James Africanus Beale Horton (1835–1883)

Horton, from Sierra Leone, published this book in 1868. He had trained as a doctor and a naval officer in Britain - where he both admired the British Empire, which he served as a military officer, and loathed the racism he faced and general ignorance of his fellow students and lecturers. The original full title of the book shows his purpose: WEST AFRICAN COUNTRIES AND PEOPLES, BRITISH AND NATIVE. WITH THE REQUIREMENTS NECESSARY FOR ESTABLISHING THAT SELF GOVERNMENT RECOMMENDED BY THE COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, I865 AND A VINDICATION OF THE AFRICAN RACE. George Shepperson’s 1969 introduction said: “For over three generations of West African intellectuals, Horton's work has been a classic, hard to come by, which speaks to them in no uncertain terms of their past, present and future. And, indeed, even if it could be called ephemeral, it should still commend itself to the modern vogue of Victorian studies, for its author was that rare creature, a literate, black Victorian, moving between the two worlds of the old, agrarian Africa and the new, brassy Britain of triumphant industrialism.”… (mehr)