Jan Vansina is the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor and the Vilas Professor in History and Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His many books include his 1994 memoir Living with Africa, Oral Tradition as History, Kingdoms of the Savanna, and The Children of Woot, all published by the University of Wisconsin Press.

For historians... the choice is clear. Only at their peril will they ignore Vansina's seminal contribution to our understanding of one of the most complex and controversial chapters in the history of the continent. There are few books about Africa today I would qualify as a magnificent achievement. This is one of them. - Rene Lemarchand, African Affairs