Introduction

This website hosts a textbook aimed at West African students taking West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) History Paper 1, “West Africa and the Wider World from Earliest Times to 2000”. This free resource covers all the current syllabus, as well as including two chapters (11. Women, Gender and Political Authority; 12. The Environment in West African History) which – it is hoped – might be later added. The authors hope that this content will allow secondary school students to gain a good overview of West African history as their syllabus defines it, and at the same time contribute to new debates.

Why this ebook: Writers/contributors/expertise

This textbook has been designed by matching up expertise and relevance of authors, geographical coverage for countries sitting the WASSCE exams, and ability to engage in collective work. Historians based in Ghana, Sierra Leone and The Gambia work here with Nigerian scholars in the diaspora. Together with this team are two colleagues selected for their particular expertise, from King’s College London.