Africa and the Americas: Interconnections during the Slave Trade. Edited by José C. Curto and Renée Soulodre-La France. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2005. Pp. vii, 338. Illustrations. Tables. Glossary. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $99.95 cloth; $29.95 paper.
tic vision of a complicated century of rural history. The resulting work, although at times dense, is very absorbing. One might wish that he had more thoroughly analyzed the strands of political rhetoric deployed during conflicts. Perhaps he could have expanded his vision of the vanilla business to discuss how the flavor itself was a cultural commodity or to more carefully consider the forms of labor and knowledge involved in the business. Finally, Kouri is perhaps too reluctant to suggest what his work can say about the process of privatization in Mexico more generally. Still, these are debatable points, and in the end the book is one that every historian of rural Mexico needs to read.