This study of politics and government among a West African people, the Banyang of the Upper Cross River, covers the end of the period of Colonial administration. The book: · Shows the inter-relationship between the structure of the small forest communities and the highly autonomous processes by which they were governed · Analyses the relationship between residence and common descent as principles of corporate grouping · Includes a case study of the political struggle involved in one community's claims to independence. Originally published in 1969.