African history Books

Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE BAILEYS PRIZE BEST OF THE BEST Winner of the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction 2007, this is a heartbreaking, exquisitely written literary masterpieceTrade Review‘Heartbreaking, funny, exquisitely written and, without doubt, a literary masterpiece and a classic’ Daily Mail ‘Stunning. This novel is an immense achievement’ Observer ‘A landmark novel. Adichie brings to history a lucid intelligence and compassion, and a heartfelt plea for memory’ Guardian 'Vividly written, thrumming with life … a remarkable novel. In its compassionate intelligence as in its capacity for intimate portraiture, this novel is a worthy successor to such twentieth-century classics as Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart and V. S. Naipaul's A Bend in the River' Joyce Carol Oates 'Here is a new writer endowed with the gift of ancient storytellers’ Chinua Achebe ‘The character burrow into your marrow and mind, and you come to care for them deeply – something that is all too rare’ Daily Telegraph ‘A sane and compassionate new voice in an often strident world’ Financial Times ‘Adichie uses language with relish. She infuses her English with a robust poetry’ Helen Dunmore, The Times ‘A powerful account of the Biafran War, horrific and tender in equal measure’ Sunday Telegraph 'Absolutely awesome. One of the best books I've ever read' Judy Finnigan ‘I wasted the last fifty pages, reading them far too greedily and fast, because I couldn’t bear to let go … magnificent’ Margaret Forster

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Book SynopsisZeinab Badawi is an award-winning broadcaster, journalist, and filmmaker. She is President of SOAS University of London and is an honorary fellow of her alma mater St Hilda's College, Oxford. Born in Sudan, she has worked in the British media for several decades. Zeinab is a recipient of the President's Medal of the British Academy, a Patron of the United Nations Association UK, and is on the boards of the Arts, Humanities and Research Council, MINDS (the Mandela Institute for Development Studies), the International Crisis Group and Afrobarometer. She was previously Chair of the Royal African Society. An African History of Africa is her first book.

