With Abson & Company: Slave Traders in Eighteenth-Century West Africa, Stanley B. Alpern presents remarkable research on the British slave trader Lionel Abson, from 1770 to 1803 head of William's Fort in Ouidah, then part of the Dahomey kingdom, now in Benin. Alpern hopes to offer a reassessment of Abson, whom I. A. Akinjogbin (Dahomey and Its Neighbours, 1708–1818 [1967], 182) dismissed as inept, following Archibald Dalzel (The History of Dahomy, 1793). Other contemporary historians have accepted Akinjogbin's view without questioning it. Alpern also reexamines the treatment of Abson's estate and children after his death, for while Akinjogbin claimed that the appropriation of his goods and his three children by the local African king was the result of Abson's position as a citizen of Dahomey, Alpern regards it as theft with tragic consequences. These are important issues, but difficult to follow because Alpern puts his disagreements with Akinjogbin and Dalzel on pages 74–77. He opens his narrative as an “absorbing” tale about a European slave trader, but also as “documented history” (ix), and the differences between these two approaches make for difficult reading. He would have strengthened his case by arguing more explicitly against contemporary historians and in favor of the abilities of Abson. Nevertheless, the new information offered by Alpern should inspire fresh scholarship on Abson's relationship with the Fon people and the Dahomey kings.

The book begins with Abson's first virtue: his ability to physically survive more than thirty years in West Africa. The attention given to this detail tilts the book in one of its unfortunate directions: British slave trader as hero. More persuasive for Alpern's argument is the knowledge about the area and its people that Abson developed. Abson became fluent in the local language of the Fon, the main ethnic group of Dahomey, and learned Portuguese and French, the languages of the other European slave forts in Ouidah. He gained the respect of other governors of slave forts. He spoke without fear or sycophancy to his masters at Cape Coast Castle, and he was an excellent writer. After concluding that Abson was “erudite, diplomatic, and seemingly good-natured,” Alpern takes on the moral problem of his subject's slave trading (9). Alpern argues that Abson should not be evaluated by twenty-first-century standards, but he also proposes that the indifference or ineptitude that his bosses and, we find out later, contemporary historians ascribed to him “may hint at a change of heart” toward slavery (10). Alpern knows he is on shaky ground here, but he bases his hypothesis on Abson's “increasing openness toward and respect for the local people” (11). He treated the enslaved servants in the fort well; he appreciated African food, cloth, and medicine. An African woman was the mother of his three children, and an African interpreter named Majerrican was his primary aide for his entire career.

Unfortunately, Alpern provides very little evidence about these interactions, except in the case of Dahomey kings. We only hear about Majerrican twice, and very briefly, although he was with Abson for thirty-six years. The chapters in the book deal with aspects of the slave trade—“The English Fort,” “The Company,” “Ouidah”—and several focus on Abson himself, but little is said about the culture of the Fon people, except for religion. Even on this topic, Alpern does not make it possible to imagine how Abson's interactions with the Fon might have led to a change of heart.

Many of these chapters include first-rate research. For instance, Alpern supplies persuasive evidence that Abson was from Yorkshire. The records of the Company of the Merchants Trading to Africa are minutely considered, especially in terms of the nature of the trade, Abson's relationships with those at Cape Coast Castle, and the details of everyday life at William's Fort. The book lays out the differences between the Royal African Company, which lost its monopoly in 1698, and the Company of Merchants, which supervised rather than controlled the slave trade. Alpern argues for the business ability of African merchants and the dependence of European traders on their goodwill, especially in Dahomey. He is scrupulous in considering the Western sources on Abson and the region.

The chapters on Abson—“Early Career,” “Decline,” and “The Final Years”—bring out fascinating material about his relationship with the Dahomey kings. Invited to intervene by King Tegbesu (r. 1740–1774), Abson was successful in making peace between the king and the Popos, who were disrupting trade by occupying the beaches. In one remarkable situation, Abson shared English pamphlets for and against the slave trade with King Kpengla (1774–1789), who apparently responded with a two-hour speech in favor of it. Previous historians have dismissed this interchange as anti-abolitionist propaganda, but Alpern defends its authenticity. Abson's attendance at the Annual Customs held by the Dahomey kings is evaluated as an aspect of his respect for local people and traditions; this claim is supported by Abson's attendance at the event in 1803, despite his feeling ill at the time. His death followed soon after. Fundamental to Alpern's reassessment is the European testimony given in favor of Abson's acumen and ability even in the face of arbitrary and cruel treatment by some of the Dahomey leaders. Akinjogbin argues for the wisdom of Dahomey leaders in trying to combat the decrease of European trade during this period (Dahomey and Its Neighbours, 141–74). This point is never mentioned by Alpern, but the events that he considers suggests strongly that Abson's role in this situation needs further exploration.

Further attention could also have been given to Abson's daughter Sally. After Abson's death, King Adandozan (r. 1797–1818) seized Sally, along with her two brothers and some goods from the estate. Alpern rightly points out the inadequacy of the claim that this was the result of some mysterious form of Dahomey citizenship. Alpern also proves that Sally was a remarkable woman who used her biracial position to develop an independent identity. Although Alpern seems satisfied to claim some sort of early feminist status for her, a cultural approach could provide more substantial information on Sally's African mother, largely absent from the book. A cultural approach could illuminate the mother's influence on Sally's form of dress and behavior.

One wishes that Alpern's remarkable abilities in research could have been focused more fully on the Fon people. Nevertheless, he makes his case that Abson deserves further attention.