Bibliography All these books are recommended, but those marked  are considered particularly suitable for the casual wargamer interested in this period.
NOVELS
AFRICAN COLONIALISM
GENERAL
FRENCH
COLONIALISM
North Africa
FRENCH
COLONIALISM
Sub Saharan
ARMIES
SOLDIERS
UNIFORMS
AFRICAN
PERSPECTIVE
BEAU GESTE

BATTLES IN AFRICA

THE CONQUEST OF MOROCCO

THE CONQUEST OF THE WESTERN SUDAN

UNIFORMS OF THE FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION

RESISTANCE IN THE DESERT
BEAU SABREUR

THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA

THE CONQUEST OF THE SAHARA

HORSEMEN FROM BEYOND
MARCH OR DIE
EL RAISUNI
SOLDIERS OF MISFORTUNE

RACE TO FASHODA
 SAHARA UNVEILED

BUILDERS OF THE EMPIRE
THE FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION
LORDS OF THE ATLAS
WAGES OF VIRTUE
THE AFRICAN POLICIES OF GABRIEL HANOTAUX
 SANDS OF THE TAMAN-
RASSET

WEST AFRICAN RESISTANCE

FRANCE, SOLDIERS AND AFRICA
 DAR AL-KUTI
UNDER TWO FLAGS

THE GREAT WAR IN AFRICA
 TRIBES OF THE SAHARA
 FROM 
ADVERSARIES TO COMRADES IN ARMS

DEFENSE OF DUFFERS DRIFT
 THE SEGU TUKULOR EMPIRE
LEGION OF THE DAMNED 
(True Story)

WARS OF IMPERIAL CONQUEST IN AFRICA 

RESISTANCE IN THE DESERT
 THE SEGU TUKULOR EMPIRE

SMALL WARS
 TRIBES OF THE SAHARA
 
NEW FRENCH IMPERIALISM
 
 DAR AL-KUTI

BUILDERS OF THE EMPIRE
AFRICAN CITIES AND TOWNS BEFORE EUROPEAN CONQUEST
 

VICTORIAN COLONIAL WARFARE
   
FROM 
ADVERSARIES TO COMRADES IN ARMS

WEST AFRICAN RESISTANCE
       

WEST AFRICAN RESISTANCE
Beau Geste (Novel)
P.C. Wren

I will assume that if you got this far on the site, you are interested enough in the subject that this book needs little introduction. Three brothers join the Legion, each to avert suspicion on the other two as to who stole the Blue Water: A massive sapphire. As the mystery thickens their adventure takes them to the Nigerian Frontier and back: Wild adventure in the French Foreign Legion.

A first addition copy with dust jacket, such as this one (with illustrated scenes from the Paramount 1926 movie) will cost $100 or more. Decent reading copies can be picked up for $10. Check out Bibliofind. or Barnes and Nobles Used section
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Beau Sabreur (Novel)
P.C. Wren

Less well known is the further adventures of Major Henri de Beaujolais, dashing French Hussar, a character first introduced in Beau Geste: Smashing his way through an Arab mob to rescue a beautiful American girl. Fleeing to safety across the desert with Mary and her maid, the three are set upon by Arabs and brought before the Emir and Sheik of the tribe. In the swift moving events that follow the Emir and Sheik are revealed as two of the most engaging rascals in fiction - and Beau Sabreur as one of its most gallant heroes

A first addition copy with dust jacket, such as this one (with illustrated scenes from the Paramount 1926 movie) will cost $100 or more. Decent reading copies can be picked up for $10. Check out Bibliofind. or Barnes and Nobles Used section
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Soldiers of Misfortune (Novel)
P.C. Wren

Another trio joins the French Foreign Legion, by Wren again ... who else?

Adventures thronged upon young Sir Otho when, masquerading as Bob Blame, he became a professional boxer. Then a heat knockout - the girl he loved - sent him staggering and dazed off to the French Foreign Legion, his two cronies marching beside him. An absorbing tale of love, mystery, daring; of a delightful old ex-pirate and a sympathetic pugilist, a lovable heroine, and a hero with the same devil-may-care spirit, the clean manliness, the endearing charm, of the immortal Beau Geste

Decent reading copies can be picked up for $10. Check out Bibliofind. or Barnes and Nobles Used section
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Wages of Virtue (Novel)
P.C. Wren

Does anyone else write Legion novels? In this one, Merline is attacked in the African jungle and left for dead. His wife marries Merline's long lost friend within the year. Merline is later discovered, witless and ragged, by an English doctor in an African Village. The doctor removes a bullet from Merlines brain restoring his sensibilities. Discovering his wife's new marriage, Merline decides, out of love for her,  to stay 'dead' and to spare her further anguish. 