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Book SynopsisHow Europe Underdeveloped Africa is an ambitious masterwork of political economy, detailing the impact of slavery and colonialism on the history of international capitalism. In this classic book, Rodney makes the unflinching case that African maldevelopment is not a natural feature of geography, but a direct product of imperial extraction from the continent, a practice that continues up into the present. Meticulously researched, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa remains an unshakably relevant study of the so-called "great divergence" between Africa and Europe, just as it remains a prescient resource for grasping the the multiplication of global inequality today. In this new edition, Angela Davis offers a striking foreword to the book, exploring its lasting contributions to a revolutionary and feminist practice of anti-imperialism.Trade ReviewWalter Rodney's magisterial opus is recognized globally as a landmark in African studies, not to mention the history of colonialism and imperialism. Beautifully written and expertly argued, it is that rare book that can be called a classic. It belongs on every bookshelf. -- Gerald Horne, historian and author of The Counter-Revolution of 1776 and Confronting Black JacobinsThis book is a legendary classic that galvanized freedom fighters around the world. -- Cornel West, philosopher, author, critic, and activistWalter Rodney was a pioneering scholar who provided new answers to old questions and posed new questions in relation to the study of Africa. -- Professor Winston McGowanThis classic work of black political thought, political economy, and Africa history inspired scholars and political activists in the struggle against colonialism and its misrepresentations of the past. I applaud this reissue, which should bring Rodney's prescient analysis to a new generation struggling from below, in whose hands, he would have reminded us, is no less than the future of humankind. -- Lewis R. Gordon, Author of An Introduction to Africana Philosophy"Appearing in 1972, HEUA was a genuine tour de force. It fused, as had never been done in a single volume before, African history in the global sense and underdevelopment theory, Marxism and black nationalism, intellectual passion and political commitment. HEUA instantly joined a select pan-Africanist canon that would be read at least as much outside as within the academy, an exclusive category that included the two texts that had greatly influenced Rodney's intellectual development, notably James's Black Jacobins and Williams's Capitalism & Slavery, along with Black Reconstruction, W. E. B. Dubois's magisterial work on the struggle for democracy in the United States during the post-Civil War, post-slavery era. HEUA, however, differed from the above-mentioned works, which were written long after the events they charted occurred. HEUA, by contrast, was more urgent and immediate, having been produced in the heat of battle, which is to say amid the ongoing struggle of Africans against capitalist and neocolonialist underdevelopment. His purpose in writing the book, Rodney explained in the Preface, was "to try and reach Africans who wish to explore further the nature of their exploitation, rather than to satisfy the 'standards' set by our oppressors and their spokesmen in the academic world." -- Michael West * Groundings: Development, Pan-Africanism, Critical Theory, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2018 *A masterpiece. -- Andy Higginbottom * Redline *Rodney's analysis remains as relevant as it was when first published - a call to arms in the class struggle for racial equality. * LA Review of Books *This groundbreaking literary powerhouse performed a vital function in resistance to institutional racism. -- Paul Boateng * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisWith an introduction by author Anne Enright.Shortlisted for the Guardian First Book award, a story of civil war and a family's unbreakable bond.How you see a country depends on whether you are driving through it, or live in it. How you see a country depends on whether or not you can leave it, if you have to.As the daughter of white settlers in war-torn 1970s Rhodesia, Alexandra Fuller remembers a time when a schoolgirl was as likely to carry a shotgun as a satchel. This is her story - of a civil war, of a quixotic battle with nature and loss, and of a family's unbreakable bond with the continent that came to define, scar and heal them.Shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award, Alexandra Fuller's classic memoir of an African childhood is suffused with laughter and warmth even amid disaster. Unsentimental and unflinching, but always enchanting, Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight is the stTrade ReviewLike Frank McCourt, Fuller writes with devastating humour and directness about desperate circumstances . . . tender, remarkable * Daily Telegraph *A book that deserves to be read for generations * Guardian *Perceptive, generous, political, tragic, funny, stamped through with a passionate love for Africa . . . [Fuller] has a faultless hotline to her six-year-old self * Independent *This enchanting book is destined to become a classic of Africa and of childhood * Sunday Times *Wonderful book . . . a vibrantly personal account of growing up in a family every bit as exotic as the continent which seduced it . . . the Fuller family itself [is] delivered to the reader with a mixture of toughness and heart which renders its characters unforgettable * Scotsman *Her prose is fierce, unsentimental, sometimes puzzled, and disconcertingly honest . . . it is Fuller's clear vision, even of the most unpalatable facts, that gives her book its strength. It deserves to find a place alongside Olive Schreiner, Karen Blixen and Doris Lessing * Sunday Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisThe Penguin Modern Classics edition of Ryszard Kapuscinski''s The Emperor is translated by William R. Brand and Katarzyna Mroczkowska-Brand, with an introduction by Neal Ascherton.After the deposition of Haile Selassie in 1974, which ended the ancient rule of the Abyssinian monarchy, Ryszard Kapuscinski travelled to Ethiopia and sought out surviving courtiers to tell their stories. Here, their eloquent and ironic voices depict the lavish, corrupt world they had known - from the rituals, hierarchies and intrigues at court to the vagaries of a ruler who maintained absolute power over his impoverished people. They describe his inexorable downfall as the Ethiopian military approach, strange omens appear in the sky and courtiers vanish, until only the Emperor and his valet remain in the deserted palace, awaiting their fate. Dramatic and mesmerising, The Emperor is one of the great works of reportage and a haunting epitaph on the last moments of a dying regime.Ryszard Kapuscinski (1932-2007) was born in Pinsk, now in Belarus. Kapuscinski was the pre-eminent writer among Polish reporters. His best-known book is a reportage-novel of the decline of Haile Selassie''s anachronistic regime in Ethiopia - The Emperor, which has been translated into many languages. Shah of Shahs, about the last Shah of Iran, and Imperium, about the last days of the Soviet Union, have enjoyed similar success. If you enjoyed The Emperor, you might like Norman Mailer''s The Fight, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.''Stunning ... a magical eloquence''John Updike, New Yorker''[The Emperor] transcends reportage, becoming a nightmare of power ... An unforgettable, fiercely comic, and finally compassionate book''Salman Rushdie''Kapuscinski trascends the limitations of journalism and writes with the narrative power of a Conrad or Kipling or Orwell''Blake Morrison

