Sources for the Mutual History of Ghana and The Netherlands: An Annotated Guide to the Dutch Archives Relating to Ghana and West Africa in the Nationaal Archief, 1593‐1960s

The volume under review happily coincides with the 50th anniversary of Ghana's independence. The history of Ghana, however, is linked to not only Great Britain, the country from which independence was gained in 1957, but also to The Netherlands. In a far‐sighted policy to establish The Netherlands as a major trading nation in competition with the Spanish and Portuguese, the Dutch government created the first multinational trading organisations, the Dutch East India Company in 1602 and the West India Company in 1621. This latter assumed responsibility for Dutch interests in Africa as well as in the Caribbean.

Relations between Ghana...