The African World: a survey of social research, is in my estimation one of the most important and unique attempts in African studies to interrelate the social sciences and the humanities; it has been edited for the African Studies Association by Robert A. Lystad (New York, Praeger, 1965). The contributors, mainly American and British, are well-known scholars. Together they have brought out a volume on methodology that is unparalleled in multi-disciplinary comprehensiveness in African studies. This is a tribute not only to the authors but also to the development of scholarship on Africa, for the past two decades of accomplishments are richly represented here. The distinction of The African World is that it identifies new problems, raises new questions and deals with a wide variety of methodologies. It should be mandatory reading for students of African affairs. And it can be usefully employed by nonAfricanists dealing with multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary aspects of area research.