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A Fistful of Shells: Money, Slavery and Africa Hardcover – January 31, 2019

by Toby Green (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 221 ratings
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Winner of the Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize for Global Cultural Understanding 2019
An Observer and Wall Street Journal Book of the Year 2019

By the time of the 'Scramble for Africa' in the late nineteenth century, Africa had already been globally connected for many centuries. Its gold had fuelled the economies of Europe and Islamic world since around 1000, and its sophisticated kingdoms had traded with Europeans along the coasts from Senegal down to Angola since the fifteenth century. Until at least 1650, this was a trade of equals, using a variety of currencies - most importantly shells: the cowrie shells imported from the Maldives, and the nzimbu shells imported from Brazil.

Toby Green's groundbreaking new book transforms our view of West and West-Central Africa. It reconstructs the world of kingdoms whose existence (like those of Europe) revolved around warfare, taxation, trade, diplomacy, complex religious beliefs, royal display and extravagance, and the production of art.

Over time, the relationship between Africa and Europe revolved ever more around the trade in slaves, damaging Africa's relative political and economic power as the terms of monetary exchange shifted drastically in Europe's favour. In spite of these growing capital imbalances, longstanding contacts ensured remarkable connections between the Age of Revolution in Europe and America and the birth of a revolutionary nineteenth century in Africa.

A Fistful of Shells draws not just on written histories, but on archival research in nine countries, on art, praise-singers, oral history, archaeology, letters, and the author's personal experience to create a new perspective on the history of one of the world's most important regions.
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  1. Print length
    656 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Allen Lane
  4. Publication date
    January 31, 2019
  5. Dimensions
    6.38 x 1.69 x 9.45 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0241003172
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0241003176
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Allen Lane (January 31, 2019)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 656 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0241003172
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0241003176
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.38 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.38 x 1.69 x 9.45 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 221 ratings

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Toby Green

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4.6 out of 5 stars
221 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book provides an in-depth and comprehensive analysis of West African history. They appreciate the original research and consider it worth the effort. The writing style is described as wonderful and the author does a great job explaining how economic and cultural factors intersected with each other.

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7 customers mention "Depth"7 positive0 negative

Customers find the book provides a comprehensive analysis of West African history. It enhances their understanding of the period and the linkages between various kingdoms. Readers describe it as fascinating and well worth reading, saying it serves as a rare bit of enlightenment. They say it's an essential resource for any African Studies course.

"This wonderfully written and deeply researched book lays out the history of the West African Kingdoms and examines their economic drivers leading to..." Read more

"...In a very objective and scholarly way, he explains how West African history was an integral part of the development of our current global economic..." Read more

"...It's fascinating and well worth reading." Read more

"...Those who are seeking a serious, nuanced book about West Africa’s global integration in the past, would do well to read this book...." Read more

7 customers mention "Value for money"7 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's value for money. They say it's worth the effort, with native sources and a great job of explaining how economic and cultural factors intersect.

"...He does a wonderful job of explaining how economic and cultural factors intersected with each other and how that set the stage for one of most..." Read more

"...It's fascinating and well worth reading." Read more

"...rare scholarship in using numerous ‘native’ sources for this outstanding book...." Read more

"...Incredible undertaking and dedication. Highly recommend this book! It should be a part of every World History course." Read more

3 customers mention "Writing style"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the writing style. They find it well-written and researched.

