An Economic History of West Africa (2nd ed.)

This pioneering and celebrated work was the first, and remains the standard, account of the economic history of the huge area conventionally known as West Africa. The book ranges from prehistoric times to independence and covers the former French territories, as well as those colonised by the British. It criticises conventional beliefs about economic backwardness, offers an alternative account that explains the particular configuration of poverty that characterised the pre-colonial period, and a