Themes in West Africa's History

Themes in West Africa's History. Edited by Emmanuel Kwaku Akyeampong. Athens: Ohio University Press, 2006. Pp. xvi, 323; illustrations. $49.95 cloth, $24.50 paper.

For many years African historians have been troubled by the lack of choices for suitable textbooks for survey courses in their field. Some presented Eurocentric or romantic images of Africa; others overwhelmed the student with far more detail than most undergraduates could absorb. Within the field of West African history, the situation has been somewhat better with what we now might consider classical works by John Fage, John Webster, and Adu Boahen, as well as the two volume anthology edited by A. J. E. Ajayi and Michael Crowder.1 Still, this new collection of essays, edited by Emmanuel Akyeampong serves as a valuable addition. In sharp contrast to other surveys, Akyeampong directed his contributors to emphasize both methodological issues and broad thematic issues. Akyeampong enriched the collection to include archaeologists, anthropologists, economists, and historians of religion. This collection allows students to be exposed to major issues in West African history and to see how scholars from different disciplines as well as from different continents understand this history. Many of these essays are useful to specialists, as well.

Akyeampong divides the anthology into three sections: an initial section that focuses on some distinctive research methods; a middle section focusing on broad themes in West African history; and a final section on contemporary West Africa. I will examine each section in turn. The first four essays offer archaeological, ecological, and linguistic approaches, and an analysis of oral traditions. Susan McIntosh provides an interesting overview of...