"This wonderfully written and deeply researched book lays out the history of the West African Kingdoms and examines their economic drivers leading to..." Read more

"This is a rich and extremely well written book that leaves you reassessing what you thought you knew about West African History...." Read more

"...Not due to subject matter; but the author and his writing style." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Kindle Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great and Challenging History of West Africa
    Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2024
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    This wonderfully written and deeply researched book lays out the history of the West African Kingdoms and examines their economic drivers leading to the trade in enslaved persons.
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  • Karl CPTX
    5.0 out of 5 stars An In-depth and comprehensive analysis of West African History, simply Outstanding!!
    Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2021
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    This is a rich and extremely well written book that leaves you reassessing what you thought you knew about West African History. It is very clear from the historical detail and analysis of interactions between African Kingdoms and the various European nations that Professor Green spared no effort researching this book which is evidenced by his extensive Bibliography. He does a wonderful job of explaining how economic and cultural factors intersected with each other and how that set the stage for one of most profound tragedies in human history. In a very objective and scholarly way, he explains how West African history was an integral part of the development of our current global economic and structures. One could read this book several times and learn something each time. Professor Green wrote a truly groundbreaking book that should be a required read in any international history course and must for any African Studies course.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Michael J. Myers
    5.0 out of 5 stars A very interesting book
    Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2020
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    Many of us in the West have a sort of muddled image of Africans. It's part Tarzan of the Apes swinging from vine to vine over the natives below; part native bearers sweating under loads behind Stanley looking for Livingston; part Shaka Zulu with his assegai wielding impis at Isahlwanda and Roarke's Drift--and maybe a Hollywood native with a bone in his nose and a pot waiting to boil up some cannibal soup.

    The author here depicts a fascinating West Africa in the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. There were kingdoms with armies of 60,000 or more men. Gold was being mined and used for trade both with the Arab part of the African continent and with Europe.

    The fistful of shells in the title refers to cowrie shells, which were used as currency and also for displays of wealth in West Africa at the time.

    While the author is a professor Lusophone (Portuguese speaking people) History a lot of the book reads as an economic history.

    It's fascinating and well worth reading.
    13 people found this helpful
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  • Kara Garcia
    5.0 out of 5 stars Best West African book on History and Economics
    Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2023
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    Mr Green demonstrated rare scholarship in using numerous ‘native’ sources for this outstanding book. Those who are seeking a serious, nuanced book about West Africa’s global integration in the past, would do well to read this book. His careful treatment of ‘the slave trade’ from those who were victimized and profited from it serves as a rare bit of enlightenment. While his implicit and explicit critique of capitalism may unsettle some, he demonstrates it’s role in the rise of West Africa as a place of global connection.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Richard C.
    5.0 out of 5 stars British Academy prize winning, epic undertaking and work!
    Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2021
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    This almost decade long researched book discusses development of the slave trade but more importantly the long multi cultural, global interaction between the societies and kingdoms across West Africa that traded for centuries with Europeans, including the Dutch and Portuguese, prior to the Atlantic Slave Trade. It’s an amazingly informative book that shares the vast contributions of West African leaders and societies such as 14th century Mansa Musa - still the richest man in history (look him up). Such research and recognition of African contributions to this development of urbanization across Europe and Africa was long overdue. Incredible undertaking and dedication. Highly recommend this book! It should be a part of every World History course.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Carolien S
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent overview of precolonial West Africa
    Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2021
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    This is an excellent overview of precolonial Africa and its influence on the world in the period between 1500 and 1800. It has certainly enhanced my understanding of the period and the linkages between the various African kingdoms and the wider world. The writing is academic. but this worth the effort. In fact, it has also changed my view of developments in South Africa during the period and questioning local history in some aspects. Highly recommend.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Tom254
    3.0 out of 5 stars 5 stars for scholars 2 stars for layman
    Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2020
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    Some in-depth and original research into the subject ... great for academics. But for someone that wants to see the big picture of early Africa and the relationship to slavery.....this is too much detail. Lots of time spent on the bark of the trees, so one can't see the forest.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Shaun
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, get the hardcover
    Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2020
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    This is an excellent piece of scholarship to which the praise given should more than suffice in capturing its qualities. Do, however, be aware that the paperback version is rebranded with the penguin trade printing and includes the cheap paper and slim margins.
    4 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Christopher
    5.0 out of 5 stars Changed the way I think about world history
    Reviewed in Canada on May 21, 2020
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    It's been a while since a book significantly changed the way I think about either a region of the world or an entire epoch of world history, and this book did both. Aside from providing an extremely convincing and well-argued thesis about the causes of the economic divergence between West Africa and Europe that I won't try to summarize here, the author does a great job of re-centering West Africa in the last millennium of world history and exploding Hegel's (widely-subscribed) notion that "Africa has no history." You absolutely do not have to have an especially strong interest in the particulars of West African history to get a lot out of this book. An interest in any of the following will do:

