Culture, Entrepreneurialism, and Development: 5. Redistributive pressures in sub-Saharan Africa: causes, consequences, and coping strategies Jean-Philippe Platteau; 6. Accumulation and conspicuous consumption: the poverty of entrepreneurship in Western Nigeria, ca.1850–1930 Ayodeji Olukoju; 7. Changing dynamics of entrepreneurship in nineteenth-century Africa Emmanuel Akyeampong; 8. The textile industry of Eastern Africa in the longue durée William Gervase Clarence-Smith; 9. Explaining and evaluating the cash crop revolution in the 'peasant' colonies of tropical Africa, c.1890–c.1930: beyond 'vent-for-surplus' Gareth Austin; 10. Re-inventing the wheel: the economic benefits of wheeled transportation in early colonial British West Africa Isaias Chaves, Stanley L. Engerman and James A. Robinson; 11. Mbanza Kongo/São Salvador: culture and the transformation of an African city, 1491 to 1670s Linda Heywood; Part III. Institutions: 12. The fragile revolution: rethinking war and development in Africa's violent nineteenth century Richard Reid; 13. The imperial peace Robert Bates; Part IV. External Forces: 14. Dahomey in the world: Dahomean rulers and European demands, 1726–1894 John Thornton; 15. The transatlantic slave trade and the evolution of political authority in West Africa Warren C. Whatley; 16. Gender and missionary influence in colonial Africa Nathan Nunn.

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Book SynopsisH. A. MacMichael was a member of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan government between 1905 and 1933. First published in 1922, this two-volume work the result of almost twenty years ethnological research provides a comprehensive history of the indigenous groups of Sudan. Volume 2 contains translations and analysis of genealogical manuscripts.Table of ContentsPart IV. The Native Manuscripts of the Sudan; Explanatory note; Introduction; List of manuscripts translated; Index.

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Book SynopsisThe publications of the Hakluyt Society (founded in 1846) made available edited (and sometimes translated) early accounts of exploration. This English translation of Zurara's fifteenth-century chronicle of the discovery of Guinea by explorers sponsored by his patron Prince Henry the Navigator (1394–1460) first appeared in 1896–1899.Table of ContentsEditors' preface; The life and writings of Azurara; Azurara's chronicle of the discovery and conquest of Guinea, chapters I-XL.

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Book SynopsisFollowing the abolition of the British slave trade in 1807, there was heated debate on how this should be extended to other countries, and how people already enslaved should be treated. Marryat exposed many flaws in his opponents' arguments, and argues for gradual emancipation to avoid revolution and economic collapse.Table of Contents1. Thoughts on the Abolition of the Slave Trade, and Civilization of Africa; 2. More Thoughts, Occasioned by Two Publications which the Authors call An Exposure of some of the Numerous Misstatements and Misrepresentations Contained in a Pamphlet, Commonly Known by the Name of Mr. Marryat's Pamphlet, Entitled Thoughts, &c.; 3. More Thoughts Still on the State of the West India Colonies, and the Proceedings of the African Institution: with Observations on the Speech of James Stephen, Esq. at the Annual Meeting of that Society, held on the 26th of March, 1817.

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Book SynopsisIn West African Countries and Peoples, published in 1868, Sierra Leone-born doctor James Africanus Beale Horton (18351883) refutes derogatory Victorian racial ideas about Africans. He was also considered an early proponent of African independence because he examines the potential of self-government almost 100 years before decolonisation.Table of ContentsPart I. West African Countries and Peoples, and the Negro's Place in Nature: 1. Description of the original and uncivilized state of the native tribes; 2. The origin, dangers, and progressive development of the Liberian Republic; 3. Exposition of erroneous views respecting the African; 4. False theories of modern anthropologists; 5. Some anatomical accounts of Negro physique; 6. The progressive advancement of the Negro race under civilizing influence; Part II. African Nationality: 7. General observations: self-government of the Gambia; 8. Self-government of Sierra Leone: Kingdom of Sierra Leone; 9. Self-government of the Gold Coast; 10. Self-government of the Gold Coast: Kingdom of Fantee; 11. Self-government of the Gold Coast: Republic of Accra; 12. Self-government of Lagos and its interior countries: Kingdom of the Akus; 13. Empire of the Eboes; Part III. Requirements of the Various Colonies and Settlements: 14. Requirements of Sierra Leone; 15. Requirements of the Gambia; 16. Requirements of the Gold Coast; 17. Requirements of Lagos; Some remarks on the Republic of Liberia; 18. Concluding remarks; advice to the rising generation in West Africa; Index.

