A History of West Africa

Toyin Falola, Ph.D. is the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities and University Distinguished Teaching Professor, Department of History, The University of Texas at Austin. He is the recipient of many distinguished awards, including sixteen honorary titles.

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1. Introduction 2. Writing West African History 3. Geography, Landscape, and Composition PART II: EARLY HISTORY, STATE FORMATION, AND SOCIETIES 4. Evolutions and Revolutions 5. Societies and Cultures in the Iron Age 6. The Trans-Saharan Trade in West Africa 7. States and Empires 8. Domestic Economies 9. Traditional Religions PART III: WEST AFRICA IN THE ERA OF ATLANTIC ECONOMIES AND GLOBALIZATION UP TILL THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 10. Islam in West Africa 11. Christianity in West Africa 12. The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade 13. Economy and Society: External Commerce 14. Transformations and Revolutions in the Nineteenth Century 15.The Nineteenth Century Jihads in West Africa PART IV: THE COLONIAL ERA 16. Colonial Rule and Its Impact 17. West Africa and the World Wars (1914-1919) and (1940-1945) 18. Nationalism and Independence 19. The Road to Independence in West Africa PART V: THE POSTCOLONIAL ERA 20. Postcolonial Politics 21. Economies and Development 22. Postcolonial Cultures 23. Cultural Changes and Popular Cultures 24. Religions and Religious Changes 25. Contemporary West African Identities 26. West Africa and the Wider World 27. Trajectories and Projections on the Future of West Africa 28. Timeline