    "What are the historic origins of African 'underdevelopment'? How did African states change during this era, and how were these changes connected to early globalization? What are the implications of one of the findings of this book: that broadly analogous historical processes took place simultaneously in Africa, Europe and the Americas at this time, especially during the age of revolution? On my reading, one conclusion is that these histories did not somehow evolve separately until the rise of colonialism in the nineteenth century, but rather always grew together."

    Economics aside, the book's initial focus on the centuries prior to and during the early stages of the growth of the Atlantic slave trade are actually surprisingly interesting and thought-provoking. For example: depictions of medieval Europe being influenced in a big way by changes in West Africa, vignettes of all the many ambassadors stationed at European courts (and Brazil) by African kingdoms starting in the 15th century, and the narration of Kongo as a significant diplomatic player in European affairs in the 17th century - among other things, really changed the way I think about pre-colonial Euro-African relations.

    One minor fault: in Part 2 of the book, while there's nothing wrong with the thematic focus/organization of the chapters (as opposed to geographic, as in Part 1), I did find that the narrative got a bit convoluted and lost among a deluge of rapidly changing people, places and times - sometimes all within a single page. Judging by the amount of notes and underlines I made, I was considerably less engaged with some sections of Part 2.

    In sum, if you're even a little interested in world history and issues of development, this book will nicely round out your understanding of the subject.
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  • Pete N
    5.0 out of 5 stars Telling it like it was - and is
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 19, 2020
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    There was nothing i disliked about this book. The author offers a totally coherent economic explanation of the disastrous effect of the slave trade on the whole of west and central southern Africa. The first half of the book is particularly enlightening and one of the mnost coherent studies I have ever read. Hpowever, I will admit that I was familiar with some of the issues, because I had just finished "The Golden Rhinoceros" - a very different book in style, but one that shades into "A Fistful of Shells" as regards content. Most importantly, the first section of the book shows conclusively that many parts of Africa were modern economies that used money, simply not in the form that Europeans could recognise. The second part of the book is harder to follow, simply because the content is that much more familiar. We all know something about the slave trade in the eighteenth century, for that is when Britain (sort of) abolished it. Making sense of the economic mayhem caused by the dominance of the trade in captives has always been something I have yearned to read is one of the most pleasing aspects of the work. The second half in particular is not easy going, but persevere and you will emerge a wiser person
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  • Tim Kellow
    5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic and long overdue summary of pre-colonial history in West Africa
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 9, 2019
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    A welcome and long overdue summary of pre-colonial history in West Africa. The addition of Toby Green's own captivating anecdotes from his in depth travels in the region bring levity and a degree of empathy to a potentially dry analysis of first-hand archive material. A must read for anyone with an interest in African history or for those Western historians that seem to ignore the complex and sophisticated civilisations that inhabited this area prior to slavery and Colonial capture. A wonderful compliment to his other very personal book about the current belief systems in the region -Meeting the Invisible Man: Secrets and Magic in West Africa.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • jrpritchard
    5.0 out of 5 stars Reshaped my view of West African history
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 31, 2020
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    Really an excellent book and one I've been recommending to all my friends. I wanted something that went beyond late colonial African history and this delivered in spades. It really helped reshape my sense of West African history and the historical currents that have shaped that part of the world. A book I'll remember reading and still be thinking about for a long time to come.
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  • Dr. Philip Woods
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 14, 2020
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    Really excellent book which opens up West African history in ways not seen before, by using a wide variety of sources and the authors experiences from travelling widely in the region.
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