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Book SynopsisThis is a story studded with extraordinary achievements and historic moments, from the building of the pyramids and the conquest of Nubia, through Akhenaten''s religious revolution, the power and beauty of Nefertiti, the glory of Tutankhamun''s burial chamber, and the ruthlessness of Ramesses, to Alexander the Great''s invasion, and Cleopatra''s fatal entanglement with Rome. As the world''s first nation-state, the history of Ancient Egypt is above all the story of the attempt to unite a disparate realm and defend it against hostile forces from within and without. Combining grand narrative sweep with detailed knowledge of hieroglyphs and the iconography of power, Toby Wilkinson reveals Ancient Egypt in all its complexity.Trade Review‘A sophisticated and complete account of the world's first nation state' * The Times Books of the Year *‘Wilkinson's stirring and clear sighted account of the ancient world's most enduring civilisation comes as a welcome treat' * Sunday Times Books of the Year *‘I had always presumed, before I read Wilkinson's book, that it was impossible to write a history of Egypt which combined scholarship, accessibility, and a genuine sense of revelation. I was wrong' * Observer *‘A comprehensive, illustrated history focusing on the dark side of the Pharaohs and some harsh political realities' * The List *

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Book SynopsisA riveting and highly readable account of the Congo massacre, peopled by callous monarchs, corrupt adventurers and a handful of genuine heroes.

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Book SynopsisThe vast military campaigns in Africa during World War I were among the most ambitious of the Great War. Many histories, however, have regarded these campaigns as side-shows to the war on the Western Front. World War One in Africa looks afresh at the impact of the strategy of the German and Allied campaigns, and at the great rivalry between General Jan Christian Smuts, who took on the German forces in East Africa, and General Lettow-Vorbeck, celebrated as the only German general to occupy British territory and whose troops finished the war undefeated. Using primary material from British and South African archives, this book is a detailed study of the giants of the campaign, and the battles which would shape the outcome of the Great War as well as the future of the African continent and the British Empire.Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Position on the eve of war Chapter 2: To war, 1914 Chapter 3: The outbreak of war: Southern Africa, 1914 Chapter 4: German South West Africa, Angola and Southern Africa - 1915 Chapter 5: War on the waters and in the air - 1915-1917 Chapter 6: East Africa 1915-1917 Chapter 7: Personal, personnel and materiel Chapter 8: Last days - 1918 Chapter 9: Behind the scenes - 1915-1918 Chapter 10: The war in London - 1915-1917 Chapter 11: All for what? Chapter 12: Conclusions Notes Bibliography Forces Index Person Index Place Index General Index

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Book Synopsis''A searing, nourishing journey through a history the world needs'' - Bettany Hughes, bestselling author of The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World ''Please read it!'' - Philippa Gregory, bestselling author of Normal Women''Poetic and fierce'' - Olivette Otele, author of African Europeans''An exciting and rich work for anyone who is curious about African history'' - Paterson Joseph, author of The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho''Beautiful and thought-provoking'' - Stylist_____________________________________________________There are women who ruled vast swathes of the African continent. They led, loved and fought for their kingdoms and people and their impact can still be felt today. However, beyond the lands they called home, so few of us have heard their names. From pre-colonial Nigeria to the rich plains of Rwanda, from the hills of Madagascar to apartheid South Africa, historian Akpan traces the lives of these powerful queens and takes you on a spellbinding, enrapturing and immersive journey that is nothing short of revelatory.Beautifully researched and filled with fascinating stories of royalty, ancient civilisations, conquest and colonisation, When We Ruled is a gripping new history where women take centre stage._____________________________________________________''A rich, sumptuous and beautifully written tapestry'' - Candice Carty-Williams, bestselling author of Queenie''A treasure trove'' - Bolu Babalola, bestselling author of Love in Colour and Honey & Spice

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Book SynopsisFormation tracks the unlikely series of events and characters that led to the creation of the modern Nigerian nation: from 1804 when the first Jihadists began their attack on a collection of independent nations to 1914 when the current shape of Nigeria was completed as a British colony through amalgamation. Formation sheds light on an increasingly forgotten and largely mythologised period of Nigeria's history; revealing an incredibly complicated portrait of a nation with a tangled history, where violence was and remains a primary organising principle for elite competition and political negotiations. Influential figures loom large over the narrative including: Usman dan Fodio, Modibbo Adama, Fred Lugard, Samuel Ajayi-Crowther, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Flora Shaw, Joseph Chamberlain alongside other well-known and many less familiar names.

