Book Review

Abstract

The Yoruba: from Prehistory to the Present by Aribidesi Usman and Toyin Falola (2019) and The Yoruba: A New History (2020) by Akinwunmi Ogundiran are two monumental contributions to the history of the Yoruba written in the twenty-first century. In addition to earlier works on the Yoruba by scholars such as Samuel Johnson (1921) and Akin Akinjogbin (2002), amongst others, these two books, published a year apart, both provide unique perspectives on the Yoruba in the long durée drawing on continued archaeological work done in the area. Nevertheless, these are two very different books. Aribidesi and Falola’s work explores the development of Yoruba as a cultural complex within a cultural-historical framework. Ogundiran’s work examines the different processes that shape Yoruba lifeways and communal practices up to the 1840s with relevance to the present. Here, the focus is on the development of lived experiences of the group, analysed with a more post-processual theoretical outlook.