African Agency and European Colonialism: Latitudes of Negotiations and Containment

Kolapo (history, U. of Guelph, Canada) and Akurang-Parry (African history and world history, Shippensburg U.) compile 11 essays that examine the European colonization of Africa, Africa's colonial experience, and the historicity of Africans and their societies during colonization. They consider precolonial structures and knowledge, and other resources in establishing and maintaining European dominance. Chapters focus on West Africa, southern Africa, and Eastern Africa, and mostly British colonization, with some discussion of French, Ethiopian, and Italian attempts. The volume is in honor of A.S. Kanya-Forstner, a recently retired professor from the history department at York U. in Toronto, Canada, who taught the course, "European Expansion in Africa," and both editors. The appendix consists of Kanya-Forstner's curriculum vitae. The volume is aimed at students, scholars, political analysts, sociologists, and others interested in the social and political history of Africa. Contributors are history and communication and media studies scholars from Africa, Canada, and the US. Annotation c2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Femi J. Kolapo is with the History Department at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, where he teaches courses in African history and in the history of slavery and the slave trades. He has previously taught at the Ahmadu Bello University in Zaira, Nigeria. His research interests include Africa's engagement with post-abolition and post-emancipation social and economic reality, and pre-colonial Africa-Christian Missions encounter.
Kwabena O. Akurang-Parry, a Ghanaian poet and historian, is Associate Professor of African History and World History at Shippensburg University, Pennsylvania. He received his Ph.D. in African history from York University, Toronto, Canada, in 1999. He has published over forty-five peer-reviewed articles. His research focuses on comparative slavery and abolition, as well as colonial rule and African responses.