espite the promises of the digital humanities, archival research in Africa continues to be a highly personalized and 'analogue' process. This is especially true for historians of the post-colonial period, who often find that state repositories contain few or no records from the years after independence. Drawing on a research project on the Nigerian Civil War (1967-...

Over the course of the Nigerian Civil War (1967-70), many people in the secessionist Republic of Biafra resorted to forgery, confidence scams, and other forms of fraud to survive the dire conditions created by Nigeria's blockade. Forgery of passes and other documents, fraudulent commercial transactions, and elaborate schemes involving impersonation and racketeering...