Taking age systems as referring to all systems of age-grades, age- sets, and generation-sets as distinct from kinship systems, argues that in post-colonial North East Africa, they are part of an institutional complex that makes societies fit to wage war. Presents new information about age systems in the region and sets them in a wider spatial and temporal context than studies of single society at a single point in time have done. The 11 papers are from a November- December 1995 conference in Osaka, Japan. Paper edition (unseen), $22.95. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR