Charles Ambler is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Texas at El Paso where for fifteen years he was Dean of the Graduate School. He has a PhD in African history from Yale University. His research covers a wide range of topics in 19th and 20th century African history, including the histories of alcohol and drugs. He is author or co-editor of four books, notably, Liquor and Labor in Southern Africa (1992) and Drugs in Africa (2014), and many chapters and articles—most recently a contribution to The Oxford Handbook of Global Drug History edited by Paul Gootenberg (2022). In 2010 he was President of the African Studies Association (U.S.A.)