After wandering about Algeria for a few years, Merline enlists in the French Foreign Legion under the name of John Bull.  After  fourteen years a young recruit, Rupert, joins the Legion. They become good friends. They eventually desert together but Merline is fatally shot by an Arab.

Rupert buries his friend and escapes to England. In telling his tale to his mother, he unconsciously reveals the story of her long lost husbands sacrifice.

And you don't find plots like that anymore.

Decent reading copies can be picked up for $10. Check out Bibliofind. or Barnes and Nobles Used section
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Under Two Flags (Novel)
Ouida

Review by Jeff Ewing
Oxford Popular Literature reprint of Ouida's Under Two Flags, the archetype of the Foreign Legion novel (although the protag is in the Chasseurs d'Afrique).  The first half concerns the languid guardsman Bertie Cecil and his rather superfluous existence in London high society in the 1850s.  He gets himself in a jam, and has to abscond in order to save his brother's and a "married and titled" woman's name.

He goes to Algeria and enlists, and is tormented by a cruel officer, loved by a cantiniere and meets a beautiful princess.  This is as far as I've got, but it's all written in high victorian style, and presumably paid by the word, so you get amazing descriptions like this: [Bertie Cecil the protag has just cut off an arab's arm, and the cantineiere has shot another one] "'That was a pretty cut through the arm; better it had been through the throat.  Never do things by halves, mon ami Victor,' said Cigarette; carelessly, as she thrust her pistols back into her sash and looked, with the tranquil appreciation of a connoisseur upon the brown, brawny, naked limb, where it lay severed on the sand, with the hilt of it's weapon still hanging from the sinewy fingers."

It's crammed with Zouaves, Turcos, Zephyrs and peppered with army slang from Algeria.  You might also want to look for the book she got all this from, Antoine Camus' _Zephyrs, Spahis, Turcos, Tringlos: Les Bohemes du Drapeau_, 1864.

Available from Amazon Books.  Also check out Bibliofind. or Barnes and Nobles Used section
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Legion of the Damned
Bennett J. Doty

A Fascinating autobiographical account of life in the Legion in the 1920's. The author saw action in Syria against the Druses but detested being used as a common laborer when the campaign was won. Subsequently deserted but was captured. A real life adventure by an American author.

Out of print. Check out Bibliofind. or Barnes and Nobles Used section
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BATTLE IN AFRICA 1879-1914.
Whitehouse, Howard. 

This is a unique analysis of colonial campaigning in the late Victorian & Edwardian era. The author guides the reader systematically through each stage of an African campaign, then offers a comparative analysis of British, French, German, Belgian & Italian experiences in various campaigns, and also gives a rare emphasis on the indigenous African 'enemy'. Prof. illus in a period style. 

1988, paper, 8 1/2 x 12, 48 pp, prof. illus with drawings, diagrams & maps. sb $12.95 Available from Articles of War
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Uniforms of the French Foreign Legion 1831-1982
Martin Windrow
Illustrated by Michael Chapell

Not just a beautiful selection of color plates but a detailed history of the Unit and its uniforms from the Legions inception until 1981. Many period photographs.

Sadly out of print. I would suggest a frequent search of Bibliofind.
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Resistance in the Desert
Moroccan Responses to French Imperialism 1881-1912 
Ross E. Dunn

A study of African response to European Colonialism between 1881 and 1912. It concentrates on the Muslim pastoral tribes of South Eastern Morocco. The book deals extensively with the resistance movements but also shows how trade, negotiation and collaboration existed simultaneously with the resistance.
Available from Amazon Books
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El Raisuni
The Sultan of the Mountains
Rosita Forbes

The life story of Mulay El Raisuni, the Berber Chieftain fictionalized in the movie, The Wind and the Lion, as told to the English Traveler and writer Rosita Forbes in the mid 1920's.

A fascinating account and terrific adventure story of one of Morocco's formative characters. Lots of photographic plates. A must read for anyone interested in early 20th century Moroccan history and one of the most often cited books in bibliographies on Morocco. Out of print.  I would suggest a frequent search of Bibliofind.
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Lords of the Atlas
The Rise and Fall of the House of Glaoua 1893 - 1956
Gavin Maxwell

In 1893 the dying Sultan Moulay Hassan was retreating to Marrakech with his defeated rag tag Harka. He was well received by Madani El Glaoui, a Moroccan Sherifian chieftain whose importance heretofore was his control of one of the three mountain passes through the Atlas and control of the main salt mine in Morocco. It was a power tenuously held onto by the Glaoua, a small tribe that could barely muster 2000 musket armed horsemen. El Glaoui's generous treatment  saved the live of the retreating Sultan and his Harka. In reward he was presented with modern arms for his generosity and a 77 mm Krupp cannon. Thus, forever was changed the power base of the Moroccan Atlas. Madani astutely preserved this power base during Morocco's turbulence before the Great War and served France's interests during it. A gripping read form the author, strangely enough, of Ring of Bright Water.

