..". offers insights into the values and daily concerns of a Fulbe emir that no foreign observer s description could ever provide.... This volume is an indispensable addition to the scarce documentation of Sub-Saharan history from the African perspective." Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies

"Hamman Yaji s diary provides invaluable information on the early years of the colonial administration, the survival of slavery long after its abolition, and the career of an enigmatic indigenous ruler who tried for years to manipulate three competing European powers France,...