Never before seen in print, the letter-books of the Royal African Company of England cover the crucial historical period between 1681 and 1699. Here, the original texts are published in full, with extensive explanatory commentary. This second volume contains letters from 1685 to 1688.

This edited collection, written by leading specialists, deals with nineteenth-century commercial transition in West Africa: the ending of the Atlantic slave trade and development of alternative forms of "legitimate" trade. Approaching the subject from an African perspective, the case studies consider the effects of transition on the African societies involved, and provide new insights into the history of precolonial Africa and the slave trade, origins of European imperialism, and longer term issues of economic development in Africa.

This edited collection, written by leading specialists, deals with nineteenth-century commercial transition in West Africa: the ending of the Atlantic slave trade and development of alternative forms of "legitimate" trade. Approaching the subject from an African perspective, the case studies consider the effects of transition on the African societies involved, and provide new insights into the history of precolonial Africa and the slave trade, origins of European imperialism, and longer term issues of economic development in Africa.

Ouidah, an African town in the Republic of Benin, was the principal precolonial commercial center of its region and the second-most-important town of the Dahomey kingdom. It served as a major outlet for the transatlantic slave trade. Between the seventeenth and the nineteenth centuries, Ouidah was the most important embarkation point for slaves in the region of West Africa known to outsiders as the Slave Coast. This is the first detailed study of the town's history and of its role in the Atlantic slave trade.

Ouidah is a well-documented case study of precolonial urbanism,...

This third volume completes Robin Law's highly acclaimed edition of original correspondence of the Royal African Company of England, relating to the period 1681-1699. These documents, published here for the first time, comprise the most substantial body of source material on English trade in West Africa in the late seventeenth century, and are also an important source for indigenous African history.

The Vice-Consulate in the coastal port of Ouidah, in the kingdom of Dahomey, West African (now in the modern Republic of Benin) was established in1851-2 as part of the British government's efforts to suppress the trans-Atlantic slave trade. In particular it was hoped to persuade King Gezo to accept a treaty banning exports of slaves from his dominions.
Louis Fraser proved a poor choice as Vice-Consul: he was no linguist, abrasive with naval colleagues and arrogant towards the king and people of Ouidah. However, his shortcomings as a diplomat do not detract from the value of his account as...