A Prospect Best Book of 2021 'A fascinating and timely book.' William Boyd 'Gripping...a must read.' FT 'Compelling...humane, reasonable, and ultimately optimistic.' Evening Standard '[A] valuable guide to a complex narrative.' The Times In 1897, Britain sent a punitive expedition to the Kingdom of Benin, in what is today Nigeria, in retaliation for the killing of seven British officials and traders. British soldiers and sailors captured Benin, exiled its king and annexed the territory. They also made off with some of Africa's greatest works of art. The 'Benin Bronzes' are now amongst the most admired and valuable artworks in the world. But seeing them in the British Museum today is, in the words of one Benin City artist, like 'visiting relatives behind bars'. In a time of huge controversy about the legacy of empire, racial justice and the future of museums, what does the future hold for the Bronzes?

During the past five decades, sub-Saharan Africa has received more foreign aid than has any other region of the world, and yet poverty remains endemic throughout the region. As Kenneth Kalu argues, this does not mean that foreign aid has failed; rather, it means that foreign aid in its current form does not have the capacity to procure development or eradicate poverty. This is because since colonialism, the average African state has remained an instrument of exploitation, and economic and political institutions continue to block a majority of citizens from meaningful participation in the economy. Drawing upon case studies of Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Nigeria, this book makes the case for redesigning development assistance in order to strike at the root of poverty and transform the African state and its institutions into agents of development.

The diary of Antera Duke is one of the earliest and most extensive surviving documents written by an African residing in coastal West Africa predating the arrival of British missionaries and officials in the mid-19th century. Antera Duke (ca.1735-ca.1809) was a leader and merchant in late eighteenth-century Old Calabar, a cluster of Efik-speaking communities in the Cross River region. He resided in Duke Town, forty miles from the Atlantic Ocean in modern-day southeast Nigeria. His diary, written in trade English from 18 January 1785 to 31 January 1788, is a candid account of daily life in an African community during a period of great historical interest. Written by a major African merchant at the height of Calabar's overseas commerce, it provides valuable information on Old Calabar's economic activity both with other African businessmen and with European ship captains who arrived to trade for slaves, produce and provisions. It is also unique in chronicling the day-to-day social and cultural life of a vibrant African community. Antera Duke's diary is much more than a historical curiosity; it is the voice of a leading African-Atlantic merchant who lived during an age of expanding cross-cultural trade. The book reproduces the original diary of Antera Duke, as transcribed by a Scottish missionary, Arthur W. Wilkie, ca. 1907 and published by OUP in 1956. A new rendering of the diary into standard English appears on facing pages, and the editors have advanced the annotation completed by anthropologist Donald Simmons in 1954 by editing 71 and adding 158 footnotes. The updated reference information incorporates new primary and secondary source material on Old Calabar, and notes where their editorial decisions differ from those made by Wilkie and Simmons. Chapters 1 and 2 detail the eighteenth-century Calabar slave and produce trades, emphasizing how personal relationships between British and Efik merchants formed the nexus of trade at Old Calabar. To build a picture of Old Calabar's regional trading networks, Chapter 3 draws upon information contained in Antera Duke's diary, other contemporary sources, and shipping records from the 1820s. Chapter 4 places information in Antera Duke's diary in the context of eighteenth-century Old Calabar political, social and religious history, charting how Duke Town eclipsed Old Town and Creek Town through military power, lineage strength and commercial acumen.

Early Dynastic Egypt spans the five centuries preceding the construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza. This was the formative period of ancient Egyptian civilization, and it witnessed the creation of a distinctive culture that was to endure for 3,000 years. This book examines the background to that great achievement, the mechanisms by which it was accomplished, and the character of life in the Nile valley during the first 500 years of Pharaonic rule.
The results of over thirty years of international scholarship and excavation are presented in a single highly illustrated volume. It traces the re-discovery of Early Dynastic Egypt, explains how the dynasties established themselves in government and concludes by examining the impact of the early state on individual communities and regions.

In the midst of apartheid in South Africa, journalist Maurice Hommel documented the cruel injustices and tensions running rampant within the country. What he saw forever impacted his life.

"Conversations and Soliloquies" presents a collection of Hommel's essays and articles from the last fifty-five years, documenting and analyzing South African history during and after apartheid. Over time, the essays illuminate, in sometimes graphic detail, the anti-apartheid struggle that defined South Africa for decades.

Beginning with the Sharpeville Massacre of 1960, Hommel delves into the bloody history of apartheid and traces how it pervaded every segment of society. His interviews with prominent South Africans, including Desmond Tutu and Neville Alexander, offer intimate glimpses into the thoughts of those working for change. In addition, stark photographs capture the emotions of the time.

