Michael Crowder’s book is the standard work on the colonial period in the vast and varied areas of the coast and hinterland of West Africa. No other volume surveys so compendiously, and with so assured a mastery of an enormous literature, the period (which, he argues, came to an end with the Second World War) of the domination of West Africa by the British and French. Professor Crowder challenges the commonly accepted view of the colonialist that their rule was generally beneficial to the African. He gives penetrating descriptions of the colonial economic system in which the principal beneficiaries were the European commercial companies; of the slow rate of agricultural and educational development; of the quality of colonial administration; and of the impact of the two world wars. 

Table of Contents

PART 1 WEST AFRICA AND COLONIAL RULE ……………….……P. 1
1 Introduction ………………………………………………...................P. 3
1. Colonial or foreign rule……………………………................p. 3
2. Colonial rule as factor for the integration of
Africa into the modern world ………………………....................p. 7
3. Pre-colonial Africa: the myth and the reality …………..p. 10
4. The periodisation of colonial rule …………………….........p. 17

2 The Origins Of European Imperialism And The Rise Of
Militant Islam…………………………………………………...................p. 23
1. The origins of European interest in the
West African hinterlands, 1800-50 ………………............……..p. 23
2. Islam as a counter force to European penetration…..p. 31
3 Background To the Scramble ………………………………….......p. 45
1. The location of European interests in west Africa,
1850-80 …………………………………………………..p. 45
2. The beginnings of the scramble, 1880-5 ………………..p. 55
3. The Berlin Conference ………………………………..........….p. 62

PART II THE EUROPEAN OCCUPATION OF
WEST AFRICA …………………………………………………P. 67
1 The French Conquest Of The Western Sudan ………………P. 69
1. The Nature Of Colonial Occupation ……………………..…P. 69
2. Securing the Senegalese base …………………………….…p. 75
3. The conquest of the Tokolor empire ……………………..p. 80
4. The seven years’ war with Samory ……………………...p. 86
2 The Completion Of The French Occupation Of
West Africa ………....................................................…P. 93
1. Securing the guinea hinterland ……………………………..p. 93
2. The occupation of Mossi ……………………………….......…p. 95
3. The conquest of Dahomey ……………………………....…..p. 98
4. The occupation of Niger ……………………………….....……p. 104
5. France and morocco in Mauretania ……………………...p. 107
6. The ‘pacification’ of the ivory coast ………………….…..p. 109
3 The British occupation of Nigeria ………………………………..p. 116
1. Britain and company administration ……………………..p. 116
2. The Niger Delta ………………………………………………….…..p. 119
3. Britain and Yoruba land …………………………………………..p. 123
4. The royal Niger company and the completion of
the British Occupation of southern Nigeria ……………………...p. 127
5. The royal Niger company and the northern Nigeria…p. 129
6. Lugard’s conquest of the north ………………………………..p. 132

4 The British Occupation Of The Gold Coast, Sierra Leone
And The Gambia ……………………………………………………............P. 144
1. The conquest of Ashanti ……………………………………….....p. 114
2. The occupation of the Sierra Leone hinterland ………..p. 150
3. The acquisition of a river colony ………………………………..p. 156
4. Conclusion ………………………………………………………...........p. 159

PART III THE ESTABLISHMENT OF COLONIAL RULE ………….P. 163
1 Administration in theory and practice ………………………………p. 165
1. The problems of colonial administration …………………….p. 165
2. Trends in colonial policy ………………………………………….....p. 166
3. Assimilation ……………………………………………………..........…p. 167
4. Indirect rule …………………………………………………….........….p. 168
5. Paternalism ………………………………………………………...........p. 169
2 The Administration of French West Africa …………………………p. 174
1. The establishment of the government-general ……………p. 174
2. The government -general and the colonies after 190….p. 180
3. Slavery, forced labor and taxation ……………………………….p. 182
4. The chiefs ……………………………………………………………..........p. 187
3 British Administration In West Africa ………………………………….p. 198
1. The conservation of African society ………………………………p. 198
2. The political organization of British West Africa ……………p. 201
3. Taxation, forced Labour and slavery …………………………….p. 206
4. Types of British administration ………………………………………p. 211
4 Indirect Rule In Practice ……………………………………………………...P. 217
1. Indirect rule: interventionist or non-interventionist ……..p. 217
2. Laissez-faire ………………………………………………………............p. 221
3. Imposed chiefs ………………………………………………….........……p. 226
4. Direct administration ………………………………………………........p. 230
5. French and British administration contrasted ………………...p. 233

PART IV THE GERMANS AND WEST AFRICA …………………….....….P. 239
1 Togo, the model colony …………………………………………………........p. 241
2 West Africa and the 1914-18war ………………………………………....p. 252
1. The Togo and Kamerun campaigns ………………………………...p. 252
2. The war in British west Africa ……………………………………......p. 254
3. The war in French west Africa …………………………………........p. 259

PART V THE COLONIAL ECONOMY ………………………………............P. 271
1 Colonial Development And Commercial Exploitation ………….…P. 273
1. The Nature Of Colonial Development ………………………….....P. 273
2. The Communications Revolution ……………………………......….p. 276
3. Government and commerce …………………………………….........p. 278
4. Government and agriculture …………………………………….........p. 282
5. Education and health ……………………………………………............p. 283
6. The European commercial regime ……………………………......…p. 285
2 Lebanese and monopolists …………………………………………............p. 293
1. The emergence of the Lebanese trader ………………………......p. 293
2. The European oligopolies ……………………………………..............p. 298
3. Investment and development by commerce ……………………..p. 302
3 government and economy in the inter-wars years ………………….p. 308
1. Government and capital investment …………………………......…p. 308
2. Government and agriculture …………………………………..........…p. 313
3. The great depression ………………………………………….............…p. 320
4. Health and the economy ………………………………...............…..p. 326

PART VI SOCIAL CHANGE …………………………………….....................P. 333
1 migration and the new towns …………………………………….............p. 335
1. The colonial situation ……………………………………….................p. 335
2. Migration ……………………………………………………......................p. 336
3. The new towns ………………………………………………...................p. 340