Blurbs!

What people are saying about Abina and the Important Men

Emmanuel Akyeampong, Harvard University, in The Journal of African History

This is an important book that takes history into the public domain in a very accessible form, combining text with graphics in the retelling of an 1876 court case over slave emancipation in the Gold Coast. ... I used Abina in my graduate class on ‘Sources, Methods and Themes in African History’. The graduate students expressed appreciation for the authors' reflexiveness about the historian's craft, the ways the book was designed with multiple audiences in mind – high school, undergraduate, and graduate students, and how it problematized slavery in the nexus of cross-cultural understandings, British and African. Was the slave defined by the act of purchase and exchange of money, by the nature of work she did, or, as Abina expressed, by the lack of control over one's physical self and life?

Sarah Hepburn in Women’s History Review

Getz and Clarke have produced an innovative work of historical writing that is simultaneously an excellent teaching resource. The graphic section of the text is an engaging way to introduce students to the history of slavery, colonialism and gender in the region. The inclusion of the court transcript will encourage students to engage in primary source analysis and explore the ways in which historical nar- ratives are constructed from often disparate and limited source materials. Getz’s reflexive approach to the ethical and methodological issues of conducting histori- cal research will encourage students at all levels to question the construction of his- torical knowledge. Getz and Clarke have thus produced a text of historiographical and pedagogical significance. They illustrate with elegance and conviction the importance and potential of forging new interdisciplinary approaches.

Maryanne Rhett, Monmouth University, in The Journal of World History

In conclusion, Trevor Getz’s Abina and the Important Men is a tremendous step forward for the world history community. Both world history as a field and graphic novels (and comic books) as a genre have been maligned by conventional academic agendas. Getz propels the field of world history forward in using the vehicle of graphic novel by authenticating the non-generalist vision of his historical work and giving thorough scholarly credence to the format.

Patrick Manning, University of Pittsburgh

The young Abina Mansah lost her 1876 suit for freedom, but her voice still resounds in the transcript of her testimony. From that dusty transcript, Trevor Getz brings her struggle graphically to life. He beautifully surrounds her sad tale with resources showing its links within West Africa and beyond. Through Getz and in the engaging images of Liz Clarke, Abina affirms the mark that each person can make on the world.

Martin Klein, University of Toronto

"This is a superb introduction to the way historians construct the past, to the history of slavery in Africa, and to colonialism. Trevor Getz tells the same story three times. The first is a graphic presentation, which simply tells a story embellished by the imagination of both author and artist. The second is the document on which the story is based. The third is an analysis by Getz of how he reads the document and the problems he had in building the narrative. In it, he displays an ability to contextualize the document, and to read it both with and against the grain.

Candace Goucher, Washington State University Vancouver

Getz has crafted a gem, a valuable contribution to African studies and the world history classroom. The book combines a well-informed pedagogy with current historiographical trends. Its multi-layered format delves deeply and lyrically into Abina’s world of image and word.

Ken O’Donnell, Associate Dean, Academic Programs and Study, California State University