Kingdom on Mount Cameroon: Studies in the History of the Cameroon Coast 1500-1970 (Cameroon Studies) (Paperback)

~ E Ardener (Author), S Ardener (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...collected in a single volume, [these papers] become a rich case study of an African people's relations with various European agents over more than four centuries." Choice; "... a true treasure... challenging example of how history and anthropology can be combined in practice... such a combination can offer a deeper understanding of present-day issues and tensions." Africa

Product Description

The Bakweri people of Mount Cameroon, West Africa have had a varied and at times exciting history which has brought them into contact, not only with other African peoples, but with merchants, missionaries, soldiers and administrators form Portugal, Holland, England, Jamaica, Sweden, Germany and more recently France. Edwin Ardener, the distinguished social anthropologist who spoke their language, wrote a number of studies on the history and culture of the Bakweri Kingdom. Some of his unpublished writings, as well as out of print materials are presented here for the first time. The book covers the early contacts with the Portuguese and Dutch from the sixteenth century, the arrival of the missionaries in the nineteenth century, the dramatic defeat of the first German punitive expedition, the subsequent establishment by the Germans of the plantation system, and the British Trusteeship period until independence in 1961 as part of the Federal Republic of Cameroon.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 404 pages
• Publisher: Berghahn Books (January 27, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571810447
• ISBN-13: 978-1571810441
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 4.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #963,308 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Key Ethnic Group of Cameroon, December 28, 2003

By	W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Kingdom on Mount Cameroon: Studies in the History of the Cameroon Coast 1500-1970 (Cameroon Studies, V. 1) (Hardcover)

On the slopes of an active volcano, Mount Cameroon, from which the country of Cameroon takes its name, are a fascinating people called the Bakweri. Their locale geographically dominates the entire region, and historically the Bakweri leveraged this into various forms of advantage, at times commercial and at times political.

When the Europeans arrived, they too saw the strategic significance of the Bakwiri's area. Four centuries of interaction followed, as described here in a posthumous collection of papers written by the anthropologist Edwin Ardener. He covered many aspects of that history in research that took him decades to amass.

Some readers may find most compelling the narrative of how the Bakwiri defeated the Germans in an 1894 battle, though they eventually lost that war. A European defeat in Africa in the 19th century was rare indeed. But for some reason, this battle has been far less remembered than the British defeat by the Zulus at Isandlwana.