You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
This is a key text for understanding the history of the great West African kingdom of Asante (now in Ghana). It is perhaps the earliest example of history writing in English by an African ruler. The result is an indispensably detailed account of the Asante monarchy from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. Context is provided by the inclusion of other writings by or about Agyeman Prempeh, together with four introductory essays by the world's leading scholars of Asante history.
History of Ashanti is unusual, perhaps unique, in that it provides a long historical account of the great West African forest kingdom of Asante by a ruler of that society. Thus, it is African history written by an African king and his assistants. This is, without a doubt, a very important document for historians of Africa. It has too a much wider resonance at the present time: here the Asante 'voice' is speaking directly to all those across the globe who claim ancestral links to the African continent, and who are still engaged in the struggle to define, to strengthen and to assert their identities in a world that long discounted the value, or even the existence, of their historical experience.
Originally published in 1975, and reprinted with additional introductory material in 1989, this book provides an in-depth account of Asante history during the nineteenth century. The focus of the book is on the broad political development of Asante society, concentrating on the material factors which affected the decision making process during various administrations. This focus reflects the complex and sophisticated nature of the Asante social system, a system which had its basis in administrative unity and a core idea of nationhood. The text utilizes the abundant archival, printed and oral source materials available regarding the Asante, offering the reader a profound insight into the nature and structure of a remarkable society. This is a fascinating book that will be of value to anyone with an interest in African history.
None
A detailed and richly nuanced historical portrait of pre-colonial Asante.
Asante Identitiesis an account of life in the Asante village of Ade beba in West Africa during a century of rapid change, told as far as possible in the words of the villagers themselves. Asante is the most intensely studied of all sub-Saharan African cultures, and this book takes Asante and African historiography to new levels of reconstruction , analysis and understanding. This is the most closely focused historical study thus far achieved of African people engaging with issues of selfhood, identity and agency in an era that saw the continent fall under European domination.Key Features:- Major contribution to African studies in its historical depth and analytic sophistication- A book of wider interest to non-Africanist historians, social scientists and others- Considers issues of broad and current concern never before studied at this levelAsante Identities is a volume in the International African Library series, a major monograph series from the International African Institute which complements its quarterly periodical Africa, the premier journal in the field of African Studies.
None