Out of print.  I would suggest a frequent search of Bibliofind.
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March or Die:
The Story of the French Foreign Legion
Howard Swiggett

One of the first books available on the history of the French Foreign Legion. An easy read and a good intro to the subject. Out of print but I have seen it frequently available from used book stores.
Check out Barnes and Nobles Used and Out of Print Section
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THE FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION
A COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE LEGENDARY FIGHTING FORCE. WAR, FRANCE, FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION
Porch, Douglas.

A model of historical research, this is a very detailed study of the entire history of France's most well known unit, the French Foreign Legion, from its formation in 1831 until 1962 when it left North Africa. 

1991, 6 1/2 x 9 1/2, xxiv, 728 pp, illus, maps, extensive source notes, bibliog & index. $ 35.00 
Available from Articles of War
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THE CONQUEST OF MOROCCO.
Porch, Douglas. 

A good study of a neglected area, the entire course of France's military & political efforts to subdue and occupy Morocco and her Arab & Berber chiefs 1903-19l4,  including the numerous military campaigns in the North African desert. 

1982, paper, 6 x 9, 333 pp, illus, maps,     index. sb $ 11.95 
Available from Articles of War
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THE CONQUEST OF THE SAHARA.
Porch, Douglas.

The first overall history of France's exploration & military subjugation of the North African Saharan desert, from 1880 to 1905, when the last of the tribal bands were subdued. 

1984, paper, 6 x 9 332 pp, maps, bibliog, index. sb $ 11.95 
Available from Articles of War
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FRANCE, SOLDIERS AND AFRICA.
Clayton, Anthony.

The first comprehensive analysis of the military dimension of French Colonial rule in Africa. It chronicles in great detail the remarkable achievement in mobilizing native troops in the service of the French Empire. The first detailed study of the organization & operations of the myriad types of native colonial units is studied. The acquisition, expansion and subsequent decline of French colonies is traced from the Restoration Monarchy through the l9th Century, both World Wars, and the post war through Algeria. Special attention is paid to the African soldiers of the Armee D'Afrique and the Troupes de Marine. This is an excellent source in English on a neglected area of military history.

1988, 6 1/4 x 9 1/4, 444 pp, illus, maps, extensive unit organizations, notes, bibliog, index. 

Sadly out of print inthe U.S. Still available from the U.K but be prepared for those horrendous British Prices. About $70 including shipping. Regular searches on Bibliofind. may turn up copies of this as may searches on Barnes and Nobles used section.
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THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA
WHITE MAN'S CONQUEST OF THE DARK CONTINENT FROM 1876 TO 1912

Thomas Pakenham

An in depth study of the carving up of Africa by the six major European players around the turn of the century. Pakernham takes us through each region exploring social, political and military aspects of the events. Not a lot of coverage on North Africa, ore South Africa, but goes into France's  foray into the Sub Saharan territory, the western Soudan and Chad.
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DAR AL-KUTI AND THE LAST YEARS OF THE TRANS-SAHRAN SLAVE TRADE

Dennis D.Cordell

In this original study, the author examines the expansion of contact between Muslims and non Muslims along the Islamic frontier in north central Africa in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

This history shows how regions distant from the European economy became linked to it

A fascinating read that focuses on the rise to power of Al Sanusi, the separation of his lieutenant Rabih (defeated by the French at Kousser) and Al Sanusi's own demise at the hands of the French in 1911.
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RACE TO FASHODA - 
EUROPEAN COLONIALISM AND AFRICAN
RESISTANCE IN THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA. 
Lewis, David. L.

This study draws together the stories of the European Scramble for central Africa 1870-98, with expeditions from England, France, Italy, Germany & Belgium competing with each other and with Native Africans for
this rich area. Culminating in the Fashoda Incident of 1898, a focal point of the Sudan - Abyssinian border, the author describes the various expeditions, eccentric personalities and draws on extensive new  material from both European & African sources. 

304 pp, extensive source notes, bibliog, index., illus, maps.
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SMALL WARS
Colonel C.E.Callwell

A comprehensive treatise on the techniques used by regular armies against tribesmen and irregular soldiers throughout the world in the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1896 it was adopted by the British Army as an official handbook. The third edition was updated and printed in 1909 and this copy is a facsimile reproduction of that.

