An exploration of Nigeria's pre-colonial and colonial past, and its journey from independence to statehood.

Toyin Falola is the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair Professor in the Humanities and a Distinguished Teaching Professor at The University of Texas at Austin. He is a Fellow of the Historical Society of Nigeria and a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Letters. He has received various awards and honors, including the Jean Holloway Award for Teaching Excellence, the Texas Exes Teaching Award, and seven honorary doctorates. Toyin Falola has published numerous books, most recently, The African Diaspora: Slavery, Migration and Globalization. He is the coeditor of Yoruba Studies Review and the general editor of the Cambria African Studies Series.

Introduction; 1. Early states and societies, 9,000 BCE-1500 CE; 2. Slavery, state and society, c.1500-c. 1800; 3. Political and economic transformations in the nineteenth century; 4. Transition to British colonial rule, 1850-1903; 5. Colonial society to 1929; 6. Nationalist movements and independence, 1929-60; 7. Instability and civil war, 1960-70; 8. Oil, state, and society, 1970-83; 9. Civil society and democratic transition, 1984-2007; 10. Nigeria and Nigerians in world history; Concluding remarks: Corruption, anti-corruption, and the 2007 elections.