Reviews of
Slaves, Spices & Ivory in Zanzibar by Abdul Sheriff
‘. . . a most important contribution to historiography, providing very rich funds of evidence and seeking to harness them with theory . . .’ Marcia Wright in African Economic History
‘Slaves, spices and ivory has considerable strengths. There are important insights and revisions derived from Sheriff’s attention to economic detail and from his use of a wide range of carefully collated sources. The slave trade figures are corrected downwards for the nineteenth century and the point is made that earlier estimates were based on self-serving British sources. The commercial linkages between Zanzibar and its hinterland are clarified.’
Richard Waller in The Historical Review
‘Sheriff’s book deserves a wide audience and careful study.’
Frederick Cooper The Journal of Peasant Studies
‘For most readers the main value of Sheriff’s work will probably still lie in its richly documented narrative of the transformations in Zanzibar’s economy from an outpost of Omani trade to a centre of its own commercial empire and plantation system, subjected to continual intervention from the informal overlordship of Britain. Sheriff not only tells us a good deal about Zanzibar and its well-known Omani and British ties, but also provides excellent accounts of the island’s relationships with the rest of the Persian Gulf, the French plantations of the Indian Ocean, India, the United States, and the interior of East Africa. In addition to the text, his book contains extensive statistical information and, surprisingly in this age of barebones publication, a large number of valuable illustrations.’ Ralph A. Austen in The Journal of African History
‘Professor Sheriff’s book on the rise and fall of the commercial empire of Zanzibar is an immensely satisfying one. It is both elegantly written and vigorously argued. The study, based on scrupulous historical research and an incisive use of Marxist theory, succeeds in illuminating the major transformations which were occurring on the East African coast and its hinterland during the nineteenth century . . . it is in every respect an admirable book.’
Nigel Penn in The Journal of Southern African History
‘Presented a well-researched, provocative look at economic development and imperialism in Zanzibar. It is highly recommended.’
Calvin H. Allen Jr. in The Middle East Journal
Abdul Sheriff, Tanzania Publishing House and James Currey Publishers acknowledge the help of the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Development Co-operation in making an edition of this book available in Tanzania
Slaves, Spices & Ivory in Zanzibar
EASTERN AFRICAN STUDIES
Abdul Sheriff
Slaves, Spices & Ivory in Zanzibar
Integration of an East African Commercial Empire into the World Economy 1770–1873
Isaria N. Kimambo
Penetration & Protest in Tanzania *
The Impact of the World Economy on the Pare 1860–1960
T.L. Maliyamkono & M.S.D. Bagachwa
The Second Economy in Tanzania
Tabitha Kanogo
Squatters & the Roots of Mau Mau 1905–1963
David W. Throup
Economic and Social Origins of Mau Mau 1945–1953
Frank Furedi
The Mau Mau War in Perspective
David Willim Cohen & E.S. Atieno Odhiambo
Siaya
The Historical Anthropology of an African Landscape
Bruce Berman & John Lonsdale
Unhappy Valley *
Clan, Class & State in Colonial Kenya
Bruce Berman
Crisis & Control in Colonial Kenya *
The Dialectic of Domination
Holger Bernt Hansen & Michael Twaddle
Uganda Now
Bahru Zewde*
A History of Modern Ethiopia 1855–1974
Note
* forthcoming
Slaves, Spices & Ivory in Zanzibar
Integration of an East African Commercial Empire into the World Economy, 1770–1873
Abdul Sheriff
Professor of History
University of Dar es Salaam
James Currey LONDON
Heinemann Kenya NAIROBI
Tanzania Publishing House DAR ES SALAAM
Ohio University Press ATHENS
eBook edition published 2016
Ohio University Press
James Currey
Boydell & Brewer Ltd
PO Box 9, Woodbridge
Suffolk IP12 3DF (GB)
Boydell & Brewer Inc.
668 Mt Hope Avenue
Rochester, NY 14620-2731 (US)
© Abdul Sheriff 1987
First published 1987
Reprinted 1990
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Sheriff, Abdul
Slaves, spices and ivory in Zanzibar: integration of an East African commercial empire into the world economy, 1770–1873.
(East African studies)
1. Zanzibar Economic conditions To 1964
I. Title II. Series
330.9678′102 HC885.Z7Z3
ISBN 0–85255–014–6
ISBN 0–85255–015–4 Pbk
ISBN 978-0-8214-0872-8
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sheriff, Abdul
Slaves, spices and ivory in Zanzibar
Revision