Contains 15 maps.

Chapter headings include
(Each chapter has as many as 50 sub headings, so as you can see, this is a very comprehensive study)
I Introduction
II Causes od small Wars
III Objective of Small Wars
IV Difficulties under which Regular Forces Labor
V The Influence of the Question of Supply
VI Boldness and Vigor, the Essence of Effective Operations
VII Tactics favor the Regular Army, Strategy, their Enemy
VIII To Avoid Desultory Warfare, the Enemy Must Be Brought To Battle
IX  Division of Force
X Lines of Communication
XI Guerilla Warfare
XII Tactics of Attack
XIII Tactics of Defense
XIV Pursuits and Retreats
XV Employment of Feints
XVI Surprises, Raids and Ambuscades
XVII Squares in Action, on the March and in Bivouac
XVIII Principles of Laager and Zeriba Warfare
XIX Hill Warfare
XX Bush Warfare
XXI Infantry Tactics
XXII Cavalry and Mounted Troops
XXIII Camel Corps
XXIV Artillery Tactics
XXV Machine Guns
XXVI Service of Security
XXVII Night Operations

In print in paperback from Amazon Books
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DEFENSE OF DUFFERS DRIFT
E.D.Swinton

Classic study from 1907. Lieutenant Backsight Forethought undergoes a series of dreams regarding defending a drift (creek) during the Boer War. After repeatedly failing in his tactical approaches, he finally succeeds in his sixth dream by building on the experiences of the first five.

A classic study of small unit tactics, as valuable today as it was then. these tactics can be applied to any colonial wargaming venue.

Still in print and available from Amazon Books
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THE CONQUEST OF THE WESTERN SUDAN
A Study In French Military Imperialism

A.S. Kanya-Forstner

One of the most often cited works on bibliographies from other books. This is the definitive in depth study of the French expansion into West Africa. As the author notes in the preface, this is not primarily a military history of the Westrn Sudan, but a book whose theme is the politics of military expansion. In attempting to explain how France found herself at the end of the nineteenth century in control of a vast territorial empire, Kanya-Forstner has concentrated on the roll of the French Military who undertook the conquest.

Out of print, but a regular search of Book Finder should bring up a copy or two.
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THE AFRICAN POLICIES OF GABRIEL HANOTAUX 1894-1898

Alf Andrew Heggoy

An almost purely political study of one of the driving forces of French Colonialism. Gabriel Hanotaux was one of the key driving forces behind French Imperialism whose name ranks with Jules Ferry, Theophile Declasse and Eugene Etienne as staunch advocates of France's African Destiny.
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THE GREAT WAR IN AFRICA (1914-1918)

Byron Farwell

Gripping read of the progress of the First World War in Africa. This was really the end of the Colonial period in Africa, and many of the native troops that had carved out the Europeans' empire  in Africa, now fought each other under their European masters for final dominance.

Includes graphic descriptions of the conflict in West Africa between the French and English against the German colonies, as well as the more well known East African and West African campaigns.
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SAHARA UNVEILED
A Great Story of French Colonial Conquest.

Patrick Turnbull

A basic overview of the conquest of the Sahara, including a good overview description of Laparrine's conquest of the Southern Sahara and the Senussi revolt during the Great War. 
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THE SEGU TUKULOR EMPIRE

B.O. Oloruntimehin

The author provides a detailed examination of the Tukulor Empire from its rise in the mid nineteenth century until its collapse after its major conquest at the hands of the advancing French.

There is no other work in English, that I have found that is as complete and detailed as this study. An in depth look at the formation and unification of the Tukulor, their political, cultural and military organizations. The author writes it from the African perspective giving an image of this strife stricken nation gallantly trying to survive and establish some order while fending off almost constant violent confrontation.
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TRIBES OF THE SAHARA

Lloyd Cabot Briggs

A self explanatory title. Study of the indigenous peoples brought into the French Empire. This helps with an understanding of the people of the area, their motivations and life. Studies several groups including the hunter gatherer tribes, as well as the pastoralist, nomads and of course, the Tuaregs Berbers and Arabs. 
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THE SANDS OF THE TAMANRASSET
The Story of Charles de Foucauld

Marion Mill Preminger

Interesting and somewhat romantic study of this fascinating character that leaves one wondering why a movie has not been made about this man.

A spoiled aristocratic playboy in the Hussars. de Foucauld is sent to North Africa with his regiments. There, he is brought under the spell of the Sahara which changes his life. In search of adventure he goes under cover as a Jewish Rabbi on a secret mission for France, in Morocco at the time when a Christian would face death or worse. He later re discovered his lost faith as a catholic after wandering the vastness of the Sahara brought him to ponder the meaning of life and the purpose of his own existence.