In its breadth of historical perspectives, this collection is a significant contribution to an understanding of South Africa's evolution to a nonracial, nonsexist, democratic country. Although lingering prejudices and smoldering resentments remain, Hommel carries an unshakable optimism of South Africa's enormous potential. "Conversations and Soliloquies" captures that hope.

Museums and Atlantic Slavery explores how slavery, the Atlantic slave trade, and enslaved people are represented through words, visual images, artifacts, and audiovisual materials in museums in Europe and the Americas. Divided into four chapters, the book addresses four recurrent themes: wealth and luxury; victimhood and victimization; resistance and rebellion; and resilience and achievement. Considering the roles of various social actors who have contributed to the introduction of slavery in the museum in the last thirty years, the analysis draws on selected exhibitions, and institutions entirely dedicated to slavery, as well as national, community, plantation, and house museums in the United States, England, France, and Brazil. Engaging with literature from a range of disciplines, including history, anthropology, sociology, art history, tourism and museum studies, Araujo provides an overview of a topic that has not yet been adequately discussed and analysed within the museum studies field. Museums and Atlantic Slavery encourages scholars, students, and museum professionals to critically engage with representations of slavery in museums. The book will help readers to recognize how depictions of human bondage in museums and exhibitions often fail to challenge racism and white supremacy inherited from the period of slavery.

A Land of Dreams, first published in 1993, explores two events in recent English history: the settlement of East European Jews in the East End of London, and the growth of an African-Caribbean community in Birmingham. It is an ethnographic study of two first-generation migrant communities, built upon the experiences of the migrants themselves. It focuses on the stories of their migration and their early days in England, and in particular, upon the stories of their working lives and their everyday struggles in their new land. Placing two studies side by side exposes the quite different social and economic conditions which confronted the two groups of migrants upon arrival in England.

Lost Illusions, first published in 1988, analyses the differing experiences of Caribbean migration to Britain and the Netherlands, both from the perspectives of the countries and from the migrants themselves. The editors have compiled a volume of in-depth articles from experts from Britain and the Netherlands to provide an essential examination of Caribbean migration to two different European countries in the 1970s and 1980s.

Minorities in the Open Society (1986) challenges optimistic assumptions regarding race relations in western nations, namely that social justice will prevail without much effort. It examines the interests behind public affirmations of commitment to integration, and presents a range of contemporary and historical material which illustrate the double-binds created for minorities by the dominant communities, who offer equality with one hand while obstructing it with the other. Individual members of minorities may be given the opportunity to achieve social prominence - but only to carry out special jobs on behalf of the majority.

Crossing Cultural Borders (1991) examines the day-to-day interaction of immigrant children with adults, siblings and peers in the home, school and community at large as these families demonstrate their skill in using their culture to survive in a new society. Children of Mexican and Central American immigrant families in Secoya crossed a national border, and continue to cross linguistic, social and cultural borders that separate the home, school and outside world.

Cultural Conflict and Adaptation (1990) examines the alienation and cultural conflicts faced at school by the children of a small group of Hmong who have settled in La Playa, California. The educational process for these children is an example of cultural conflict and adjustment patterns which may be found in many other populations in the world.

Healing Multicultural America (1993) looks at a group of Mexican immigrants who managed to understand and use the US democratic system to gain access to the 'American Dream'. The book aims to assist its readers to understand the significance of the politics of education for ethnic minorities. The authors point up the gravity of the problems experienced by minority groups worldwide which cannot be underestimated: problems such as inter-ethnic conflict, cultural tensions, poverty, alienation, violence and self-rejection.

The Americanization Syndrome (1987) examines the historical role of education in the process of 'Americanization'. It argues that beginning with seventeenth century puritan leaders such as John Winthrop and Cotton Maher, the pattern of American education has been not the promotion of a blend of different cultures but the indoctrination of norms of belief of religion, politics and economics and an explicit discouragement of cultural variety. It traces the political role of education at key junctures of American history - after Independence, in the reconstruction of the South after the Civil War, in the establishment of settlement houses and the use of scientific management techniques by employers. The author focuses on the period 1900-1925 when new waves of immigrants from southern and eastern Europe led to a new drive for orthodoxy.

The Absorption of Immigrants (1954) examines the assimilation of immigrants in the Yishuv (the Jewish Community in Palestine) and in the State of Israel. It provides a historical analysis of the social structure of the Yishuv and of the development of the new Israeli society. The book also applies the general framework to the analysis of some main types of modern migrations and a series of tentative conclusions is given which may serve as detailed hypotheses for subsequent inquiries. In this way a comparative study of different types of migrations and absorption of immigrants is built up, and an objective evaluation can be made of the place of an Israeli Society among other communities, and their special ways of absorbing new immigrants.

