First Published in 1939 and reissued with a new preface in 1965, African Women presents a study of the Ibo women of Nigeria. The originality of the book lies in the fact that practically all the information is obtained from women and that throughout, customs, laws, circumstances and happenings are described from the women's point of view.
Divided into four major parts, the book discusses important themes like the Aba riots; linguistic description of Owerri province; missions and native organizations; woman in Nneato; woman in Nguru; woman in transition in Owerri Town; sophisticated women in Port Harcourt; education and other western developments; and the future of Ibo women. This is an important historical reference work for scholars and researchers of African Studies, African women, and women's studies.
Foreword Preface to the Second Impression Acknowledgements Part I : Introduction Part II: Women Part III: Men and Women Part IV: Conclusion
Biography
Sylvia Leith-Ross was an English anthropologist and writer who worked primarily in Nigeria.
Review of the original publication:
“Mrs. Leith-Ross studies the Ibo woman in four phases of her environment, from the most remote ‘bush’, almost untouched by civilization, to the cosmopolitan coast town of Port Harcourt; and if her general conclusion seems to be that the higher they rise in the scale of civilization the more they deteriorate and the harder it is to like ‘the new sophisticated grasping self-centered type’, that is perhaps to be expected in a time of too rapid transition, of which no government can really regulate the pace.”
W. E. H., Journal of the Royal African Society, Vol. 38, No. 151 (Apr., 1939), pp. 300-302 (3 pages)
