This study in transnational and interracial history questions earlier conclusions which were either products of nationalist history or built on popular views. The author shows that rather than being passive victims, Africans in Old Calabar played active roles in their encounter with Europeans. Great borrowings and exchanges took place in the Atlantic world among populations that were radically different in language, culture and physique. Despite geographical and cultural separations, the physical and intellectual crossings that permeated the Atlantic world improved the fortunes of all its neighbouring peoples.This book is part of the African World Series, edited by Toyin Falola, Frances Higginbotham Nalle Centennial Professor in History, University of Texas at Austin.