Thomas J. Bassett at The Conversation, debunking a myth about European maps of Africa: “Recent research by myself and others on colonial-era mapping of West Africa demonstrates that much of the geographical information these maps show is based on African observations. It’s just that Europeans largely took the credit.” A look at the local sources behind colonial mapping efforts.

Bassett’s book, Writing the Land: French Imperial and Colonial Mapping of West Africa, 1854–1892, is out next April from the University of Chicago Press. Pre-order: Amazon (Canada, UK), Bookshop.