In this groundbreaking work; Robert Baum seeks to reconstruct the religious and social history of the Diola communities in southern Senegal during the precolonial era; when the Atlantic slave trade was at its height. Baum shows that Diola community leaders used a complex of religious shrines and priesthoods to regulate and contain the influence of the slave trade. He demonstrates how this close involvement with the traders significantly changed Diola religious life.
#377191 in Books 2012-02-20Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 6.60 x 1.90 x 9.30l; 2.01 #File Name: 0195102479584 pages
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy John E. BanksThe English prose runs smoothly.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Peter Albert McKayA fascinating take on a great topic.31 of 32 people found the following review helpful. A redefinition of legal historyBy Anson Cassel MillsWhite's introduction provides a more playful and accurate; alternate title: "Some Arguably Central Themes of American History and How Law Is Seen to Relate To Them; Offered With Deference...." In other words; this volume is not what the title seems to suggest it might be; a Friedmanesque (or rather; a counter-Friedmanesque) survey of American legal theory and practice. Instead; White emphasizes a few major themes in early American history; such as European dispossession of Indians from tribal lands; the causes of the American Revolution; the increasing political importance of the Supreme Court; the significance of American entrepreneurship; and; perhaps most importantly; the polarizing effects of African slavery. In other words; White leans heavily towards the public/constitutional side of legal history (though he promises to redress the balance somewhat in the next volume).The prose is careful and sound; if not sparkling; and White includes many unexpected excursions; including summaries of the post-Jacksonian party system; Frederick Douglas's childhood and escape from slavery; and (perhaps most surprisingly for a book on legal history) a ten-page military overview of the Civil War. Hopefully Oxford University Press has a better notion of the target audience than I do. The book doesn't appear to be intended as a text or a reference; legal historians will find little new here; and the length and discursiveness of the book may put off general readers.