He became a military doctor, at one point tendering aid to the survivors of the El Moungar disaster. He became a hermit in a remote Saharan missionary and was later murdered during the Senussi revolt in 1916.
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WARS OF IMPERIAL CONQUEST IN AFRICA 1830-1914

Bruce Vandervort

Excellent broad overview of the carving up of Africa. Very easy to read, covering all the main conflicts. If there is one book to own for a basic overview of the conquerors and conquered, the how's and where's. this is it.
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THE HORSEMEN FROM BEYOND

Basil Freestone

The books starts out as a description of the engagement of Waima, when French and British forces blundered into each other and engaged themselves in a serious battle. this fateful encounter, in which many lives were lost, was ultimately written off as a blunder by two superpowers trying to survive a cold war with each other during the carve up of Africa in the 1890's.

In exploring the tangle of military and political events of this disaster we are introduced to Samori Tourey, Commander of the Faithful and leader of the Mandingo Empire of West Africa. It is Samorey's playing off of these two superpowers that leads to the clash at Waima and eventually to his own downfall at the hands of the French.

A very readable study into West African military history at the height of French colonialism.
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NEW FRENCH IMPERIALISM 1880-1910
The Third Republic and Colonial Expansion

James Cooke

A look at the political aspects of the colonial experience. useful for those interested in the national politics that helped drive the colonial expansionism of France.
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VICTORIAN COLONIAL WARFARE
Africa

Donald Fetherstone

This book is about, as its name suggest, British colonialism in Africa. It is however an interesting read as it also covers West Africa in some depth, the wars there of which also had an impact in French dealings in the region. Few wargamers will be unfamiliar with Fehterstone's work and will find this a fascinating read. A must for the Anglophile gamers!
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LES BATISSEURS D'EMPIRE
Histoire Des Troupes De Marine Tome II 1871-1931

BUILDERS OF THE EMPIRE
History of the Colonial Marines Part 2, 1871-1931

This book is an absolute must for those wishing to wargame the French conquest of West Africa. If like me, you are visualy motivated, you will live this book. It is written in comic strip and therefore gives the reader not only a history lesson of the conflict (if somewhat basic) that is more than adequate to "game" the period it also provides him with accurate visual color references for uniforms, scenery and buildings that are dificult to find from other sources.

It is of course, in French, but it's basic French. If you learned no French in school a few minutes with a dictionary is all that is needed to bring this book into an understandable format.

I have included a couple of scans showing the French siege of Sikasso, and its fall in in 1898. The wealth of well researched information provided in each scene is remarkable. In just these two frames alone we get an accurate painting guide for French Marines in both Denim blue and Khaki tunics, with and without the white summer pants as well as the Tirailleurs Senegalese and of course the Bambara and Mandingo defenders. We get glimpses of the mud brick walls, and a thatched roof hut. The prior frame, not shown gives very good panoramic view of the city, with the French 8 cm mountain guns being set up ready to make the breach for the assault. Absolutely terrific book.

I had some difficulty finding this book after it was recommended by English Internet comrade, but I eventually found it from A&C Libraire in France for less that 100F including shipping.
 
A&C don't have online ordering, but if you cut and paste the information below, change the information in italics as appropriate and fax it to the number shown,  you should get the book for about $15 including shipping.

Librairie A&C 
19, avenue de la République 
75011 Paris 
France 

Fax 011 33 1 40 21 97 55 

Cher Jean-Yves Nasse 

Je voudrais acheter ce livre. 

Des séries Mémoire D'Europe 

LES BATISSEURS D'EMPIRE HISTOIRE TROUPES DE MARINE TOME II 1871-1931 
Serge Saint-Michel & Rene Le Honzec 

Envoyez s'il vous plaît à 

(your name 
address street 
addrress city 
state, Zip Code 
Country) 

Charge à ma carte de crédit. 

(Enter type of credit card visa/MC etc, the number, expiration date and name on the card) 

Je comprends que le prix est approximativement 75 FF plus l'affranchissement. 