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Book Synopsis'Lively and amusing [...] an engaging read. Ryan successfully makes this ancient civilisation more immediate and accessible.' - Current World Archaeology _____________________'[Donald] Ryan - who has worked in and on Egypt for decades, as an archaeologist, historian and popular writer - has succeeded in bringing all of his characters to life. This is a great little volume.' - KMT Magazine_____________________'Very readable [...] its originality lies in the clever construction of the content. The variety of characters covered allows for a considerable breadth of information on life for the rich and poor.' - Ancient Egypt Magazine_____________________Spend 24 hours with the inhabitants of the most powerful kingdom in the ancient world.Ancient Egypt wasn’t all pyramids, sphinxes and gold sarcophagi. For your average Egyptian, life was tough, and work was hard, conducted under the burning gaze of the sun god Ra.During the course of a day in the ancient city of Thebes (modern-day Luxor), Egypt’s religious capital, we meet 24 Egyptians from all strata of society – from the king to the bread-maker, the priestess to the fisherman, the soldier to the midwife – and get to know what the real Egypt was like by spending an hour in their company. We encounter a different one of these characters every hour and in every chapter, and through their eyes see what an average day in ancient Egypt was really like.

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Book SynopsisOverseas Press Club Award Winner 2016A shocking investigative journey into the way the resource trade wreaks havoc on Africa, The Looting Machine' explores the dark underbelly of the global economy.The Looting Machine' is a searing exposé of the global web of traders, bankers, middlemen, despots and corporate raiders that is pillaging Africa's vast natural wealth. From the killing fields of Congo to the crude-slicked creeks of Nigeria, a great endowment of oil, diamonds, copper, iron, gold and coltan has become a curse that condemns millions to poverty, violence and oppression. That curse is no accident. This gripping investigative journey takes us into the shadows of the world economy, where secretive networks conspire with Africa's kleptocrats to bleed the continent dry. And like their victims, the beneficiaries of this grand looting have names.Trade Review‘Revealing … Explains lucidly how the oil and mineral bonanza subverts societies … particularly acute in analysing how multinationals connive in this institutionalised theft … This intelligent book should give us all pause for thought when we fill our cars with petrol’ Sunday Times ‘A powerful case, through anecdote and evidence, that the dirty trade in raw materials serves individuals’ own enrichment’ The Times ‘[Burgis] presents a lively portrait of the rapacious “looting machine” … a rich collage of examples showing the links between corrupt companies and African elites’ Economist ‘A great scrapbook of exploitation. Burgis has the good sense not to present it in an alarmist way, but with an understatement that is far more powerful … [it] is in part a means of self-exoneration, a way of making amends to those he ultimately could not help … He has done a service to some of the world’s poorest people’ Financial Times ‘Excellent. Burgis ensures that we don’t stop wondering who does what in Africa and how we are all party to what Western “investors” are up to. The post-colonial corruption and rape of African resource to the benefit of western consumption is still alive and horribly well’ Jon Snow ‘Burgis has managed to uncover a system responsible for the wholesale looting of Africa’s mineral resources for the benefit of oligarchic and state interests around the world. Burgis, a gifted young journalist, has tracked down all these characters across some of Africa’s most dangerous hotspots and beyond. Vivid, eye-popping and even at times very funny’ Misha Glenny, author of ‘McMafia’ ‘Makes an important case colourfully, convincingly and at times courageously as he confronts some of those involved in the pillaging’ Observer ‘[An] excellent, finely reported book … The great value lies in its fresh detail, storytelling and the characters Burgis introduces. Crammed with colour and lively investigative reporting’ Literary Review ‘[A] major contribution’ TLS

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Book SynopsisZeinab Badawi is an award-winning broadcaster, journalist, and filmmaker. She is President of SOAS University of London and is an honorary fellow of her alma mater St Hilda's College, Oxford. Born in Sudan, she has worked in the British media for several decades. Zeinab is a recipient of the President's Medal of the British Academy, a Patron of the United Nations Association UK, and is on the boards of the Arts, Humanities and Research Council, MINDS (the Mandela Institute for Development Studies), the International Crisis Group and Afrobarometer. She was previously Chair of the Royal African Society. An African History of Africa is her first book.

