These articles cover: early agricultural development; history of agricultural crops; patterns of land use and tenure; introduction and use of metals; economic and technological aspects of the Iron Age; patterns of trade; trade routes and centres; and media of exchange.

“A call to arms in the class struggle for racial equity”—the hugely influential work of political theory and history, now powerfully introduced by Angela Davis (Los Angeles Review of Books). This legendary classic on European colonialism in Africa stands alongside C.L.R. James’ Black Jacobins, Eric Williams’ Capitalism & Slavery, and W.E.B. Dubois’ Black Reconstruction. In his short life, the Guyanese intellectual Walter Rodney emerged as one of the leading thinkers and activists of the anticolonial revolution, leading movements in North America, South America, the African continent, and the Caribbean. In each locale, Rodney found himself a lightning rod for working class Black Power. His deportation catalyzed 20th century Jamaica's most significant rebellion, the 1968 Rodney riots, and his scholarship trained a generation how to think politics at an international scale. In 1980, shortly after founding of the Working People's Alliance in Guyana, the 38-year-old Rodney would be assassinated. In his magnum opus, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, Rodney incisively argues that grasping "the great divergence" between the west and the rest can only be explained as the exploitation of the latter by the former. This meticulously researched analysis of the abiding repercussions of European colonialism on the continent of Africa has not only informed decades of scholarship and activism, it remains an indispensable study for grasping global inequality today.

A new account of economic performance and state development in African countries across the long twentieth century.

Why 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. Several contributors note that Africa's development was at par with many areas of Europe in the first millennium of the Common Era. Why Africa fell behind is a key theme in this volume, with insights that should inform Africa's developmental strategies.

The nineteenth century in Africa was a time of revolution and tumultuous change in virtually all spheres. Violent dry spells, the staggered abolition of the slave trade, mass migrations and an influx of new settlers characterized the century. Regional trade links grew stronger and spread further. The century also saw the beginnings of the ruthless and bloody quest for foreign dominion.

This is an important collection of essays focusing on pre-colonial trade and African-European interaction, looking at western Africa between Senegal and Sierra Leone. It spans the whole pre-colonial period between the first Portuguese voyages of discovery and the transition to legitimate commerce in the 19th century.

A rich and accessible account of Yoruba history, society and culture from the pre-colonial period to the present.

Extending Financial Inclusion in Africa unveils the genesis and transformation of Africa's financial sector and its ability to provide finance for all. Contributors of the Book traverse the whole spectrum of African financial systems, examining their depth and breadth and empirically evaluating their appropriateness and effectiveness to achieve inclusive financial services. - Explores the evolution of the financial sector in Africa from the pre-colonial to post-colonial era - Investigates the financial inclusion–economic growth nexus - Explores the role of financial regulation and governance in either enhancing or limiting financial inclusion - Evaluates unintended consequences of financial inclusion, including over-indebtedness and increased propensity to spend - Assesses cross-sectional evidence on the link between financial inclusion and technological developments such as the internet and mobile technology

Commercial Transitions and Abolition in West Africa 1630–1860 by Angus Dalrymple-Smith offers a new interpretation of the move from slave exports to ‘legitimate commerce’ in the Gold Coast, the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Biafra.