Ralph A. AustenRalph A. Austen is a professor emeritus of African history at the University of Chicago. He is the author of African Economic History and Trans-Saharan Africa in World History; coauthor of Middlemen of the Cameroon Rivers: The Duala nd Their Hinterland, ca. 1600–ca. 1960; and editor of In Search of Sunjata: The Mande Epic as History, Literature and Performance. Read More Read Less