S' il y a un problème, ou si vous avez une question, envoyez-s'il vous plaît l'email moi. 
(your email address here) 

Merci beaucoup. 
(your name here - signature) 

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FROM ADVERSARIES TO COMRADES-IN-ARMS
West Africans and the French Military 1885-1918

Charles John Balesi

A pretty self descriptive title that essentially covers the Tirailleur and Spahis Senegalese, their recruitment, training and use in the conquest of the Western Sudan. It also explores the relationships between the native troops, their foes and master. Good study for those wishing to go a little deeper into the subject.
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AFRICAN CITIES AND TOWNS BEFORE EUROPEAN CONQUEST

Richard W. Hull

A small but invaluable resource for those wargamers who wish to make their own terrain for the game table. This book is full of photographs, diagrams and contemporary etchings of African architecture. If you ever wanted to make a model of a kraal, and needed the dimensions and blueprints - this is the book. Covers the many differing styles found throughout Africa
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WEST AFRICAN RESISTANCE
The military response to colonial occupation

Michael Crowder

A review by Chick Lewis - World traveler, wargamer extrodinaire and a jolly decent chap:

I've been reading it and it is just fascinating.  An excerpt from the jacket blurb:

"West African Resistance is a study by nine historians of West Africa, three of whom are themselves African, of the military response to the colonial occupation of West Africa.  Apart from the fact that the extent and effectiveness of African resistance to European invaders has been largely underestimated by historians, those studies of the African campaigns which have been made have been primarily concerned with the military strategy and problems of the European invaders.  Very little attention has been paid to the way African military commanders reoriented their military strategies and deployed their armies against the better-armed European invaders. 

The nine case studies in this volume have been selected to give readers, both general and specialist, an indication of the wide range of types of resistance offered the Europeans.  Successes as well as failures are studied. Small states like that of Bai Bureh in Sierra Leone are given the same detailed treatment as the mighty Ashanti." 

Contents:

Ghana-Asante
Mali-Tukulor
Senegambia-Mahmadou Lamine
Guinea-Samori
Dahomey
Nigeria-Ijebu
Nigeria-Ebrohimi
Sierra Leone-Bai Bureh
Nigeria-Sokoto Caliphate

This volume is packed with details certain to gladden the heart of any wargamer. 

Extracts from the book - to whet your appetite

--------------

Ghana-Asante (Ashanti) - Siege of the British fort in Kumasi 1899 - pg 47

" - - - A corps of crack shots, composed of professional hunters, was armed with rifles including a few .303 carbines and .22 rook rifles captured in Kumasi.  The bulk of the Asante warriors, however, still had their ancient muskets.  The extraordinarily heavy fire brought to bear on the British columns was usually achieved by a fighting formation of three lines, each consisting of a company commanded by its own captain.  The first line would fire and double to the rear for freshly loaded guns while the second line ran forward, discharged a volley, and was replaced by a third line, after which the first company was ready to begin the cycle again.  For hand to hand fighting the Asante carried long knives in skin scabbards at their girdles, but usually they preferred the gun using their forest craft to remain hidden from the enemy.  During the night the Asante camps kept up a morale-boosting ritual of question and answer by drums, roughly resembling the traditional claims and counter claims of prowess exchanged elsewhere by European regiments."

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Guinea-Samori - regarding the arms of Samori's soldiers - page 122

"Even before the 1888 crisis there were developments in the way Samori's men were armed.  Apart from the individual European weapons which were the personal property of the combatants, Samori provided them with guns and he took great care that every man in the army had one.  Up to 1875 or 1876 these were guns obtained from traders, easily repaired by local blacksmiths who also made the ammunition for them.  But when he reached the borders of the Fouta-Djallon he took care to import more modern weapons from Sierra Leone.  This was  a time when arms manufacture in Europe was developing very rapidly from the technical point of view and Samori  set himself to study and understand the rapid succession of different models.  For instance, he 
distributed a number of Chassepot rifles among his men but soon noticed their defects - the big cardboard cartridge was heavy and soon rotted in the humidity.  From 1885 he systematically replaced these weapons with Gras rifles which had a light-weight metal cartridge and Kropatscheks which were really Gras repeaters (known as "data", ten mouths).  In his last years he was interested in the Lebel rifles, but could never obtain them in sufficient numbers.  A technical reason obliged him to stay faithful to the Gras and Kropatschek guns;  he had managed to build up groups of workmen who were able to copy these rifles extremely well so it was obviously sensible to go on using them.  Constant changes in the rifles meant, of course, that it would 
have been difficult for these village craftsmen to keep up with developments and the work in any case could not go beyond a certain level of precision. 