One Way Ticket (1983) examines the 'hidden armies' of migrant women workers who have since the 1950s fulfilled a demand for low-skilled, low paid and insecure work in both the formal and informal economies of Western Europe. It presents a new focus for the examination of labour migration and of the specific character of female employment. It looks at the relationship between motherhood, waged work and ethnicity; the position of a second generation of black women workers; and the oppression and exploitation of migrant women by their male counterparts through the creation of 'ethnic' economies.

Colonial Immigrants in a British City (1979) analyses the relationship between West Indian and Asian immigrants and the class structure of a British city. Based on a four-year research project in the Handsworth area of Birmingham, the book is a study of race and community relations - political, social, economic and personal - in a major centre of immigrant settlement. It considers the relationship between housing class and class formations and consciousness in other sectors of allocation, such as employment and education. It includes a consideration of the changing political climate on race relations between 1950 and 1976.

Immigration in Post-War France (1987) presents a collection of articles, illustrations and other data, covering everything from politics and education to religion and rock music, that examine the experience of North African immigrants to France. The extensive selection of documents include opinion polls, newspaper articles, academic analyses, cartoons, political posters, maps, tables and photographs. Together, they reflect the views of a wide cross-section of the French and immigrant communities.

The Development of British Immigration Law (1986) examines the policies and laws of immigration law in the UK. It demonstrates that many modern issues have historical precedents. The justifications for immigration control are examined and linked to a discussion of nationality law and race relations. It is argued that the laws and practices of immigration are unnecessarily rigid and racist, both in design and in effect; that the record of the UK is a sorry chapter in the field of human rights but one which is consistent with international state practice; that immigration is an ideal model to illustrate the UK's general treatment of civil liberties. Particular aspects of the subject are examined in depth to illustrate the attitudes of government, the courts and civil servants.

Migration and Mobility (1984) examines the biological aspects of population movement, including genetic, anthropometric and psychological aspects. Other contributions deal with geographical and demographic features of human migration. Specific studies are described, and the theoretical framework used to describe population mobility is presented.

Asia's Population Problems (1967) features papers written by specialists - demographers, economists and sociologists - examining the various population issues facing different Asian countries in the decades following the Second World War. Population facts and policies, apart from affecting an individual's happiness and security and a nation's economic and social advancement, have come to play an important role in international relations. A proper understanding of demographic trends is key, and this volume aims to supply significant population facts and figures, and also provides the general national, economic and political framework of each country against which certain international demographic attitudes, approaches and policies may be understood.

Ugandan Asians in Great Britain (1975) examines the impact of the 1972 immigration of 28,000 Asians expelled from Uganda, looking at the impact on both the immigrants themselves and the British host community. It is an attempt to understand some of the dynamics of forced migrant transition from one society and culture to another. The study was largely carried out in Wandsworth and Slough and shows how these communities - not without social problems before this influx of immigrants - adapted to the new arrivals. The sensitivity and effectiveness of the community relations organisations and the welfare agencies in these areas is revealed.

Migrant Labour in Europe (1987) examines the movement of workers from less prosperous parts of Europe to areas with demand for their services. The author identifies seven major systems of migrant labour: the North Sea System (mainly Westphalian workers heading for the German and Dutch North Sea Coast and Walloon/French workers bound for the Belgian and Zeeland coasts); the area between London and the Humber; the Paris Basin; Provence, Languedoc and Catalonia; Castile; Piedmont; and central Italy with Corsica. A detailed study of the first of these systems, tracing its development and changes, is brought into a synchronic relation with data for the other regions. The evidence shows major waves of immigration in the seventeenth century, and a rapid diminution of migratory labour to the North Sea in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, a time when new 'pull areas' were created by the expanding industrial complexes of Germany and labour began to come in from areas outside Europe.

Jamaican Migrant (1965) is the honest and moving recollection of a Jamaican cabinet-maker who emigrated to a new life in Britain. This is the book of a man who has been through the whole story in his own life - childhood in a large and humble Jamaican family, apprenticeship there, the journey to Britain as a stowaway, years in London as a Jamaican immigrant. The author takes us from Jamaica's coast, the drug-idlers and orators on the beach, the hurricanes, his father's wartime jazz band, to the problems and sophistication of girls and jobs and solitude in a London winter.

Point of Arrival (1975) examines the experiences of the various immigrant groups - the Huguenots, Irish, Jews, Pakistanis - who have made their home in the East End of London. This was their point of arrival in a new country, and for many it was the only England they were to know.

Geography & Ethnic Pluralism (1984) examines the debate around pluralism - the segmentation of population by race and culture - as a social and state issue, and explores this issue in Third World and metropolitan contexts. The field is opened up by a re-examination of the seminal work of J.S. Furnivall and M.G. Smith and by exploring the significance of racial and cultural diversity in colonial, post-colonial and metropolitan situations. Case studies written by specialists are presented in each chapter; they represent a wide range of locales, indicating the global nature of the theme and emphasising the variable significance of ethnicity in different situations.