Africa and the West: A Documentary History from the Slave Trade to Independence

William H. Worger, Nancy L Clark, and Edward A. Alpers. Africa and the West: A Documentary History from the Slave Trade to Independence. Phoenix, Ariz.: Oryx Press/Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2001. ix + 428 pp. Illustrations. Map. Index. $85.00. Cloth.

In the age of photo-reproduced instant texts, it is unusual to find a book like this. This is an excellent collection of readings that could be useful in a variety of different courses, though probably not as a required text. It contains 111 documents and is divided into four sections, each with a general theme. It nicely incorporates South Africa in each section rather than treating it as a region apart. The first section deals with the slave trade. It contains Portuguese chronicles, explorers' accounts, royal charters, slave narratives, the court transcript of a South African revolt case, and what is probably the most widely reproduced visual document on the slave trade, the layout of the ship Brookes. Particularly valuable are lengthy excerpts from Alexander Falconbridge and Mungo Park.

The second section goes from the end of the slave trade to partition. It includes ordinances, manifestos, treaties, Cecil Rhodes's confession of faith, an interrogation of Cetshwayo on the Zulu kingdom, the Berlin Conference, and units entitled "Voices of Imperialism" and "Voices of Resistance." Section 3 on colonialism starts with Theophilus Shepstone's Native Administration Law, Roger casement on the Congo atrocities, various instructions to administrators, Nelson Mandela's "No Easy Walk to Freedom," and documents from trade union, religious, and political organizations, ending with the eloquent and painful last letter Patrice Lumumba wrote to his wife before his execution. The last section on independence includes political discourses from Frantz Fanon, Kwame Nkrumah, and Julius Nyerere, as well as Jack Mapanje's prison narrative, a description of the Rwandan genocide, and Mandela's inaugural address.

The choice of documents is excellent, though each of us would find favorite documents left out. Mine would be the exchange of letters between Muhammed Bello and El-Kanemi on the legitimacy of Sokoto's war on Bornu. The book is well edited and nicely designed. My biggest complaint about most such books is that they are too choppy, but this one includes readings as long as ten pages. My only real question is what market the book is aimed at. African history courses are designed in different ways, but I doubt if there are many courses structured in exactly this way, and at eighty-five dollars, the book is an expensive supplemental reading. Most instructors will still find it more attractive to photocopy selected readings, most of which are available elsewhere. My guess is that most sales will be to libraries and to teachers, who will reproduce selected documents. The collection would have been more valuable if it had been divided up into four distinct and cheaply produced paperback volumes.

Martin Klein

University of Toronto

Toronto, Canada

Copyright African Studies Association Dec 2003
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