While the main events of the modern history of Niger and the neighbouring regions of the Central Sudan and the Central Sahara are discussed and analysed in detail, the book focuses on long-term trends. Particular attention is given to the opposition between the various ethnic groups and between nomads and agriculturalists, which persisted in spite of their considerable interdependence, and to the continuing clash between the values and norms of the rulers and the ruled. The las section of the book discusses the somewhat hybrid political system that emerged with the introduction of European-style politics after 1945 and the economic transformations that took place after the Second World War.
Dr Fuglestad's exhaustive survey of widely scattered and sometimes almost inaccessible archives and documents has resulted in an original and illuminating account of an area of Africa about which there is currently little information.
His History of Niger will remain for many years an important source of reference for all historians of Africa, and particularly for those concerned with French colonial Africa.