About the Author

Jan Vansina, now emeritus, held the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professorship and the Vilas Professorship in History and Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His many books include his memoir Living with Africa, as well as Oral Tradition as History, Antecedents to Rwanda, Kingdoms of the Savanna, The Children of Woot, and Paths in the Rainforests, all published by the University of Wisconsin Press. Considered one of the founders of the academic field of African studies, he was the second scholar chosen as "Distinguished Africanist" by the African Studies Association of the United States.

Reviews

"The book is also notable for its reliance on primary sources from the time itself--common with histories of American, European or Asian cultures, but exceptional in African history. Using the rigorous documentation of his own experiences, Vansina aimed to write something radically different than the texts usually used by undergraduates. The resulting approach speaks to both intellect and imagination."--Susannah Brooks, Wisconsin Week

"This may be Vansina's best book yet. . . . He has trodden the Kuba ground, talked to the people, and collected data for a half century, giving the book greater intimacy and authority than anything else he has written. . . .In African historiography we are all Vansina's students, even when we argue with him. Being Colonized is written with the assurance of a master."--Wyatt MacGaffey, Africa: The Journal of the International African Institute