The United States in Africa - by David Shavit Hardcover

About the Book

... aims to be something more than a biographical dictionary of missionaries, academics, artists, leaders, diplomats, educators, soldiers, engineers, etc. (dead and alive), who established relationships between the US and Africa. The entries include information on institutions, organizations, business firms, even ships that were involved in these contacts. . . . recommended for most libraries. Choice

Contacts between the United States and Africa began in the seventeenth century when American slavers arrived on the West African Coast. They were quickly followed by a multitude of colonists, traders, missionaries, soldiers, diplomats, engineers, scientists, authors, artists, explorers, and hunters, among others, as well as a range of American institutions, societies, and businesses.

This unique reference work provides in one alphabetical format a resource on more than 700 people, organizations, and events that have affected the relations between the United States and Africa from the 1600s to the present. The focus is primarily on those individuals and organizations that were actually in Africa and that have left written or visual records of their stay. Each entry is followed by a short bibliography of major sources, including information on existing manuscript material; a useful index completes the text. Of special interest to scholars of African studies, world history, American foreign policy, and colonialism, this comprehensive reference tool will be a valuable aid in understanding American involvement in Africa.

Book Synopsis

... aims to be something more than a biographical dictionary of missionaries, academics, artists, leaders, diplomats, educators, soldiers, engineers, etc. (dead and alive), who established relationships between the US and Africa. The entries include information on institutions, organizations, business firms, even ships that were involved in these contacts. . . . recommended for most libraries. Choice

Contacts between the United States and Africa began in the seventeenth century when American slavers arrived on the West African Coast. They were quickly followed by a multitude of colonists, traders, missionaries, soldiers, diplomats, engineers, scientists, authors, artists, explorers, and hunters, among others, as well as a range of American institutions, societies, and businesses.

This unique reference work provides in one alphabetical format a resource on more than 700 people, organizations, and events that have affected the relations between the United States and Africa from the 1600s to the present. The focus is primarily on those individuals and organizations that were actually in Africa and that have left written or visual records of their stay. Each entry is followed by a short bibliography of major sources, including information on existing manuscript material; a useful index completes the text. Of special interest to scholars of African studies, world history, American foreign policy, and colonialism, this comprehensive reference tool will be a valuable aid in understanding American involvement in Africa.

Review Quotes

?Shavit is also the author of The United States in the Middle East: A Historical Dictionary. The work under review aims to be something more than a biographical dictionary of missionaries, academics, artists, leaders, diplomats, educators, soldiers, engineers, etc. (dead and alive), who established relationships between the US and Africa. The entries include information on institutions, organizations, business firms, even ships that were involved in these contacts . . . recommended for most libraries.?-Choice

?The more than 700 entries in this volume are mostly for individual Americans who have been to Africa and left behind either a publication or manuscript papers. Institutions and events are also covered. The author, an experienced compiler of reference works, recently completed a companion volume on the United States in the Middle East. That probably explains why Northern Africa (but not the Azores) are excluded from the volume under review. Missionaries account for about one-third of the references, with diplomats and authors trailing far behind. Among the modern scholars included, one finds many anthropologists but very few historians or political scientists. Perhaps a third of the entries will not be found in other biographical directories. The author did a fine job extracting data on minor figures from manuscript collections, apparently having made good use of various directories. The author had hoped to be comprehensive, but selectivity became necessary and specialists will find significant omissions. Entries are well written and end with references to further information. . . . The bibliographical essay is quite good and current. . . .?-African Studies Review

?This book lists over 700 people, events, and organizations that have affected U.S.-African relations, although the emphasis is definitely on people, especially anyone who left any sort of written or visual record of his or her encounter with Africa, no matter how seemingly trivial it may have been. Also appended is a list of chiefs of American diplomatic missions in Africa, a brief bibliographical essay, and an index to individuals by profession or occupation. Given the relative paucity of materials on this topic, especially the lack of any other biographical guide to Americans in Africa, and the fact that this information was assembled from widely scattered sources, this book should prove useful in larger collections.?-Library Journal

"Shavit is also the author of The United States in the Middle East: A Historical Dictionary. The work under review aims to be something more than a biographical dictionary of missionaries, academics, artists, leaders, diplomats, educators, soldiers, engineers, etc. (dead and alive), who established relationships between the US and Africa. The entries include information on institutions, organizations, business firms, even ships that were involved in these contacts . . . recommended for most libraries."-Choice

"This book lists over 700 people, events, and organizations that have affected U.S.-African relations, although the emphasis is definitely on people, especially anyone who left any sort of written or visual record of his or her encounter with Africa, no matter how seemingly trivial it may have been. Also appended is a list of chiefs of American diplomatic missions in Africa, a brief bibliographical essay, and an index to individuals by profession or occupation. Given the relative paucity of materials on this topic, especially the lack of any other biographical guide to Americans in Africa, and the fact that this information was assembled from widely scattered sources, this book should prove useful in larger collections."-Library Journal

"The more than 700 entries in this volume are mostly for individual Americans who have been to Africa and left behind either a publication or manuscript papers. Institutions and events are also covered. The author, an experienced compiler of reference works, recently completed a companion volume on the United States in the Middle East. That probably explains why Northern Africa (but not the Azores) are excluded from the volume under review. Missionaries account for about one-third of the references, with diplomats and authors trailing far behind. Among the modern scholars included, one finds many anthropologists but very few historians or political scientists. Perhaps a third of the entries will not be found in other biographical directories. The author did a fine job extracting data on minor figures from manuscript collections, apparently having made good use of various directories. The author had hoped to be comprehensive, but selectivity became necessary and specialists will find significant omissions. Entries are well written and end with references to further information. . . . The bibliographical essay is quite good and current. . . ."-African Studies Review

About the Author

DAVID SHAVIT is Associate Professor of Library and Information Studies at Northern Illinois University. He is the author of The Politics of Public Librarianship (Greenwood, 1986) and The United States in the Middle East: A Historical Dictionary (Greenwood Press, 1988). His articles have appeared in such journals as The Journal of Library History, Library Journal, and Public Library Quarterly.