The coming of colonialism to Subsaharan Africa generated many forces that historians often describe in abstract terms: peasantization, leadership, nationalism and even colonialism. Such terms often hide or overwhelm the individual experiences of those who, in some way, contributed to the development and demise of colonial Africa. These 'agents' of empire - intellectuals and peasants, chiefs and ex-slaves, nationalists and colonial officials - symbolise the ambiguities of and limitations on colonial power. Agency and Action in Colonial Africa attempts to capture their role.

MYRON ECHENBERG Lecturer, Department of African History, McGill University, Montreal CATHERINE HIGGS Author ALLISTER HINDS Lecturer, University of the West Indies, Mona ACKSON KANDUZA Lecturer, Department of History, University of Swaziland MARTIN KLEIN Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto ANN MCDOUGALL Professor of African History, University of Alberta, Edmonto APOLLOS NWAUWA Lecturer, Rhode Island College, Providence JOEY POWER Professor of History, Ryerson Polytechnic University, Toronto PHIL ZACHERNUK Associate Professor, Dalhousie University