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize, Cundill History Prize, Fage and Oliver Prize, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Pius Adesanmi Memorial Award Winner of the Historical Writers'' Association Non-Fiction Crown 2020Winner of the American Historical Association''s Jerry Bentley Prize in World History 2020Winner of the Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize for Global Cultural Understanding 2019An Observer and Wall Street Journal Book of the Year 2019A groundbreaking history that will transform our view of West AfricaBy the time of the ''Scramble for Africa'' in the late nineteenth century, Africa had already been globally connected for many centuries. Its gold had fuelled the economies of Europe and Islamic world since around 1000, and its sophisticated kingdoms had traded with Europeans along the coasts from Senegal down to Angola since the fifteenth century. Until at least 1650, this was a trade of equals, using a variety of currencies - most importantly shells: the cowrie shells imported from the Maldives, and the nzimbu shells imported from Brazil.Toby Green''s groundbreaking new book transforms our view of West and West-Central Africa. It reconstructs the world of kingdoms whose existence (like those of Europe) revolved around warfare, taxation, trade, diplomacy, complex religious beliefs, royal display and extravagance, and the production of art.Over time, the relationship between Africa and Europe revolved ever more around the trade in slaves, damaging Africa''s relative political and economic power as the terms of monetary exchange shifted drastically in Europe''s favour. In spite of these growing capital imbalances, longstanding contacts ensured remarkable connections between the Age of Revolution in Europe and America and the birth of a revolutionary nineteenth century in Africa.A Fistful of Shells draws not just on written histories, but on archival research in nine countries, on art, praise-singers, oral history, archaeology, letters, and the author''s personal experience to create a new perspective on the history of one of the world''s most important regions.''Astonishing, staggering'' Ben Okri, Daily TelegraphTrade ReviewA Fistful of Shells is the fruit of research conducted in the archives of nine nations and required the author to undertake fieldwork across eight West African states. It shows. [...] This is a stunning work of research and argumentation. It has the potential to become a landmark in our understanding of the most misunderstood of continents. -- David Olusoga * New Statesman *Toby Green's A Fistful of Shells uses a global archive - in Africa, the Americas and Europe - to explore the complex, flourishing and connected economy of West Africa existing long before a European capitalist system established itself on the continent. Extraordinarily written and researched, the book paints a huge, complex canvas, filled with individual detail. -- Julia Lovell * Observer Books of the Year 2019 *A Fistful of Shells is exemplary: scholarly, sensitive, enlightening and often vivid. The author does much more than make Africa seem normal. He proclaims a daunting ambition: to explore the local and global implications of West Africa's economies during the age of slavery. He succeeds. -- Felipe Fernández-Armesto * Wall Street Journal *A work of staggering scholarship, drawing on previously untapped sources locked away in European vaults and historical records which, taken as a whole, contradict the age-old perceptions foisted on Africa ... peppered with astonishing facts ... polyphonic, detailed and vast. -- Ben Okri * Daily Telegraph *Dismantles the racist myth of west African "backwardness" ... The 19th-century imperial vision of Africa as somehow outside of history continues to mark even "world" histories, which often privilege the global north. A Fistful of Shells is an antidote to these histories, and to the master narrative of Africa as historical object, rather than subject. -- Padraic Scanlan * The Guardian *A rich and insightful work ... What emerges is a radically different view of the region from the one that has been generally available. Green concludes by pointing to the lack of history being taught in schools and universities in West Africa and elsewhere; if it is taught at all, it tends to focus on the slave trade. A Fistful of Shells shows that there was so much more, and of so much relevance when looking at the issues of our own time. * Spectator *This original and thoughtful work is based on detailed first-hand knowledge of and collaboration with the cultures and peoples it depicts ... For all its impressive scholarship A Fistful of Shells is notably readable, supported by great illustrations and a stunning cover - and, in the best sense, personal. * Times Higher Education *A sprawling and nuanced look at the steady depletion of a continent with a powerful lament about the lack of academic interest in Africa's precolonial eras. * New York Review of Books *A multifaceted history of West Africa which turns many old assumptions on their heads. Green utterly demolishes the tired Western view that Africa had no history before the arrival of the Europeans, and that they naively ceded power in the region to the newcomers by exchanging valuable goods for baubles. A magisterial, extensive and fresh account of the history of West Africa that rewrites the region and its peoples back into World History, where they belong. -- Miranda Kaufmann, Author of BLACK TUDORSToby Green's book restores the rich African history which she had been denied for too long. Here the author reveals that Africa was never at the margins of global commerce but was in fact a decisive player with the prowess to negotiate and also the goods - ivory, gum, gold - to supply. -- Hassoum Ceesay, National Museum, The GambiaToby Green's transformative book repositions West African history in an entirely new light. It brings into focus the region's fundamental place in shaping the modern world as well as the powerful and also difficult legacy of this today. -- Paul Reid, Director, Black Cultural ArchivesVery seldom do I pick up a history book and wish I had written it myself. Toby Green's A Fistful of Shells is one such book. Brilliantly conceptualized, beautifully written, it breaks with colonially configured regional boundaries - which work to re-create unintended silos of knowledge - to imagine a West and West Central African Atlantic history of money, power, religion, and inequality that is as rich as it is sound. -- Professor Nwando Achebe, Michigan State UniversityThis book represents an extraordinary and admirable archival and bibliographic undertaking. * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book Synopsis''A historically insightful read''Financial Times ''A wry, rollicking, and provocative history'' Michael Taylor, author of The InterestA thought-provoking analysis of Africa''s relationship with economic imperialism' Astrid Madimba and Chinny Ukata, authors of It's A ContinentWe need to think differently about African economics.For centuries, Westerners have tried to fix' African economies. From the abolition of slavery onwards, missionaries, philanthropists, development economists and NGOs have arrived on the continent, full of good intentions and bad ideas. Their experiments have invariably gone awry, to the great surprise of all involved.In this short, bold story of Western economic thought about Africa, historian Bronwen Everill argues that these interventions fail because they start from a misguided premise: that African economies just need to be more like the West. Ignoring Africa''s own traditions of economic thought, Europeans and Americans assumed a set of universal economic laws that they thought could be applied anywhere. They enforced specifically Western ideas about growth, wealth, debt, unemployment, inflation, women's work and more, and used Western metrics to find African countries wanting.The West does not know better than African nations how an economy should be run. By laying bare the myths and realities of our tangled economic history, Africonomics moves from Western ignorance to African knowledge.*Shortlisted for the BCA African Business Book of the Year*

