Pride of Men

Pride of Men is about ironworkers, and especially smiths, as active and potent social agents in west central Africa (the basins of the Zaire River above Malebo Pool and of major northward-flowing tributaries) during the nineteenth century and, so far as can be inferred from exiguous sources, in earlier times. It is not a book about technology; we have to turn to a footnote to read about the standard techniques used by smiths. It is also grossly underillustrated, compounding the difficulty caused by the lack of description of smithing technique. There are pages and pages of descriptions of types of iron currencies, tools, and weapons, ceremonial and otherwise, all relevant to Krieger's argument, but only four maps, one table, and fourteen photographs where dozens of line drawings are needed

Ancient history · Geography · Political science · Pride · African history and culture studies · History · Law