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Book SynopsisEight years after his death, the memoirs of Walter Chichele Plowden (182060) were published in Britain. As the first British consul appointed to Abyssinia, Plowden was in a unique position to record contemporary local history, and this book contains his richly detailed accounts of all levels of Abyssinian society.Table of ContentsPreface; 1. The north and west frontier of Abyssinia; 2. Abyssinia proper; 3. The military class; 4. Military class continued; 5. Religion in Abyssinia; 6. Medicine-men; 7. Merchants; 8. Hot springs of Goramba; 9. Country of the Wallo Gallas; 10. Visit to Dejaj Bourroo Goscho in Gojam; 11. A social party; 12. Plundering; 13. Lake Tsana; 14. Visit to the Gallo Country; 15. Attack by Gallas of Jimna; 16. Voyage from Massowah to Suez; 17. Voyage to Suez continued; 18. Mission to Ras Ali; 19. Mission to Ras Ali continued; 20. Mission to Ras Ali continued; 21. Mission to Ras Ali concluded; 22. Excursion to the Valley of the Wobas; 23. Abyssinia in 1848; 24. Political relations with Abyssinia; Glossary.

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Book SynopsisOriginally published in 1900, this biography of English explorer William Cotton Oswell (181893) was compiled by his eldest son from correspondence with his family and friends. Volume 2 includes an account of Oswell's journey to the Crimean front, where he worked in hospitals between 1854 and 1855.Table of Contents10. England. 1852–3; 11. Retrospect of his African career, and the opinion of him held by contemporary travellers; 12. Paris, Constantinople, Crimea. 1853–5; 13. North and South America and West Indies. 1855–6; 14. England. 1856–60; 15. 1860–5; 16. 1865–9; 17. 1869–73; 18. 1873–8; 19. 1878–85; 20. 1885–90; 21. 1890–2; 22. 1892–3; 23. His friends' farewell; 24. Characteristic extracts from the correspondence and personal reminiscences of William Cotton Oswell; Index.

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Book SynopsisWilliam Fitzwilliam Owen (1774â1857) was a British naval officer. Between 1821 and 1826 he commanded an expedition to Africa, Arabia and Madagascar with the Royal Navy ships Leven and Barracouta, during which he mapped some 30,000 miles of coastline. His memoirs of the voyage are presented in this two-volume account, first published in 1833. Volume 2 continues to describe the rituals of the native peoples whom Owen's crew encountered - and who were at times hostile - and the tragic deaths on board the ships from tropical diseases, which with better planning might have been avoided. The volume also covers the lives of colonists and missionaries, the slave trade, and the spread of European influence across Africa and its neighbouring lands. Providing a vivid account of African exploration in the nineteenth century, Owen's writings remain of great interest to geographers, historians and anthropologists.Table of Contents1. Quit Zanzibar; 2. Querimba Islands; 3. Leave the Barracouta; 4. Harbour of Tamatave; 5. The Senna expedition; 6. Town of Senna; 7. A priest's extortion; 8. Sandy island; 9. Coast of Madagascar; 10. Radama; 11. Interview with Radama; 12. Commerce; 13. The funeral; 14. The Seychelles islands; 15. A massacre; 16. Leave the Seychelles; 17. Join the 'Albatross'; 18. A boy sold; 19. Kidnapped seamen; 20. A native king's son; 21. Bijooga islands; 22. Captain Vidal's proceedings; 23. Population and commerce; 24. Scenery in Kabenda bay; 25. People of Cape Lopez; 25a. Corisco bay; 26. Fernando Po; 27. Intended visit to King Peppel; 28. Rivers between Cape Formosa and the Bonny; 29. Survey of the Gambia; Appendix.

