Magnifying Perspectives. Contributions to History, A Festschrift for Robert Ross

Book coverThis publication is a festschrift for Robert Ross, Emeritus Professor of African History at Leiden University. The contributions have been written by the students and colleagues of Robert Ross, reflecting his broad-ranging thematic and geographical research interests. Individual chapters cover topics such as slavery, gender and gossip, but also reflect an eye for detail in narrating about mosquitoes, semaphores and pineapples. Big themes such as race and imperialism are tackled by paying attention to language, material objects and the powerful role of individuals in shaping history. Contributions on all parts of the African continent, from Nigeria and Mali to Angola and South Africa, as well as Britain and Australia are included. This book attempts to do justice to the unique approach to African history which Robert Ross advocated, an approach which emphasises the complexity and dignity of human nature by placing it at the centre of historical writing.

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This book has been published as volume 26 in the Occasional Publications series.

Author(s) / editor(s)

Iva Pesa & Jan-Bart Gewald (eds.)

About the author(s) / editor(s)

Portrait Iva PesaIva Pesa is a historian who does research on the Central African Copperbelt at Oxford University. After having studies Mwinilunga District in North-Western Zambia, her current research focuses on the environmental history of the Zambian and Congolese Copperbelt. She has co-edited Transforming Innovations in Africa (Brill, 2012) and The Objects of Life in Central Africa (Brill, 2013).

 

Portrait Jan-Bart GewaldJan-Bart Gewald is Professor of African History at Leiden University. His research interests include the history of the social relationship between people and technology in Africa. He wrote Forged in the Great War: people, transport, and labour, the etablishment of colonial rule in Zambia, 1890-1920 (Leiden, 2015).

How to order

This book can be ordered from the ASCL webshop.
ISBN: 978-90-5448-159-1
Pages: 348
Price: € 20,-