John Parker teaches African history at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He is the author of Making the Town: Ga State and Society in Early Colonial Accra (2000); Tongnaab: The History of a West African God (2005; with Jean Allman); and African History: A Very Short Introduction (2007; with Richard Rathbone). He is currently conducting research on the history of death and the end of life in Ghana.Richard Reid is Professor of the History of Africa at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He is the author of several books, including Political Power in Pre-Colonial Buganda (2002), War in Pre-Colonial Eastern Africa (2007), A History of Modern Africa: 1800 to the present (2009; 2012), Frontiers of Violence in Northeast Africa (2011), and Warfare in African History (2012). He is the editor of Eritrea's External Relations: Understanding its Regional Role and Foreign Policy (2009), and has written a number of articles on various aspects of violence and liberation struggle in nineteenth- and twentieth-century northeast Africa. His work has focused particularly on the history of warfare and military culture in Africa; now he is researching historical consciousness and culture in Uganda. Professor Reid is also an editor of the Journal of African History.

the Handbook will be of major interest to both teachers of African history and the curious general reader. And since most essays include sections on 'future directions' and subjects ripe for further investigations, prospective researchers, too, have reasons to be grateful for the appearance of this timely addition to the Oxford Handbooks series.

• PART ONE: KEY THEMES IN AFRICAN HISTORY; PART TWO: THE COLONIAL ENCOUNTER; PART THREE: RELIGION AND BELIEF; PART FOUR: SOCIETY AND ECONOMY; PART FIVE: ARTS AND THE MEDIA

John Parker teaches African history at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He is the author of Making the Town: Ga State and Society in Early Colonial Accra (2000); Tongnaab: The History of a West African God (2005; with Jean Allman); and African History: A Very Short Introduction (2007; with Richard Rathbone). He is currently conducting research on the history of death and the end of life in Ghana.Richard Reid is Professor of the History of Africa at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He is the author of several books, including Political Power in Pre-Colonial Buganda (2002), War in Pre-Colonial Eastern Africa (2007), A History of Modern Africa: 1800 to the present (2009; 2012), Frontiers of Violence in Northeast Africa (2011), and Warfare in African History (2012). He is the editor of Eritrea's External Relations: Understanding its Regional Role and Foreign Policy (2009), and has written a number of articles on various aspects of violence and liberation struggle in nineteenth- and twentieth-century northeast Africa. His work has focused particularly on the history of warfare and military culture in Africa; now he is researching historical consciousness and culture in Uganda. Professor Reid is also an editor of the Journal of African History.

the Handbook will be of major interest to both teachers of African history and the curious general reader. And since most essays include sections on 'future directions' and subjects ripe for further investigations, prospective researchers, too, have reasons to be grateful for the appearance of this timely addition to the Oxford Handbooks series.

• PART ONE: KEY THEMES IN AFRICAN HISTORY; PART TWO: THE COLONIAL ENCOUNTER; PART THREE: RELIGION AND BELIEF; PART FOUR: SOCIETY AND ECONOMY; PART FIVE: ARTS AND THE MEDIA