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Book SynopsisThe twentieth century has brought considerable political, social, and economic change for South Africa. While many would choose to focus only on the issues of race, segregation, and apartheid, this book tries to capture another facet: its drive towards modernisation and industrialisation. While considering the achievements and failures of that drive, as well as how it related to ethnic and racial policy making, Bill Freund makes the economic data come alive by highlighting people and places. He proposes that South Africa in the twentieth century can actually be understood as a nascent developmental state, with economic development acting as a key motivating factor. As a unique history of South Africa in the twentieth century, this will appeal to anyone interested in a new interpretation of modern South African economic development or those in development studies searching for striking historical examples.Trade Review'Painstakingly researched, across detail and sweep of change, and authored by a leading scholar of African economic history, this volume is of profound significance not only for understanding the economic history of South Africa but also for the light shed on the contemporary unravelling in which the post-apartheid state finds itself.' Ben Fine, University of London'Freund's latest title is an important landmark, showing the transformation of radical scholarship in recent years … [his] is an important book that opens up new fields of urban research.' Timothy Gibbs, The English Historical ReviewTable of Contents1. Twentieth-century South Africa: a developmental history; 2. The conflicted foundations of industrial policy; 3. Industrial development in South Africa up to World War II – some figures and some business history; 4. A (near) developmental state forms 1939–48; 5. The impact of Apartheid 1948–73; 6. The Parastatals ISCOR and SASOL; 7. Key institutions: the IDC, the CSIR, the HSRC; 8. The company towns of the Vaal Triangle; 9. Energy and the natural environment; 10. Developmentalism dismantled.

