The History of the Yorubas [Paperback]

Samuel Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 29, 1997 | ISBN-10: 978322929X | ISBN-13: 978-9783229297

First published in 1921, and cited on the Africa's Best 100 Books List, this is a standard work on the history of theYorubas from the earliest times to the beginning of the British Protectorate. The first part of the book discusses the people, theircountry and language, religion, government, land law, manners and customs. The second part is divided into four periods, dealing first with mytheological kings and deified heroes; with the growth, prosperity and oppression of the Yoruba people; the time of revolutionary wars and disruption; and, finally, the arrest of disintegration, inter-tribal wars, and the coming of the British. There are two appendices, on dealing with treaties and agreements, the other giving tables of Yoruba kings, rulers, and chiefs. The book also includes an index and map of the Yoruba country.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

Samuel Johnson (1846-1901) was an Anglican minister and historian renowned for his magisterial history of the Yoruba people. This volume, first published in 1921 by his brother, Dr Obadiah Johnson, contains Johnson's pioneering history of the Yoruba people which remains the standard reference for Yoruba history. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 740 pages
• Publisher: African Books Collective (December 29, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 978322929X
• ISBN-13: 978-9783229297
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,957,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic work, December 16, 2007

By 

Midasin (London, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The History of the Yorubas (Paperback)

The author of this classic work is not to be confused with Samuel Johnson (1709-84), the English essayist, poet, and lexicographer usually known as "Dr Johnson". This Samuel Johnson (1846-1901) was an Anglican vicar of African descent. He was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, but spent his adult life in Nigeria. His peace-efforts in the 1870s contributed to the eventual end of the Yoruba wars in 1886.

In 1880 Samuel Johnson became a deacon and was ordained a vicar in 1888. Claiming Yoruba ancestry, he was concerned that his people were losing their own history and completed the original manuscript of his history of the Yoruba people from his notes in 1897. Whether by accident or design, this completed manuscript was sadly lost. However, after his death, his brother, Dr Obadiah Johnson, produced this work from his notes. It was at last published in 1921. Unfortunately, Obadiah died in 1920 so neither he nor Samuel saw the finished product.

It remains a key resource for the understanding of Yoruba history.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ayo Sotunbo's Review, October 29, 2003

By 

Ayo Sotunbo (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The History of the Yorubas (Paperback)

Any student of political history will be forced to acknowlege the explicit and almost accurate records collected by Samuel Johnson in this book. The book has a vivid picture of a generation of Yoruba Nationhood within Nigerian Nationality, prior to the British invation and colonalization of Nigeria, Yoruba had been a Nation with an institutionalized government and there is no better place to understand and assess this form of government except in this book, the book is a bag of history, politics and culture of a nation called The Yorubas, it is one of the best book to describe the politics of government in which history defines the terms and culture of power dictates the order.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yoruba History, December 10, 2004

By 

BlessedMan (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The History of the Yorubas (Paperback)

I remember reading this book when I was in secondary school over 25 years ago and I can still recall how amazed I was to discover that we Yorubas had organized govermental inititutions. I found out why we as a people are so defragmented, the origin of the Yoruba people and different tribes, the power and might of various tribal empires. I don't think there is another book that has this amount of detail regarding the Yoruba people. Now I need a copy for my library and is now difficult to get hold of.