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Book SynopsisPhilip Gourevitch is the author of We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families. He is a staff writer for the New Yorker and editor of the Paris Review.

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Book SynopsisWhat happens when we consider Africa through a feminist lens and feminism through an African one? And what does it mean to centre selfhood in this journey?

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Book SynopsisEmpires of the Sea shows the Mediterranean as a majestic and bloody theatre of war. Opening with the Ottoman victory in 1453 it is a breathtaking story of military crusading, Barbary pirates, white slavery and the Ottoman Empire - and the larger picture of the struggle between Islam and Christianity. Coupled with dramatic set piece battles, a wealth of riveting first-hand accounts, epic momentum and a terrific denouement at Lepanto, this is a work of history at its broadest and most compelling.

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Book Synopsis''Only with the greatest of simplifications, for the sake of convenience, can we say Africa. In reality, except as a geographical term, Africa doesn''t exist''. Ryszard Kapuscinski has been writing about the people of Africa throughout his career. In astudy that avoids the official routes, palaces and big politics, he sets out to create an account of post-colonial Africa seen at once as a whole and as a location that wholly defies generalised explanations. It is both a sustained meditation on themosaic of peoples and practises we call ''Africa'', and an impassioned attempt to come to terms with humanity itself as it struggles to escape from foreign domination, from the intoxications of freedom, from war and from politics as theft.