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Book SynopsisBetween 1986 and 1994, East Africa''s postcolonial, political settlement was profoundly challenged as four revolutionary ''liberation'' movements seized power in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda. After years of armed struggle against vicious dictatorships, these movements transformed from rebels to rulers, promising to deliver ''fundamental change''. This study exposes, examines and underlines the acute challenges each has faced in doing so. Drawing on over 130 interviews with the region''s post-liberation elite, undertaken over the course of a decade, Jonathan Fisher takes a fresh and empirically-grounded approach to explaining the fast-moving politics of the region over the last three decades, focusing on the role and influence of its guerrilla governments. East Africa after Liberation sheds critical light on the competing pressures post-liberation governments contend with as they balance reformist aspirations with accommodation of counter-vailing interests, historical trajectoriTrade Review'Jonathan Fisher's superb study of post-liberation regimes in Uganda, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Rwanda has much to tell us, not only about the states concerned, but about the legacies of liberation war more widely.' Christopher Clapham, University of Cambridge'this book explains how a new set of revolutionary regimes are reshaping politics in east Africa. Fisher draws on a deep knowledge of the region to tell the fascinating stories of leaders, insurgencies and liberation regimes, and the fraught and often surprising relationships between them, to give us a profound insight into Africa's second-generation post-colonial politics.' Julia Gallagher, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London'A path-breaking piece on African liberation movements exposing the untold story of how these regimes have undermined democracy, promoted patronage politics, and entrenched themselves in power … I recommend this book to all readers of African politics.' Sabiti Makara, Makerere University, Uganda'An authoritative and revealing tour of how liberation struggles shaped the politics of contemporary East Africa. Offering a set of challenging propositions as well as an unrivalled feel for East African political behaviour, this book is required reading for anyone interested in learning how politics in this part of the world really works.' William Reno, Northwestern University'An excellent exploration of the four East African liberation armies that seized state power at the end of the Cold War and sought to remake regional political order in their own image. Fisher teaches us that those who led these movements were neither inflexible ideologues nor calculating political operatives. Rather, like most political actors, they were something in-between. This is a foundational text for understanding the regional politics of East Africa today.' Michael Woldemariam, Boston University'This book represents a model for qualitative social science research. The depth of Fisher's understanding of his cases as armed organisations, political movements, and statesmen as well as his appreciation for the humanity of those lionised as heroes of the liberation movement make this an engaging contribution to our understanding of African politics.' Hilary Matfess, The Journal of Development Studies'Focusing on the maturation of liberation movements that came to power between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, and Rwanda, this engaging, highly detailed book provides a rare view into the development of regional politics.' M. M. Heaton, Choice'Fisher's excellent political history focuses on the countries in East Africa where the current regimes came to power through successful insurgencies decades ago. His book links the fates of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Rwanda, and Uganda and describes the impact of the many links that leaders in the four countries forged before their rises to power.' Foreign Affairs'East Africa after Liberation is not simply a historical chronology of four liberation movements and their changing faces when they came to power. It is a convincing analysis of the regional security arena through a rare glimpse behind the curtain of elite mindsets and cross-state affinities … it is a must read for scholars and practitioners …' Tim Glawion, Perspectives on PoliticsTable of ContentsIntroduction; Part I. Insurgency: 1. East Africa's post-liberation elite and the legacy of insurgency I: movement, state and society; 2. East Africa's post-liberation elite and the legacy of insurgency II: from rebellion to government; Part II. Liberation: 3. From rebels to diplomats: pragmatism, aspiration and mistrust, 1986–1995; 4. Reinventing liberation: revolution and regret in Congo and Sudan, 1995–2000; Part III. Crisis: 5. The disintegration of the Liberation Coalition,1998–2007; 6. From regional conflict to domestic crisis: regime consolidation and the fragmentation of the Old Guard, 2000–07; Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisDuring the period of decolonisation in Africa, the CIA covertly subsidised a number of African authors, editors and publishers as part of its anti-communist propaganda strategy. Managed by two front organisations, the Congress of Cultural Freedom and the Farfield Foundation, its Africa programme stretched across the continent. This Element unravels the hidden networks and associations underpinning African literary publishing in the 1960s; it evaluates the success of the CIA in secretly infiltrating and influencing African literary magazines and publishing firms, and examines the extent to which new circuits of cultural and literary power emerged. Based on new archival evidence relating to the Transcription Centre, The Classic and The New African, it includes case studies of Wole Soyinka, Nat Nakasa and Bessie Head, which assess how the authors'' careers were affected by these transnational networks and also reveal how they challenged, subverted, and resisted external influence and contTable of Contents1. Introduction; 2. African literary publishing during decolonisation; 3. Wole Soyinka, the transcription centre, and the CIA; 4. Nat Nakasa, The Classic, and the cultural Cold War; 5. 'The displaced outsider': the publishing networks of Bessie Head; 6. Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisExamining the continuous French military interventions in Chad in the two decades after its independence, this study demonstrates how France''s successful counterinsurgency efforts to protect the regime of François Tombalbaye would ultimately weaken the Chadian state and encourage Libya''s Muammar Gaddafi to intervene. In covering the subsequent French efforts to counter Libyan ambitions and the rise to power of Hissène Habré, one of postcolonial Africa''s most brutal dictators, Nathaniel K. Powell demonstrates that French strategies aiming to prevent the collapse of authoritarian regimes had the opposite effect, exacerbating violent conflicts and foreign interventions in Chad and further afield. Based on extensive archival research to trace the causes, course, and impact of French interventions in Chad, this study offers insights and lessons for current interveners - including France - fighting a ''war on terrorism'' in the Sahel whose strategies and impact parallel those of France inTrade Review'This important book shows that the Franco-Chadian relationship was central to France's post-colonial role in Africa by detailing French involvement in Chad from political independence in 1960 until Hissène Habré's seizure of power in 1982. French interventions in Chad in the 60s and 70s carry important lessons for current French military operations in the Sahel and indeed for foreign interveners more generally: external interventions in the name of stabilisation can lead to long-term instability; they may freeze, rather than help to resolve conflicts … This is important for historians seeking to understand the nature of Franco-African relations in the post-colonial period, but should also be essential reading for anyone, including policymakers and analysts, with an interest in foreign military interventions.' Tony Chafer, University of Portsmouth'A superbly informed and riveting account of the first two military interventions of France in Chad. A must-read for any scholar of France or Central Africa, and for anyone wanting to interrogate the roots of France's politics in the region.' Marielle Debos, University Paris, Nanterre'Covering thirty years of internal conflict in post-colonial Chad, this is an absorbing study of the relationship between the country's acute inequalities and its patronage-based style of government on the one hand, and the nature and persistence of localized rebellion on the other … The author's insight is to approach conflict in Chad as, at once, a byproduct of the country's partial decolonization and a logical consequence of the socio-political marginalization of entire communities that was intrinsic to the political dispensation established at independence.' Martin Thomas, University of Exeter'France's Wars in Chad is a must-read book for anyone seeking to understand the complexities of Chadian politics as well as French influence in Africa from the 1960s until the present. Using French diplomatic and military records, Powell (Lancaster Univ., UK) artfully outlines the very complicated motivations and actions of French policy makers and varied Chadian, Libyan, and US stakeholders … Essential.' J. M. Rich, Choice Magazine'This meticulously researched, cogently argued, and clearly written study provides a nuanced account of French political and military interventions in Chad during the first two decades after independence.' Elizabeth Schmidt, Journal of Interdisciplinary History'Based on previously closed military archives, Powell has shown and proved how much involvement France has had (and still have) in the Sahel country of Chad. Using previously unknown exchanges between French presidents from de Gaulle via Pompidou, Giscard d'Estaing to Mitterrand and their Chadian counterparts … the author manages to both bring to life complicated historical conditions and to show the close personal ties that ruled (and still governs) French African policy.' Ketil Fred Hansen, Modern Times Review'… the book leaves an impression of the profound untidiness of French-Chadian affairs, and of the misplaced hubris of French African policy more generally. By then, the reader will already have made connections to more recent interventions in regions of instability that aim to contribute externally to internal security.' Roel Van Der Velde, War in HistoryTable of ContentsIntroduction: 1. 'Experts in decolonization'; 2. Limousin; 3. The claustre affair; 4. The empire strikes back: French intervention and return to war; 5. The return of Habré; 6. Nigeria enters the scene; 7. The decline and fall of the central African empire; 8. Libya invades; 9. Endgame; Conclusions: The collapse of a neocolonial order; References; Index.

