Larson's book raises a series of challenging questions about the historical production of ethnic identity, and the complex epistemological relationships between historical memory, identity, and history. It is smart, well written, and intellectually challenging. In the historiographical level, Larson succeeds in integrating Malagasy history into the mainstream history of the continent.
--Richard Roberts, Department of History, Stanford UniversityIn this story of the impact of slave trade on an insular African society, Larson explores how the people of highland Madagascar reshaped their social identity and their cultural practices. As Larson argues, the modern Merina ethnic identity and some of its key cultural traditions were fashioned and refashioned through localized experiences of enslavement and mercantile capitalism and by a tension-filled political dialogue among common highland Malagasy and their rulers. Larson's analysis expands traditional