This collection of R. E. Bradbury's papers, originally published in 1973 includes edited sections of his (then hitherto) unpublished thesis on the Benin village in Western Nigeria. The book is arranged in 3 parts: historical and political studies of the kingdom of Benin; Benin village organization and religion and art. An introduction by Peter Morton-Williams traces bradbury's development as an interpreter of the culture, society and art of Benin, beginning with his first studies in the filed and culminating in the important anthropological and historical essays.
Part 1. Historical Studies of the Kingdom of Benin
1. The Historical Uses of Comparative Ethnography with Special Reference to Benin and the Yoruba
2. Chronological Problems in the Study of Benin History
3. The Kingdom of Benin
4. Continuities and Discontinuities in Pre-Colonial and Colonial Benin Politics (1897-1951)
5. Patrimonialism and Gerontocracy in Benin Political Culture
Part 2. Benin Village Life
6. The Benin Village
Part 3. Religion and Art
7. Father and Senior Son in Edo Mortuary Ritual
8. Fathers, Elders and Ghosts in Edo Religion
9. Ezomo's ikegobo and the Benin Cult of the Hand
10. Ehi: Three Stories from Benin
Biography
R. E. Bradbury