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Book SynopsisNow filmed as INVICTUS directed by Clint Eastwood, and starring Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela. SHORTLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2008As the day of the final of the 1995 Rugby World Cup dawned, and the Springboks faced New Zealand's all-conquering All Blacks, more was at stake than a sporting trophy. When Nelson Mandela appeared wearing a Springboks jersey and led the all-white Afrikaner-dominated team in singing South Africa's new national anthem, he conquered the hearts of white South Africa. Playing the Enemy tells the extraordinary human story of how that moment became possible. It shows how a sport, once the preserve of South Africa's Afrikaans-speaking minority, came to unify the new rainbow nation, and tells of how - just occasionally - something as simple as a game really can help people to rise above themselves and see beyond their differences.Trade ReviewWonderful... Don't wait for the movie. * New York Times *A triumphant conversion... A portrait of South Africa's answer to George Washington... [It] works because Carlin got so close to Mandela and the people Mandela seduced. -- Simon Kuper * Financial Times *Revelatory... A tight, gripping and powerful book that shines a light on a moment of hope, not just for one nation but the whole world. * Daily Express *A fascinating story... Thirteen years on, it is possible to look back with emotion at a moment which suggested that everything was possible. -- Justin Cartwright * Sunday Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisIn this book the author, a clinical psychologist, reflects on her psychotherapy experiences with male clients as she debunks the myth of male alexithymia, the inability to recognise and express emotions. Men are apparently disengaged from wellness practices as they are perceived to be reluctant to seek mental health care.An ubuntu-inspired personhood discourse of trust, empathy and transformation theoretically underpins the author's clinical practice. The integration of the culturally familiar philosophy of ubuntu challenges the hegemony of strictly modern Western psychological discourses and theories. Although the book is not a manual for how to do therapy with men, neither a panacea for all male related challenges, it can ignite empathic insights and kindle gender sensitive responses to male concerns, locally and internationally. Women, who are frequently the targets of gender-based violence primarily committed by men, may play a significant role in the rehabilitation and hTable of ContentsList of TablesList of FiguresAcronymsAcknowledgementsForewordAbstractPrefaceChapter 1Masculinised psychotherapy: From personal resolution to professional contributionChapter 2Context of masculinised mental health treatmentChapter 3Socio-culturally situated masculinitiesChapter 4Starting and sustaining all-male psychotherapy groupsChapter 5‘Every day’ masculine therapeutic discursive practicesChapter 6Father in the groupChapter 7The woman in the men’s groupChapter 8ClosureReferencesIndex

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Book SynopsisThe epic 4000-year story of the world''s greatest civilisation from a world-leading EgyptologistThe history of Egypt is full of spectacular sites and epic stories, an evolving society rich in heroes and villains, inventors and intellectuals, artisans and pioneers. Now Professor Joann Fletcher pulls together the complete Story of Egypt - charting the rise and fall of the ancient Egyptians while putting their whole world into a context that we can all relate to.Joann Fletcher uncovers some fascinating revelations, from Egypt''s oldest art to the beginnings of mummification almost two thousand years earlier than previously believed. She also looks at the women who became pharaohs on at least 10 occasions, and the evidence that the Egyptians built the first Suez Canal, circumnavigated Africa and won victories at the original Olympic games. From Ramses II''s penchant for dying his greying hair to how we know Montuhotep''s wife bit her nails and the farmer BaTrade ReviewThe engaging and highly enthusiastic Professor Joann Fletcher explores what she contends is the 'world's greatest civilisation'. * Guardian *You can't fault Fletcher's passion or knowledge, which, like in her previous outing in 'Life and Death in the Valley of the Kings', is always accessible. * Independent *