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Book SynopsisRwanda has become a touchstone case in genocide studies. This study evaluates the myriad theories behind the genocide. Combining original field data with some of the best existing evidence, it offers a rigorous and comprehensive explanation of how and why the genocide occurred, and how and why so many Rwandans participated in it.Trade Review'In this important and wide-reaching analysis, McDoom presents strong empirics - including new data and analysis at the local, regional, and national levels - to generate fresh insight into several key aspects of the Rwandan genocide … The framings and findings speak strongly to literatures on comparative violence and political mobilization, as well as to political science research on how context shapes political behavior and the political meaning of ethnicity.' Catherine Boone, London School of Economics and Political Science'The product of a superb set of studies, carefully researched over the course of a decade and dispassionately analyzed. Most novel is McDoom's ability to reconstruct stories of what happened at the local level in a way that adds up to a coherent picture … He marries these close-ups to accounts of the politics at the regional and national level … The result is to produce a number of important new insights. Anyone serious about understanding the Rwanda genocide needs to read this book.' Stuart J. Kaufman, University of Delaware'A fresh and wide-reaching analysis of the 1994 Genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda. With a focus that ranges from the local to international levels and drawing on extensive original research, McDoom explores two key questions: Why did the genocide take place, and why did people participate? His argument will shape future discussions not only of the Rwandan case but of comparative genocide studies.' Timothy Longman, Boston University'… provides fresh insights into some of the most troubling questions concerning the genocide that killed between 512,000 and 662,000 Tutsi, including how and why the genocide occurred, and why so many Rwandans participated in it. McDoom reflects on 25 years of scholarship and brings fresh insights gleaned from his new interview data.' Alex Vines, International Affairs'an emotive, tragic, well-researched book … the book offers critical nuances on the Rwandan genocide grounded in empirical and theoretical interventions from a well experienced professor of political science … scholarly, engaging, and a significant contribution to comparative political science on conflicts, genocides, security studies, and more importantly adding knowledge beneficial to policy-makers, journalists, human rights advocates, historians, and the like-minded.' Brian Maregedze, African Studies QuarterlyTable of Contents1. What We Do and Do Not Know; 2. An Extraordinary Baseline; 3. Security: War-time Threat; 4. Threat and Opportunity: The Dangers of Freedom; 5. Opportunity II: Death of the Nation's Father; 6. Authority: Rwanda's privatized and powerful state; 7. Why some killed and others did not; 8. Conclusion: Rwanda in Retrospect.

