Vincent Hiribarren is Lecturer in World History at King's College London.
This is an important book for all those interested in pre-colonial
African history. It provides new insight in the history of the
ancient empire of Borno. More generally, its emphasis on Borno's
unchanging territorial identity calls into question received
notions on the nature and sources of political power in Africa, in
the past and present.
*Klaas van Walraven, Senior Researcher, African Studies Centre,
Leiden*
This timely book is first and foremost a historical and
geopolitical story of borders. And it is a must for readers willing
to understand the legacy of the Borno Empire and the role of porous
(yet not-so artificial) borders in the framing of the narratives of
Boko Haram’s contemporary jihad.
*Marc-Antoine Perouse de Montclos, Associate Fellow, Africa
Programme, Chatham House*
A first-rate analysis of the history of one of Africa's most
important political and geographical entities over two centuries of
transformation under external and internal actors. Hugely
significant, superbly written, and profoundly interesting from
start to finish. Vincent Hiribarren has written a definitive
history of Borno since the nineteenth century.
*Saheed Aderinto, author of 'When Sex Threatened the State: Illicit
Sexuality, Nationalism, and Politics in Colonial Nigeria,
1900-1958'*
Time and again, defying all logic, colonial administrators,
scholars, developers and politicians have considered Africa as the
only continent with no significant past. In contrast, Vincent
Hiribarren shows how modern Nigeria borders or the Boko Haram
guerrilla cannot be grasped without a deep understanding of
eighteenth or nineteenth century dynamics.
*Henri Medard, Professor, Universite Aix-Marseille*
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