Being Colonized: The Kuba Experience in Rural Congo, 1880–1960 (Africa and the Diaspora)
“A stunning achievement. Drawing on his years of research, Vansina reveals an ever-changing kaleidoscope of interactions between colonizers and colonized. This is colonial history firmly grounded in the thoughts and daily experiences of Africans. It will forever alter the way we think about the colonial period in Africa.”—Robert Harms, Yale University“The book is also notable for its reliance on primary sources from the time itself––common with histories of American, European or Asian cultures, but exceptional in African history. Using the rigorous documentation of his own experiences, Vansina aimed to write something radically different than the texts usually used by undergraduates. The resulting approach speaks to both intellect and imagination.”––Susannah Brooks, Wisconsin Week“This may be Vansina’s best book yet. . . . He has trodden the Kuba ground, talked to the people, and collected data for a half century, giving the book greater intimacy and authority than anything else he has written. . . .In African historiography we are all Vansina’s students, even when we argue with him.Being Colonizedis written with the assurance of a master.”—Wyatt MacGaffey,Africa: The Journal of the International African Institute