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Book SynopsisA holistic understanding of the diverse history of the cross-border Central African Copperbelt, considered here as a single region, this study integrates neglected aspects of Copperbelt history including women, non-mining communities, informal settlements and urban agriculture into the region's history.Trade Review'This is a superb book, a model for combining social history with the history of knowledge production. It not only offers fresh perspectives on the Central African Copperbelt, but sets an example for a better understanding and a nuanced interpretation of broader transformations in Africa since the 1950s.' Andreas Eckert, Humboldt University Berlin'This book helps us see the central African Copperbelt in a new light. Company towns were fulcrums for new forms of thought, engines for the creation of new kinds of culture, incubators for new literary projects, forcing-houses for new kinds of politics. Grounded on research in a wide range of archives, and drawing from oral interviews in Zambia and the Congo, Miles Larmer's impressive book gives labor history new dimensions, helping us glimpse the intellectual worlds where miners lived.' Derek Peterson, University of Michigan'… an excellent book, that is innovative in its border-crossing approach of the Central African Copperbelt, in its combination of social and intellectual history, and in its incisive critique of mining industry, during and after colonial rule.' Geert Castryck, H-Soz-KultTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Imagining the Copperbelts; 2. Boom Time – Revisiting Capital and Labour in the Copperbelt; 3. Space, Segregation and Socialisation; 4. Political Activism, Organisation and Change in the Late Colonial Copperbelt; 5. Gendering the Copperbelt; 6. Nationalism and Nationalisation; 7. Copperbelt cultures from the Kalela Dance to the Beautiful Time; 8. Decline and Fall: Crisis and the Copperbelt, 1975-2000; 9. Remaking the Land: Environmental Change in the Copperbelt's history, present and future; Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisFocusing on David Clement Scott, the head of the Church of Scotland mission in Malawi, who came to see Europeans as learners in Africa, this innovative book narrates the rise and demise of a unique vision for racial equality in nineteenth-century Africa. By immersing himself in the vernacular language and institutions, Scott developed a theology of reversals to pursue justice in race relations. It set him on a collision course with the Church, colonial government and the White commercial interests spearheaded by Cecil Rhodes. Harri Englund shows how Scott''s struggle for justice was as much epistemic as political and spiritual - a vision for the future in which White and Black would thrive in their mutual recognition as co-knowers. From linguistic translation to conflicts over land and taxation, from slave trade to personal intimacies, Visions for Racial Equality weaves a rich tapestry of themes in the life and times of a little-known visionary.Trade Review'Harri Englund has produced a thoroughly researched and insightful book on the history of early colonial Malawi. He explores the inter-relationships between the church, the colonial state, the capitalist class, and the Africans. Revolving around the work of Rev. David Clement Scott, of the Church of Scotland Mission, readers will appreciate how the spread of Christianity, as well as the operations of the state were 'negotiated' processes involving the 'civilized' Europeans and the colonized Africans.' Paul C. Banda, Tarleton State University'This is a brilliantly original, theoretically innovative, and descriptively rich biography of the life of the nineteenth-century Central African Scottish missionary, David Clement Scott. Englund uses an impressive range of sources to write about this influential and unusual intellectual, evangeliser, and advocate for African rights in an age when they were increasingly under threat.' Joel Cabrita, Stanford University, California'This is a sophisticated exploration of the work of a nineteenth-century Scottish missionary in Malawi and his vision for an inter-racial Christian community that also recognized the validity of African knowledge. This groundbreaking book sets a new standard for the study of the twin struggles for racial and epistemic justice, and should become required reading in African and global studies.' Elias C. Mandala, University of Rochester, New YorkTable of Contents1. Introduction; 2. Among the wild Scotsmen; 3. Champagne and slaves; 4. The universal vernacular; 5. Frightful libel upon humanity; 6. Rhodes must not rise; 7. A future foreclosed; 8. Grief never wears out; 9. Liberal translations; 10. The rest is history.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Angela strives to make the ancient world accessible to modern readers . . . [offering] genuine insights.” — Publishers Weekly “[Cleopatra] combines scholarship with novelistic detail and character depth . . . Alberto Angela effectively draws on previous scholarship, wading through legend and myth to get at the truth of what actually occurred . . . a character-rich historical biography.” — Kirkus Reviews “The political machinations, betrayal, and battles may appeal to those fans of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series interested in a real-world game of thrones.” — Booklist “Maybe we think we know everything about this charming woman, yet Alberto Angela, with his thirst for art and culture, will tell us things that will perhaps surprise us and surely remain in our minds and hearts.” — Roberto Baldini, Sololibri “Cleopatra is more than a book; it is like being immersed in a documentary expertly narrated by the one Italian who can do it best: Alberto Angela. […] Written well, in a precise and engaging way, it reads lightly despite the topics covered.” — Silvia Capelletto, Leggere A Colori “Its fidelity to historical sources is complimented by its imaginative, light-on-its-feet narrative style.” — Il Messaggero “Cleopatra dismantles falsehoods and stereotypes to reconstruct a more authentic and reliable portrait of its central figure.” — La Stampa “A compelling and convincing fresco, full of action and emotion.” — La Repubblica

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Book Synopsis.Trade ReviewThis is a lucid text, very reader friendly for the college student who does not want overtly dense material but still wants to be richly and adequately educated on the art traditions of the continent." - Aderonke Adesanna, James Madison UniversityThe Visual Arts of Africa touches on the most important points that my course addresses succinctly but with enough information to generate discussion on a range of issues that are essential to the beginning student of African art." - Elisabeth L. Roark, Chatham University

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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