Human Sacrifice and the Supernatural in African History

A historical study by Dr. Lawrence E. Y. Mbogoni examining the practices of human sacrifice and belief in the supernatural across Africa. From the earliest times, people everywhere have sought answers to questions about origins, sickness, death, and natural phenomena, inventing gods and occult sciences (witchcraft, divination, soothsaying), both to seek supernatural protection and, for some, to gain power and accumulate wealth. Mbogoni traces human sacrifice as one way of seeking to appease the gods for perceived transgressions, drawing on case studies from the Asante Kingdom (Ghana), Sierra Leone, mainland Tanzania, Zanzibar, Uganda, and Swaziland. He explores how folklore perpetuates these beliefs, and the striking uniformity of features across sub-Saharan Africa. Mbogoni is Associate Professor of African History at William Paterson University of New Jersey. Internationally distributed by African Books Collective.