"Sharman highlights the political roots of slavery in Africa through a challenging global perspective that focuses on the corrosive impact of human bondage in shaping historical process."-- Paul E. Lovejoy, author of Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa " A brave, powerful and important book which situates slavery in its African context. Sharman argues that slavery in Africa was much more than a system of economic exploitation; it was a fundamental political institution which African leaders used to maintain and expand their power."-- Justin Marozzi, author of Captives and Companions: A History of Slavery and the Slave Trade in the Islamic World "In an extraordinary and penetrating analysis, Sharman confronts the uncomfortable yet crucial links between Africa, its political order and slavery. Moving beyond earlier arguments about African agency in integrating their political economy into the external slave trades, this book offers fresh insights and a nuanced analysis of the history of slavery in Africa. It provides provocative perspectives on how slavery was used to bolster political power and mechanisms, and it invites readers to reconsider the implications of the relationship between political order, the expansion of slavery and European colonial conquest."-- Ismael M.

Montana, managing editor of Journal of Global Slavery "J. C. Sharman's Ties that Bound will be of value to the field of African history and to those general readers interested in an introduction to the evolution of the continent. Sharman has done an excellent job providing a comprehensive picture of the relationship between slavery and power in African polities, zooming in and out to provide both granular detail and the big picture of what was happening at scale in various moments of history. The scholarship and the audacity of the argument will attract many readers and incite much conversation."-- Jeffrey Herbst, author of States and Power in Africa: Comparative Lessons in Authority and Control.