Professor Robin Law FBA

History of West Africa
Fellow type
UK Emeritus Fellow
Year elected
2000
Subjects
History

Summary

Robin Law was born 7 August 1944. He obtained a BA (in Literae Humaniores) at Oxford, 1967, and a PhD (in History) at Birmingham, 1972. After holding research posts at the University of Lagos, Nigeria (1966-9), and the Centre of West African Studies, University of Birmingham (1970-2), he joined the University of Stirling in 1972, where he became Professor of African History in 1993, and after retirement in 2009, Emeritus Professor. He has also held visiting positions at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria (1978), the African Studies Centre, Leiden University, Netherlands (1993/4), York University, Toronto, Canada (1996/7), and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel (2000/1), and is currently an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Liverpool. He was co-editor of the Journal of African History, 1974-92 and 1991-5, and a Series Editor of the Hakluyt Society, 1997-2003; Chair of the Committee of the Fontes Historiae Africanae/Sources of African History, a British Academy research project, 1997-2007; and Chair of the British Academy's Area Panel for Africa, 2005-9. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (elected 2002), and received the Distinguished Africanist award of the African Studies Association of the UK for 2010.

Current post

Emeritus Professor of African History, University of Stirling

Past appointments

University of Stirling Emeritus Professor of History, University of Stirling

2009 -

University of Stirling Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Reader, then Professor of History

1972 -

University of Birmingham Research Fellow in History, Centre of West African Studies

1970 - 1972

University of Lagos, Nigeria Research Assistant in African History

1966 - 1969

Publications

Ouidah: The social history of a West African slaving 'port', 1727-1892

Published in 2004

Dahomey and the Ending of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

Published in 2012

The Journals and Correspondence of Vice-Consul Louis Fraser, 1851-1852

The Oyo Empire c1600-c1836

Published in 1977

The horse in West African history

Published in 1980

The slave coast of West Africa 1550-1750

Published in 1991

The English in West Africa, 1685-1688: The Local Correspondence of the Royal African Company of England 1681-1699

Published in 1997, 2001, 2006

Parts One, Two and Three (Fontes Historiae Africanae, New Series: Sources of African History)

Other Fellows of the British Academy

Professor William Doyle FBA

History of eighteenth century Europe, particularly France

william-doyle.jpg

Professor Javed Majeed FBA

Intellectual and literary history of colonial and postcolonial South Asia; colonialism, nationalism and literature; language politics and ideas of language in South Asia; Islam and colonialism; modern Urdu literature

Javed Majeed.jpg

Sign up to our email newsletters

Join our mailing list to explore the ideas and impact of the British Academy. Get updates on research, funding, policy, international collaborations, and events that bring the humanities and social sciences to life.