Moreover, the spread of quick-firing rifles (which does not necessarily mean repeating rifles) was very slow at first.  As late as 1888 Samori had only a few hundred of these and it was only in anticipation of the conflict with 
France that he began to buy them in increasing numbers.  in the end he had about 6,000 modern weapons at his disposal in 1893 when he retreated towards the east, and this total, which was never to be repeated, lasted him until his defeat.  At first these precious weapons were reserved for the very best fighters, that is for the cavalry and especially the sovereign's personal body-guard.  Before 1888 the latter was the only section of the army to have a uniform inspired by that of the French riflemen: blue clothing with red belt and tarboosh.  "

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Dahomey - the origin of the  Amazons - page 148

"By the 1880s a substantial part of the Dahoman army was made up of female soldiers - the famous Amazons.  In the eighteenth century the Dahoman Kings had, in emergencies, enlisted some of their wives as soldiers.  It was, however, only in the early nineteenth century that the system became institutionalized.  The Amazons became a permanent part of the royal forces as a result of the fact that after a dynastic revolution in 1818 the usurping monarch, King Gezo (1818-58), felt his position to be so insecure that he created from amongst the women of his palace a permanent body of soldiers who would defend him in any civil conflict.  At the time the Amazons' personal loyalty to the ruler was assured by the fact that only young non-Dahoman captive girls were selected as members of the corps.  After Gezo's death, however, this selection policy broke down and Amazon officers were recruited even from the important Dahoman families.  They were therefore as heavily involved in Dahoman politics as were their male counterparts.  In the last decade of the nineteenth century the Amazons no longer satisfactorily fulfilled their role as the monarch's civil guard.  They had, however, developed into one of the most important units in the Dahoman army.  They probably first became involved in Dahomey's foreign wars in the 1840s, when the first of the major Fon wars with the Egba necessitated the employment of every available soldier.  The Amazons soon became the most warlike, and the most feared, of all the Dahoman troops.  It was they who tended to suffer most severely when the Fon either won a Phyrric victory or sustained a costly defeat.  During the most desperately fought of all Fon wars, the struggle against the French, their losses were so severe that as a fighting force they were completely destroyed.  These female soldiers had all the privileges of important royal wives: they lived in the royal palaces; they had their food prepared for them; anyone who met them on the roads had to make way for them.  They had also to obey the regulations which governed the lives of the King's wives.  The most onerous of these was that although they obviously could only enjoy the favours of their royal spouse infrequently, they were forbidden any relations with other men.  Any deviation from this rule was punishable by death.  No doubt this enforced state of chastity does a good deal towards explaining their ferocity.  "

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Dahomey - modern armaments for the Dahomans - page 158

"At the beginning of their campaign, as the haphazard nature of their attacks on Cotonou showed, the Fon had thought that the expulsion of the French would be an easy matter.  This fits in with later rueful admissions that they thought of the Europeans as traders, or sailors, who would not, or could not, fight.  This illusion was destroyed by the events of the 1890 war when it was realized that the French were exceptionally powerful adversaries.  The defeats of the 1890 war did not, however, produce a peace at any price movement.  The only group in the Fon leadership which had deviated from the general line was one which refused to make peace at all.  The realization that the French were powerful adversaries did not alter the obligation to guard and preserve Dahomey.  Indeed, in order better to protect their country, the Fon set about equipping their army with more efficient weapons.  Between January 1891 and August 1892 they bought 1,700 rapid-firing rifles*, six Krupp cannon of various bore, five machine-guns, 400,000 assorted cartridges and a large quantity of shell.  These they bought from German firms trading at Whydah.  It is more than likely that they bought other armaments from Germans operating in Lome." 

*(A. L. D'Albecca, La France au Dahomey, Paris, 1895, Annex I p. 216.  They purchased the following types of rifle: 300 Peabodys; 133 Winchesters; 648 Chassepots; 200 Albinis; 240 Sniders; 200 Spencers.)
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- Amazons with Machine guns !!!  I've GOT to work those into a game against the French Foreign Legion !   Does anybody know the make of these "machine guns?"-Chick!
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Nigeria-Ijebu - The 1892 British expedition to subdue the Ijebu - page 178

"The force immediately available to the Lagos Government consisted only of the local constabulary, the 'Lagos Hausa', whose numbers Carter had recently raised from 250 to 500.  Of these only some 150 could be spared to take part in the expedition, and the Colonial Office agreed with the Governor that reinforcements were needed.  These were to consist of, first, an equal number of constables from the Gold Coast - the 'Gold Coast Hausas' - and secondly a company from the West India Regiment stationed in Sierra Leone, the Colonial Office having thought it 'safer that some regular forces should be engaged'.  Permission was then obtained to add a number of Ibadan 'war boys' who had volunteered their help and who were to be used as either troops or carriers.  The commander of this mixed force of Africans and West Indians was to be the Inspector-General of the Gold Coast Police, Colonel F. C. Scott, C.B, a veteran who had fought against the Ashanti eighteen years before.  In addition to the four officers already attached to these forces, seven Special Service officers from England were seconded to the expedition, one a cavalryman, another a gunner, and the rest infantry of the line. 
The armament of the force was as heterogeneous s its composition. The Gold Coast constables were equipped with Martini-Henry rifles whereas their Lagos counterparts had Sniders.  The West Indians seem still to have been using Martini-Henry's rather than the Lee-Metfords now issued to regular British units.  The Ibadan auxiliaries were armed with ˜trade guns', the majority of these being presumably the flint-lock muskets known on the cost as ˜Dane guns', although a few may have had Sniders provided by their chiefs.  The expedition was also allotted three seven-pounder guns, one Maxim machine-gun, two Nordenfelt machine-guns, and three rocket troughs." 

