An Introduction to the
An Introduction to the Precolonial History of the Mende of Sierra Leone
Abraham (history, Virginia State U.) taught African studies and social sciences in Sierra Leone, and is a specialist on the Mende, a Mande- speaking people who inhabit most of the southern half of the modern Sierra Leone and a bit of northwestern Liberia. Among his conclusions are that the Mende arrived in the region only in the middle 16th century, that Mende was originally a lingua franca in the 17th century and spread very quickly, and that the wars European call savage tribal were in fact rational activities related to state- formation or expansion and proceeded by well-ordered rules. The text is double spaced. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.