W. A.
Expanded Richards, in Journal of African History (Jan. 1980), Cambridge University Press, 32 East 57th St., New York, N.Y. 10022.
Shipments of European firearms to native kingdoms revolutionized warfare in 17th- and 18th-century West Africa. They also fueled a great expansion of the slave trade, writes Richards, a historian at Britain's North Worcestershire College.
For several centuries, various West African rulers served as local "agents" for European slavers, selling the captives...