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Nigeria-Ijebu - Armaments of the Ijebu in 1892 - page 181

"Precise information about the weapons of the Ijebu forces can no longer be obtained, but it is possible that all the warriors were equipped with some kind of firearm.  From early in the century Ijebu traders, profiting from 
their contact with Europeans at the coast, had been able to obtain muskets,and the Ijebu had used these on a large scale in the Owu war about 1820, at a time when firearms were scarce among other Yoruba.  Just as they had been foremost in obtaining muskets, so they had also pioneered (with the Egba) the use in their wars of the greatly superior breech-loading rifles which were available on the coast from about 1870, and many, perhaps most, of their warriors in 1892 were armed with Sniders.  Apart from the riflemen, the rest of the army must have carried Dane guns, firing shot or slugs, and also half-inch bolts of iron of which four could be discharged at a time.  After the battle of Yemoji a large quantity of ammunition (presumably ball cartridges) for  the Sniders was found in the Ijebu camp, with gunpowder in barrels marked with the name of Regis Aine, the Marseilles traders with a branch at Palma (Orimedu) between he lagoon and the sea.  In addition to their firearms, most warriors probably also carried swords or cutlasses as auxiliary weapons for close fighting, but in the event these cannot have been used in this war. Despite their long acquaintance with firearms, the Ijebu (like other Yoruba) 
never evolved any drill for their efficient handling, and after the introduction of rifles they continued to load and fire these weapons from a standing rather than a prone position, sacrificing a major advantage of the breech-loader over the muzzle-loader.  Moreover, it is unlikely that they were using the recently-introduced smokeless cartridges in their rifles, while the Dane guns were packed with banana fibre as wadding, greatly 
increasing the smoke from the discharge.  Thus, neither protection nor concealment could be hoped for in any defensive position, however well-chosen.

Despite the fact that the Ijebu are reported as having used ˜cannon (akka); that is, small bronzee pivot guns for the defence of their towns in the early years of the century, they paparently brought no artillery into the field.  Nor had they obtained any form of machine-gun, a surprising improvidence, especially if the report is true that their neighbours and allies the Ijesa were using a Gatling aginst the Ibadan in the Kiriji war during the early 1889s."
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Another "Must run" Darkest Africa scenario !  The Ijesa surprise the Ibadan 
with a Gatling.  Not a European figure on the table. - Chick
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Nigeria-Ebrohimi - Reconnaissance of the Trader Nana's defenses - page 221

"It had become clear that a full scale offensive would have to be mounted against Nana if he was to be broken.  Heugh, therefore, against the express instructions of Moor, decided to reconnoitre the Ebrohimi creek with a view to discovering whether the town could be taken through a naval operation.  He armour-plated his boat before setting out apparently not expecting anything more than desultory firing by wandering rifle men.  He miscalculated badly.  After going up the creek for some hundred yards, the British party ran into heavy fire from a masked battery of twenty-three heavy cannon somewhere in the mangrove swamp.  Heugh's boat was pierced through in a number of places by shot which Heugh' described in an exaggerated report as averaging 7-9 pounds.  The British casualty list included two dead; one man lost a foot and another an arm; four others were injured.  The boat was all but sinking by the time the survivors managed to get it back to the ship. 
Frederick Lugar, who was then in the service of the Royal Niger Company, was in the district when the above incident took place.  His impressions recorded in his diary are an interesting commentary on the state of affairs at the time.  There was, according to Lugar, considerable levity about the impending encounter with Nana.   He thought little of the leadership of the British forces, noting that Captain Evanston, commanding the militia, was an officer with ˜no experience at all'.  Lugard had learnt enough about Nana and his town to reach the conclusion that Nana would be 'a hard nut to crack', but the British forces were 'looking forward to a great picnic', praying that Nana would not give in after all their preparations.  Heugh's reconnaissance was a foretaste of the expected 'picnic'.  The outcome, Lugard noted, was 'a great scare' and a considerable cooling of the marital ardour of the British forces. " 
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Chick

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