Cameroon's Tycoon: Max Esser's Expedition and Its Consequences

Max Esser was an adventurous young merchant banker, a Rhinelander, who became the first managing director of the largest German plantation company in Cameroon. This volume gives a vivid account of the antecedents and early stages as experienced and described by Esser. In 1896 he ventured, with the explorer Zintgraff, into the hinterland to seek the agreement of Zintgraff's old ally, the ruler of Bali, for the provision of laborers for his projected enterprise. The consequences, many optimistically unforeseen, are illustrated with the help of contemporary materials. Esser's account is preceded by a look at his and his family's connections, added to by an account of newspaper campaigns against him, and completed by an examination of his Cameroon collection, which he gave to the Linden Museum in Stuttgart.

E.M. Chilver is well known for her joint work with Phyllis Kaberry in Cameroon. Her last university post was as Principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Ute Röschenthaler teaches at Frankfurt University.

Max Esser, a native of Cologne, Germany, played a leading role in the establishment of large-scale cocoa and other plantations in the early stages of Germany's colonial adventures in Cameroon. The main body of this work consists of translated selections of Esser's book An der Westküste Afrikas that deal directly with his expedition to Bali- Nyonga, his agreement with its ruler to supply labor to his projected plantation company, and his return journey. Other chapters from the work that relate to the beginnings of German colonialism in the area are summarized. Also included is a introductory biographical essay on Esser, as well as five short annotated texts by contemporaries of Esser which deal with the question of labor supply to the plantations from the "hinterlands." Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)