This is a survey of the roles women have played in Africa south of the Sahara, from the Queen of Sheba in Ethiopia to the present-day presidents of Liberia and Malawi. Romero discusses education and religion; the occult and power; diseases and treatment; women and war; and women's increasing presence on the political stage, including their roles as environmental activists. Drawing on the latest research, the book comprises documents, travellers' accounts, and case studies in its coverage of pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial Africa.

This book depicts the history of Lamu, once an important East African port city, now known as an unspoiled tourist destination and scenic location for Hollywood movies. For centuries, communities from India, Yemen, and Oman intermingled with coastal and central African groups. This unique situation provides the author with a vantage point to observe non-European multicultural interaction. Oral traditions are central to this study. Records from both the distant past and the more recent period give voice to the opinions of the WaAmu on many issues: Islam, slavery, material culture, and the wide-ranging effects of colo-nialism. We see how religious practices differed between slaves who were brought to the Lamu hinterland and island, the Muslim Shi'a (who were themselves divided), and the orthodox Sunni community and the Hadramis, who introduced elements of Sufism. When outsiders threatened, the diverse religious groups almost always united against the opposition. The Portuguese and Turks put in an appearance, as did the French, Americans, and the Germans, who had imperial designs on the Lamu archi-pelago. But it was the British who triumphed in the late nineteenth century. The author describes internecine conflicts, the importance of Islam, and repeated efforts to thwart the British. Romero weaves into her account fascinating aspects of Lamu's material culture, social structure, and family life among those who are called the Swahili.

Among nineteenth- and early twentieth-century European "discoverers" of the "Dark Continent," women are rarely mentioned. This anthology of Victorian women's writings on Africa provides a fascinating overview of these women's roles as scholars, missionaries, adventurers, spies, and journalists, and gathers outstanding examples of their ground-breaking scholarly treatises, popular accounts, letters, articles, and thrilling adventure stories -- all of them firsthand documents of women's and African history. The writers include Mary Kingsley, famous for her ethnographic studies and travel writings; the intrepid journalists Katherine Fannin and Joan Rosita Torr Forbes; Princess Marie Louise, reporting on her diplomatic mission; Jocelyn Murray, witness of the 'Mau Mau' insurrection; and numerous missionaries.

A history of Lamu, once an important East African port city, now an unspoiled tourist destination. It covers the impact of slavery and the slave trade, the introduction of British colonial rule, health issues, agricultural practices, religious and ceremonial practices, family life, and more.

This is a survey of the roles women have played in Africa south of the Sahara, from the Queen of Sheba in Ethiopia to the present-day presidents of Liberia and Malawi. Romero discusses education and religion; the occult and power; diseases and treatment; women and war; and women's increasing presence on the political stage, including their roles as environmental activists. Drawing on the latest research, the book comprises documents, travellers' accounts, and case studies in its coverage of pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial Africa.