West African Challenge to Empire

Introduction
1 The West Volta in the Nineteenth Century
2 The Muslim Houses of the Volta and the Beginnings of French Occupation
3 An Incomplete Colonial Occupation
4 Before the Storm
5 The Call to Arms
6 The First Victories of the Anticolonial Party
7 Terror as Strategy: The War in the Cercle of Dedougou
8 The War in the Cercle of Bobo-Dioulasso
9 The Pilgrim and the Shrines: The War in Koutiala, San, and Bandiagara
10 East of the Volta: The War in the Cercle of Ouagadougou
Conclusion
Appendix: Letters Used as Evidence in the Muslim Conspiracy Trials

"This highly recommended work will recast the history of colonial West Africa for years to come. All levels and collections. -" C. L. Goucher, CHOICE

"Saul and Royer have written an excellent book that reveals the significance of a neglected event in the early French colonial period in West Africa. Their anthropological analysis of the local pre-colonial context offers an important critique of earlier work and a fresh perspective on the societies of the region. Their reconstruction focuses upon both sides of the conflict, with special emphasis on the sophistication of the anti-colonial movement. Others may use the findings of this book to launch research projects into the implications of the war for specific communities. -" John H. Hanson, BULLETIN OF THE ROYAL INSTITUTE FOR INTER-FAITH STUDIES

"Les auteurs presentent ce livre comme une etude de microhistoire anthropologique. La modestie de l'expression met en valeur l'originalite d'un travail qui exploite des sources nombreuses, dispersees dans plusiers specialites par la nomenclature scientifique. -" Marie-Claude Dupre, AFRIQUE

"...they demonstrate just how much of that African voice can be recovered by a careful reading of the colonial archive record, especially when it is combined with extensive fieldwork. One of their objectives in writing the book was to strengthen the growing ties between anthropology and history by encouraging the combining of the work methods of the two disciplines. In that task, they have succeeded most impressively. This is only one of many historical studies written by anthropologists in recent years, but it is surely one of the best. -" A.S. Kenya-Forstner, INTERNATIONAL HISTORICAL REVIEW

"This book is a must-read for any scholar interested in the military and social history of colonial rule in Africa. -" Leslie C. Gray, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AFRICAN HISTORICAL STUDIES