Corpus of Early Accounts of the Sunjata Epic, 1889-1959

Edited by Stephen Bulman, Stephen Belcher, Valentin Vydrin.

The Sunjata epic is a foundational oral narrative for Manding populations of West Africa and claims to describe the origins of the famed medieval empire of Mali.

ʻHistory of Ashantiʼ by Otumfuo, Nana Osei Agyeman Prempeh II

Edited by Tom McCaskie 

History of Ashanti is unusual, perhaps unique, in that it provides a long historical account of the great West African forest kingdom of Asante by a ruler of that society.

The Reports of Theophilus Opoku: A 19th-Century Gold Coast Pastor

Edited by Michelle Gilbert , Paul Jenkins.

The Reports of Theophilus Opoku details the letters of a pastor living in the ethnically diverse and structurally fragile kingdom of Akuapem in the south-eastern Gold Coast during the 19th century.

African Voices from the Inquisition, Vol. 1: The Trial of Crispina Peres of Cacheu, Guinea-Bissau (1646-1668)

Edited and translated by Toby Green, Philip J. Havik, F. Ribeiro da Silva.

This book contains some of the richest written material in existence for precolonial West Africa with unique insights into daily life in an Afro-Atlantic coastal trade settlement.

The Archive of a Ugandan Missionary

The archive of a ugandan missionary. Writings by and about revd apolo kivebulaya (1890s–1950s)

Africa’s Gold Coast Through Portuguese Sources, 1469-1680.

The Portuguese produced the earliest records for regions in West Africa, none more important than the Gold Coast.

Consul John Beecroft’s Journal of his Mission to Dahomey, 1850

Edited by Robin Law

Extensive primary literature on the African slave trade that is being published for the first time. Comparative documents published alongside Beecroft’s journal for the first time assist the evaluation of his account…

Writing the New Nation in a West African Borderland

Ablɔɖe Safui (the Key to Freedom) by Holiday Komedja

Translated and edited by Kate Skinner and Wilson Yayoh

Expands knowledge of West African print cultures. Detailed introduction examining the nature and significance of the primary source…

The Colonial Occupation of Katanga

Edited by Giacomo Macola

The Personal Correspondence of Clément Brasseur, 1893-1897. First comprehensive publication of Clément Brasseur’s personal correspondence – previous publications have featured heavily censored extracts. First English translation of Brasseur’s letters…

Voices from the Chilembwe Rising

Edited by John McCracken

Witness Testimonies made to the Nyasaland Rising Commission of Inquiry, 1915. Rare, verbatim testimonies of contemporary African witnesses.  Earliest written accounts of John Chilembwe. Detailed contemporary descriptions of the operation of plantation economy…

Empire and the Nuer

Edited by Douglas H. Johnson

Documents and Texts from the Pacification of the Southern Sudan 1898-1930. Covers important events in Britain’s involvement in Africa that have repercussions today in South Sudan. Makes available previously unpublished documents. Comments on the social anthropology of E. E. Evans-Pritchard.

The Goggam Chronicle

By Aläqa Täklä Iyäsus

Edited and translated by Girma Getahun

The Goggam Chronicle is a valuable resource for African history. The edition contains a helpful introduction and notes to guide the reader Goggam Chronicle. The translation is based on a collated edition of the various manuscripts, therefore it is authoritative…

A Journey from Tete to Zumbo

By Albino Manoel Pacheco

Edited and translated by Malyn Newitt

The first English edition of Uma Viagem de Tete ao Zumbo. Contains original Portuguese text alongside translation. Detailed discussion of the text in a clear and easy-to-read introduction. Historical context fully explained…

Dahomey and the Ending of the Transatlantic Slave Trade

Edited by Robin Law

The Journals and Correspondence of Vice-Consul Louis Fraser, 1851-1852. Important original documents previously unpublished. Includes source material both for study of anti-slavery efforts of the British Government and also for the study of the kingdom of Dahomey…

Treatise on the Rivers of Cuama

By Antonio da Conceicao

Edited and translated by Malyn Newitt

New edition of this Portuguese text is accompanied by the first English translation. Describes a formative period in the history of what is now Zimbabwe…

The English in West Africa, 1691-1699

Edited by Robin Law

The Local Correspondence of the Royal African Company of England, 1681-1699, Part 3. A source of major importance for the study of indigenous African history. Letters are published in their full original texts, with extensive explanatory commentary.

An African Family Archive

Edited by Adam Jones and Peter Sebald

The Lawsons of Little Popo/Aneho (Togo) 1841-1938. A unique private source
of essential interest to students and researchers of African history.

The History of Ashanti Kings and the Whole Country Itself

By Otumfuo, Nana Agyeman Prempeh

Edited by E Akyeampong, Agyeman Prempeh, A Adu Boahen, N Lawler, T C McCaskie, and I Wilks.

A unique example of history writing in English by an African ruler.

The English in West Africa, 1685-1688

By Robin Law

The Local Correspondence of the Royal African Company of England 1681-1699. The letter-books of the Royal African Company of England, which have never previously been printed, cover the period 1681-1699. The original …

The English in West Africa, 1681-1683

Edited by Robin Law

The Local Correspondence of the Royal African Company of England, 1681-1699: Part 1. An essential source for the study of European trade in Africa, including the slave trade, and of the history of West Africa itself.