The city of Brava sits on the southern Somali coast, and the legal records presented here were kept by the judges there in the cases brought to them by the inhabitants and those who did business with them during the final decade and a half of the 19th century. The judges administered Islamic law as they decided civil cases concerning loans and debts, buying and selling houses and other property, service contracts, dividing or auctioning inheritances, contracting and dissolving marriages, and other matters. The judgments average about half a page, and are presented chronologically on facing pages of the original Arabic and English translation. Appendices explain such aspects as language, local and national leaders, and weights and measures. The two volumes are paged and indexed together. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)