Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa (African Studies) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Slavery has been an important phenomenon throughout history..." (more)
Key Phrases: enslavement frontier, external enclaves, mwant yaav, Gold Coast, West African, Red Sea (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[T]his splendid book...makes important contributions to the study of African history and slavery." Journal of Social History

Product Description

This history of African slavery from the fifteenth to the early twentieth century examines how indigenous African slavery developed within an international context. Professor Lovejoy discusses the medieval Islamic slave trade and the Atlantic trade as well as the enslavement process and the marketing of slaves. He considers the impact of European abolition and assesses slavery's role in African history. The book corrects the accepted interpretation that African slavery was mild and resulted in the slaves' assimilation. This new edition incorporates recent research, revised statistics on the slave trade demography, and an updated bibliography.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 392 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 2 edition (August 28, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521784301
• ISBN-13: 978-0521784306
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #193,501 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Islam laid the framework for the Atlantic Slave Trade, September 27, 2001

By	Matthew Grinsell (Richmond, VA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Paul Lovejoy, in his study of the Transformation in Slavery within Africa from 1450 to 1900, poses that slavery in Africa changed due to external influences such as the Islamic trans-Saharan trade and the Trans-Atlantic Trade, and due to the dynamics of internal forces such as a social structure based on ethnicity and kinship. The transformation that took place was the emergence of "a system of slavery that was basic to the political economy of many parts of the continent," a system that expanded through the end of the 19th Century, structured on the "interaction between enslavement, the slave trade, and the domestic use of slaves within Africa." The transformation occurs in three stages: from 1450 to 1600, the Islamic trade; from 1600 to 1800, the Trans-Atlantic trade, and the 19th Century, the internalization as a result of the breakdown of exterior slave trade.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An essential work, December 13, 2004

By	Seth J. Frantzman (Jerusalem, Israel) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Anyone interested in Slavery in Africa must pick this book up. The author, not interested with the fate of the slaves but rahter focusing on the actual process and transformations of slavery in Africa lends his qonderful analysis to the Altantic slave trade and the Islamic slave trade. Here he gives the reader all the important facts. FOr instance he documents how more then 2.3 million slaves were shipped by Arab slavers to North Africa and beyond from 1600-1800, at the same time as 7 million were shipped across the atlantic. Drawing on a wide range of sources this book tells the tale of slavery down to the minute detail. From who were the buyers to where the cources of slaves were, to the brutal methods used to kidnap the slaves themselves. A social and economic analysis as well as a cultural understanding is given to the slave trade. Most important this book casts light on the huge numbers of slaves sent across the Sahara to the slave markets of the Islamic empire. The only small drawbacks are a few minor generalizations made in the introduction but otherwise this is a masterful account.

Seth J. Frantzman

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good info, bad presentation, September 10, 2007

By	LaughingLion "I am Lion, read me review!" (North of Boston) - See all my reviews

Holy cow.

This book is repetitive as all hell, and is apparently written for fourth graders. The text is excruciating to read. The information underneath the nonsense is useful, but parsing it from the dreadful writing is inglorious labor.