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Title: Wives of the Leopard: Gender, Politics, and Culture in the Kingdom of Dahomey by Edna Bay ISBN: 0-8139-1792-1 Publisher: University Press of Virginia Pub. Date: 01 October, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (1 review)
Rating: 5
Summary: Top-notch history
Comment: If you are interested in the history of African kingdoms, the former Slave Coast, kingdom politics or just ethnography, this book is worth your time to read. It is not "gender history," it is a well-rounded, well-researched examination of an unusual kingdom, presenting many sides of the complex society which produced and supported the monarchy, including the wives of the kings and their important roles.
I live and work in Benin, West Africa (formerly Dahomey) among the descendents of the very people Edna Bay has written about. Many of my friends trace their lineage to the kings of Dahomey and Allada. I spend my time in their villages, speak their languages (Ayizo & Fon), listen to their stories, and share their lives. In several cases Bay's discussion of the way things "were" describe very well the way things are right now in the lives of my village friends. Several of her observations also helped to clarify and articulate cultural attitudes that differ from my own. In other words: she's done her research well.
Bay's commentary on history and how it's written, particularly in the context of the kingdom of Dahomey, is fascinating all by itself. Her more general first chapters are informative. The subsequent chapters, which are divided by the reigns of the kings, are more detailed. Although keeping track of some of the titles and the players can get a little tricky, the chapters are well-woven and paint a strong picture of the kingdom and its development.
No work is perfect, of course, and there are a few items which differ from my experience or the information provided by my Beninoix friends, but without doubt this book is worth reading.
On a technical note I would suggest that the title of the book would be better as "Mothers of the Leopard" since "Kpojito" is literally translated as "the leopard giving-birth person."
All in all, it's a book worth having.
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Title: Amazons of Black Sparta : The Women Warriors of Dahomey by Stanley B. Alpern ISBN: 0814706789 Publisher: New York University Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 1999 List Price(USD): $21.00 |
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Title: When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism and the Genocide in Rwanda by Mahmood Mamdani ISBN: 0691102805 Publisher: Princeton University Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Women in African Colonial Histories: by Jean Marie Allman, Nakanyike Musisi, Susan Geiger ISBN: 0253215072 Publisher: Indiana University Press Pub. Date: 01 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Kongolese Saint Anthony: Dona Beatrix Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement, 1684-1706 by John Kelly Thornton, John Kelly Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlanti Thornton ISBN: 0521596491 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 1998 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: The Graves Are Not Yet Full: Race, Tribe, and Power in the Heart of Africa by Bill Berkeley ISBN: 0465006426 Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: 05 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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