This study in transnational and interracial history questions earlier conclusions which were either products of nationalist history or built on popular views. The author shows that rather than being passive victims, Africans in Old Calabar played active roles in their encounter with Europeans. Great borrowings and exchanges took place in the Atlantic world among populations that were radically different in language, culture and physique. Despite geographical and cultural separations, the physical and intellectual crossings that permeated the Atlantic world improved the fortunes of all its neighbouring peoples. This book is part of the African World Series, edited by Toyin Falola, Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities, University of Texas at Austin. ".as David Lishilinimle Imbua rightly points out in this new book, geography and history are connected subjects for Calabar; for this complex situation explains why cosmopolitan outlooks reached Calabar so precociously . Imbua is thoroughly versed in contemporary debates relating to the city's history; yet, as this concluding chapter and the overall argument of the book show, he is also aware of the trends in global academica towards seeing the past in composite terms.

" -- Africa.