The History of the Yorubas From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the British Protectorate

ISBN: 9781330702796 出版年：2016 页码：738 Rev Samuel Johnson Forgotten Books

Reverend Samuel Johnson is a rare and precious historian of his own native continent in The History of the Yorubas. African history is told constantly by western historians so the more integrated gaze of a missionary who sought to take his people with him towards Christianity is a refreshing change. The book relies on centuries old oral traditions and the testimony of elder members of the Yoruba elders and historians of the court. Official history everywhere comes from the roots of retained custom, cultural myth, oral accounts but it is a benefit to see those voices come through so clearly in Reverend Johnson’s work. The Yoruba live dispersed across an enormous area from Portugal to Nigeria and their history is rich and storied. Johnson goes back to the accounts of distant kings and leaders but his work becomes substantially more detailed as we near the period of the British Peace. The image of the Reverend tracking across the land, searching for the equivalent of hereditary bards and village elders is a welcome search for the truth of tribal peoples, as opposed to the paternalistic slant often found in other works. As is often the case, the Yoruba’s history is scattered with the debris of war and the author covers this in depth from the early conflicts that splintered parts of the community and spurred migration to the more recent and bitter conflicts with outside entities. Johnson describes the language, the origins and the customs of the Yoruba people and the institutions these have given birth to in the diaspora. The History of the Yorubas is an unmissable perspective on a fascinating people.