"The end of slavery is one of the most misunderstood major social changes to take place in colonial Africa. Many people believe that the Emancipation Act of 1834 ended all slavery in the British empire. It did not; forms of slavery continued under British and French rule into the 1930s. Miers and Roberts' collection of essays goes a long way to correct false impressions. The editors provide an excellent introduction to the volume, and Igor Kopytoff's concluding essay on African emancipation in its rural context is alone worth the price of admission."—Philip D. Curtin, The Johns Hopkins University
"This book makes an important contribution to the study of African history. Focusing on the end of slavery, it gives us another vantage point from which to view colonial rule, and provides insights not thus far given by studies into resistance and collaboration, labour history and colonial policy."—Ken Smith, University of South Africa
"The editors . . . seemed to have relished the search for the unique in their encyclopaedic catalogue of various possibilities in emancipation. . . . The more lasting contribution of the book is perhaps the fifteen case studies across Africa from Mauritania to Mozambique."—Abdul Sheriff, University of Dar es Salaam