Groundwork of Nigerian History


Book Description

Filling a gap, this study presents a comprehensive history of Nigeria's diverse peoples. The first two chapters provide a geographical and archaeological background. The main body of the work is divided into three sections: Nigeria Before 1800; Nigeria in the 19th century: and Nigeria in the 20th century. Contributors cover a multitude of different issues andregions such as the Benin Kingdom, the trans-atlantic slave trade, nationalist movements, and Borno in the 19th century.




The Yoruba


Book Description

The Yoruba: A New History is the first transdisciplinary study of the two-thousand-year journey of the Yoruba people, from their origins in a small corner of the Niger-Benue Confluence in present-day Nigeria to becoming one of the most populous cultural groups on the African continent. Weaving together archaeology with linguistics, environmental science with oral traditions, and material culture with mythology, Ogundiran examines the local, regional, and even global dimensions of Yoruba history. The Yoruba: A New History offers an intriguing cultural, political, economic, intellectual, and social history from ca. 300 BC to 1840. It accounts for the events, peoples, and practices, as well as the theories of knowledge, ways of being, and social valuations that shaped the Yoruba experience at different junctures of time. The result is a new framework for understanding the Yoruba past and present.




These Truths: A History of the United States


Book Description

“Nothing short of a masterpiece.” —NPR Books A New York Times Bestseller and a Washington Post Notable Book of the Year In the most ambitious one-volume American history in decades, award-winning historian Jill Lepore offers a magisterial account of the origins and rise of a divided nation. Widely hailed for its “sweeping, sobering account of the American past” (New York Times Book Review), Jill Lepore’s one-volume history of America places truth itself—a devotion to facts, proof, and evidence—at the center of the nation’s history. The American experiment rests on three ideas—“these truths,” Jefferson called them—political equality, natural rights, and the sovereignty of the people. But has the nation, and democracy itself, delivered on that promise? These Truths tells this uniquely American story, beginning in 1492, asking whether the course of events over more than five centuries has proven the nation’s truths, or belied them. To answer that question, Lepore wrestles with the state of American politics, the legacy of slavery, the persistence of inequality, and the nature of technological change. “A nation born in contradiction… will fight, forever, over the meaning of its history,” Lepore writes, but engaging in that struggle by studying the past is part of the work of citizenship. With These Truths, Lepore has produced a book that will shape our view of American history for decades to come.




African Oral Literature


Book Description

". . . its pages come alive with wonderful illustrative material coupled with sensitve and insightful commentary." —Reviews in Anthropology " . . . the scope, breadth, and lucidity of this excellent study confirm that Okpewho is undoubtedly the most important authority writing on African oral literature right now . . . " —Research in African Literatures "Truly a tour de force of individual scholarship . . . " —World Literature Today " . . . excellent . . . " —African Affairs " . . . a thorough synthesis of the main issues of oral literature criticism, as well as a grounding in experienced fieldwork, a wide-ranging theoretical base, and a clarity of argument rare among academics." —Multicultural Review "This is a breathtakingly ambitious project . . . " —Harold Scheub " . . . a definitive accounting of the evidence of living oral traditions in Africa today. Professor Okpewho's authority as an expert in this important new field is unrivaled." —Gregory Nagy "Isidore Okpewho's African Oral Literature is a marvelous piece of scholarship and wide-ranging research. It presents the most comprehensive survey of the field of oral literature in Africa." —Emmanuel Obiechina " . . . a tour de force of scholarship in which Okpewho casts his net across the African continent, searching for its verbal forms through voluminous recent writings and presents African oral literature in a new voice, proclaiming the literariness of African folklore." —Dan Ben-Amos "This is an outstanding book by a scholar whose work has already influenced how African literature should be conceived. . . . Professor Okpewho is a scholar with a special talent to nurture scholarship in others. After this work, African literature will never be the same." —Mazisi Kunene Isidore Okpewho, for many years Professor of English at the University of Ibadan, is one of the handful of African scholars who has facilitated the growth of African oral literature to its status today as a literary enterprise concerned with the artistic foundations of human culture. This comprehensive critical work firmly establishes oral literature as a landmark of high artistic achievement and situates it within the broader framework of contemporary African culture.




Native Peoples of the World


Book Description

This work examines the world's indigenous peoples, their cultures, the countries in which they reside, and the issues that impact these groups.







The Tiv and Their Southern Neighbours, 1890-1990


Book Description

This book examines the economic, political and socio-cultural relations of the Tiv people of Benue State with their southern neighbours. In pre-colonial times, the Tiv, needing additional farm lands, began displacing their southern neighbours and settling on their farms. In retaliation, teams of Ogirinya headhunters targeted lone Tiv women and farmers. The Tiv's answer to this loss of life was to adopt Ogirinya themselves, and clandestine mutual headhunting then became a standing blood feud that escaped the notice of the colonial administration for years. During an official inquiry into the causes of the 1985 Tsar-Obudu War, both parties confessed that Ogirinya was the main cause of their inter-ethnic wars. Once the leaders of the neighbouring local government areas agreed to ban Ogirinya and to set up a joint monitoring committee, peace returned to the borderlands. In addition to the conflicts, Ayangaor also covers the intermarriages, friendships, pacts, and palm wine drinking orgies of these interdependent peoples. This book is part of the African World Series, edited by Toyin Falola, Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities, University of Texas at Austin.




Indigenous Peoples [4 volumes]


Book Description

The book is an essential resource for those interested in investigating the lives, histories, and futures of indigenous peoples around the world. Perfect for readers looking to learn more about cultural groups around the world, this four-volume work examines approximately 400 indigenous groups globally. The encyclopedia investigates the history, social structure, and culture of peoples from all corners of the world, including their role in the world, their politics, and their customs and traditions. Alphabetically arranged entries focus on groups living in all world regions, some of which are well-known with large populations, and others that are lesser-known with only a handful of surviving members. Each entry includes sections on the group's geography and environment; history and politics; society, culture, and tradition; access to health care and education; and threats to survival. Each entry concludes with See Also cross-references and a list of Further Reading resources to guide readers in their research. Also included in the encyclopedia are Native Voices inset boxes, allowing readers a glimpse into the daily lives of members of these indigenous groups, as well as an appendix featuring the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.




The Land and People of Bayelsa State


Book Description

Modelled on a similar study of Rivers State in Nigeria, the objective of this study is to give a simple but authoritative interdisciplinary introductory history. Although written by specialists, it is directed to a lay readership. Bayelsa, being a new state, is in need of self- definition and understanding, not least to promote greater tolerance within and between communities. Thirty-six scholars, largely Nigerian, have contributed to the study, which is divided into seven parts: the enviroment, the people, culture, history, politics, economy and social services.