In order to prepare for this website I’ve read many books, papers and articles dealing with Cape Verdean related history as well as genetics. Too many to list all of them here. So I’ll just mention the ones that proved to be the most valuable for this website. Starting off with four  internationally acclaimed Cape Verdean writers. The first 3 being actual Cape Verdean  born traders from the 16^th and 17^th century! Pretty much unique in that way because they provide first hand contemporary testimony! Their work is essential and highly recommended for anyone wanting to know about the history and ethnography of Upper Guinea from that period. Fourth one is a must have classic by the most productive and most frequently internationally referenced modernday Cape Verdean historian: Antonio Carreira.

 

• “Tratado breve dos rios de Guiné do Cabo Verde”, André Alvares d’Almada (1594) (Available online,  English translation).
• “Descrição da Serra Leoa e dos rios de Guiné do Cabo Verde”, André Donelha (1625).
• “Description of the Coast of Guinea”, Francisco de Lemos Coelho (1684).
• “Cabo Verde: formação e extinção de uma sociedade escravocrata (1460-1878)”, António Carreira (1972).

 

This 3-volume work is also priceless. Most up to date summary of Cape Verdean history, very well documented and available online!

 

• “História Geral de Cabo Verde”, various authors (1991, 1995, 2002) (Available Online)

 

Another 3-volume work. Very detailed description of the centuries-old Cabo Verde-Guiné nexus, as well as the role played by Cape Verdean & Luso African (“Lançado”) traders and their regional networks in Upper Guinean history.

 

• “Landlords and Strangers: Ecology, Society, and Trade in Western Africa, 1000-1630”, George E. Brooks, (1993).
• “Eurafricans In Western Africa: Commerce Social Status Gender & Religious Observance”, George E. Brooks, (2003).
• “Western Africa and Cabo Verde, 1790s-1830s: Symbiosis of Slave and Legitimate Trades”, George E. Brooks, (2010).

 

Pioneering work in English language by a Guyanese historian.

•  “History of the Upper Guinea Coast: 1545-1800”, Walter Rodney (1970).

 

Most recent work by English historian. Much focus on Cape Verde and it creolization process but also very important for a proper understanding of the early slave trade to the Spanish Carribean.

 

“The Rise of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in Western Africa, 1300–1589”, Toby Green (2012)

 

Dissertation by a Cape Verdean American offering many fresh perspectives.

•  “Transformation of ‘Old’ Slavery Into Atlantic Slavery: Cape Verde Islands, c.1500-1879”, Lumumba H. Shabaka (2013) (Available online)

 

Finally this article is incredibly well researched and highly important for understanding the ethnic origins of not only Peruvian slaves but also other Afro-descendants in Latin Americans as well as Cape Verdeans themselves.

 

• “Ethnic Origins of Peruvian Slaves (1584-1650). Figures From Upper Guinea.”, Paideuma, (39), 57-110,  Stephan Bühnen (1993).