The crown and the turban

The Crown and the Turban was originally published in 1997 by Westview Press, with subsequent editions including the 2019 Bellaterra release. Authored by the esteemed historian Lamin O. Sanneh, the work examines the complex and often intertwined relationship between Christianity and Islam in Africa. Sanneh sought to move beyond common binary narratives, instead illustrating how these two global religions have shaped, and been shaped by, the African socio-political landscape over several centuries.

Sanneh, who served as a professor at Yale University, was widely respected for his interdisciplinary approach to theology and history. In this text, he employs a rigorous academic lens to analyze how institutional power, symbolized by the crown and the turban, navigated the processes of colonization, traditional governance, and religious conversion. The work is regarded as a significant contribution to post-colonial studies and religious history, praised for its nuance in treating African agency within broader global religious movements.