Tymowski Michal. — Europeans and Africans: Mutual Discoveries and First Encounters

Despite its sweeping title, Tymowski's fascinating book is about Portuguese expeditions to West Africa in the fifteenth century.Admittedly, not quite all the European protagonists were Portuguese.A few, like the Venetian Alvise de Ca da Mosto, were trading on Portugal's behalf, while others, such as the Flemish merchant Eustache Delafosse, were unsuccessfully attempting to break the Portuguese monopoly.The Africans in question were all situated along the coast, from Berber fisherman in the Sahara through Senegambia to Benin.Significantly, Tymowski does not discuss the kingdom of Kongo, although systematic contact with Portugal also dates from the fifteenth century, suggesting (not entirely convincingly) that Kongo constituted an entirely separate case.