This pioneering and celebrated work was the first, and remains the standard, account of the economic history of the huge area known as West Africa. It fills a large gap in African studies, provides newcomers with a stimulating point of entry into the subject, and contributes to our understanding of wider issues of global underdevelopment.

A. G. Hopkins is Emeritus Smuts Professor of Commonwealth History at the University of Cambridge, UK. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of London, honorary doctorates from the Universities of Stirling and Birmingham, and is a Fellow of the British Academy. He has written extensively on African history, imperial history, and globalisation. His other publications include: Globalization in World History (2001); Global History: Interactions between the Universal and the Local (2006); British Imperialism, written with P. J. Cain (3rd ed. 2016); American Empire: A Global History (2018); and numerous scholarly articles.

Introduction to the Second Edition 1 Approaches to Africa's economic past 2 The domestic economy: structure and function 3 External trade: the Sahara and the Atlantic 4 The economic basis of imperialism 5 An economic model of colonialism 6 Completing the open economy 7 The open economy under strain 8 The economy in retrospect