Landlords And Strangers: Ecology, Society, And Trade In Western Africa, 1000-1630

The period from 1000 to 1630 was a dynamic one in the history of the peoples living between the bend of the Niger River and the Atlantic littoral. Many of the economic, social and cultural patterns that evolved during those centuries remain of fundamental importance. This study delineates historical processes in the context of climate change, expanding trade networks and widespread state building. It provides a synthesis of documentary and oral data and includes numerous extracts from contemporaneous sources to portray the peoples and lands of Western Africa.