While the full two-volume work covers the breadth of Dahomean civilization, focuses primarily on the foundations of the state and the daily mechanics of its society. Its primary sections include:
A deep dive into the kingdom's complex economic system, covering production, distribution, and the centralized taxation of agricultural products like palm oil. Dahomey, an ancient West African kingdom, vol. 1
The book is a landmark anthropological and historical study authored by Melville J. Herskovits . Originally published in 1938, it remains one of the most comprehensive ethnographic records of the Fon-speaking people of present-day Benin . Overview of Volume 1 While the full two-volume work covers the breadth