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Book SynopsisIn 1665 Crispina Peres, the most powerful trader in the West African slave trafficking port of Cacheu, was arrested by the Inquisition. Her enemies had conspired to denounce her for taking treatments prescribed by Senegambian healers: the djabakós. But who was Peres? And why was the Portuguese Inquisition so concerned with policing the faith of a West African woman in today's Guinea-Bissau?In The Heretic of Cacheu Toby Green takes us to the heart of this conundrum, but also into the atmosphere of a very distant time and place. We learn how people in seventeenth-century Cacheu built their houses, what they wore, how they worshipped and also the work they did, how they had fun, and how they healed themselves from illness. Through this story, the haunting realities of the growing slave trade and the rise of European empires emerge in shocking detail. By the 1650s, the relationship between Europe, West Africa, and the Americas was already an old one, with slaving entrepots, colonies, an

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Book SynopsisAn expert and fascinating guide to the history, mythology and religion of one of the world's first great civilizations, and a detailed guide to its awe-inspiring temples and tombs, sumptuously illustrated with 750 photographs and images.

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Book Synopsis''A wonderful debut by a talented and exciting young historian'' Peter Frankopan''Simultaneously capacious and personal...a masterful achievement'' Tom Holland''Elegant and powerful, Pepera''s magnificent book elevates our understanding of Africa''s overlooked histories'' Olivette Otele, author of African EuropeansMotherland is a ground-breaking exploration of African culture and identity, told via Luke Pepera''s journey through 500,000 years of history to connect with his extraordinary heritage. Pepera tackles the questions many people of African descent ask - Who are we? Where do we come from? What defines us? And how might knowledge of deep history affect our understanding of our identity?With illuminating examples, Pepera explores aspects of African identity from nomadic culture to matriarchal society. We meet an array of intriguing characters including Mansa Musa, the wealthiest man who ever lived, and the Kandake Queen Amanirenas, who defeated the Romans in Nubia. We learn how the response to the actor Chadwick Boseman''s death demonstrated Yoruba beliefs about ancestral veneration, and how the rap battle evolved from earlier forms of African oral literature.Interwoven with Luke''s own experiences of exploring his Ghanaian family history, this is a comprehensive, relevant and beautifully told account of the stories that have shaped Africa.

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Book SynopsisFrom Herodotus's day to the present political upheavals, the steady flow of the Nile has been Egypt's heartbeat. It has shaped its geography, controlled its economy and moulded its civilisation. The same stretch of water which conveyed Pharaonic battleships, Ptolemaic grain ships, Roman troop-carriers and Victorian steamers today carries modern-day tourists past bankside settlements in which rural life fishing, farming, flooding continues much as it has for millennia. At this most critical juncture in the country's history, foremost Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson takes us on a journey up the Nile, north from Lake Victoria, from Cataract to Cataract, past the Aswan Dam, to the delta. The country is a palimpsest, every age has left its trace: as we pass the Nilometer on the island of Elephantine which since the days of the Pharaohs has measured the height of Nile floodwaters to predict the following season's agricultural yield and set the parameters for the entire Egyptian economy, the woTrade ReviewToby Wilkinson is an acclaimed Cambridge-based Egyptologist and the author of seminal books on life in ancient Egypt. His take on ancient and colonial history is impeccable ... His ancient sources are as thorough and as fascinating as any I have ever read ... Wilkinson’s eye for significant detail, his great curiosity about and affection for his subject, justify the retelling ... The most compelling parts are the ones where Wilkinson draws on his extensive knowledge of Egypt’s ancient past * Anthony Sattin, Observer *Colourful … Without the River Nile there would be no Egypt. That might seem like entry-level geography, but Toby Wilkinson’s achievement in his enjoyable survey of the Egyptian Nile’s key stretch from Aswan to Cairo is to illustrate the point so compellingly ... Dexterously done and rich in detail ... Brilliant * Sunday Telegraph *Thorough, erudite and enthusiastic … Wilkinson does his best to bring the ancient Egyptians to life, and he is a great authority on the subject * Sunday Times *I had always presumed, before I read Wilkinson's book, that it was impossible to write a history of Egypt which combined scholarship, accessibility, and a genuine sense of revelation. I was wrong * Tom Holland, Observer *The foremost Egyptologist of his time ... shares his erudition with us in easy prose which never talks down to us, bringing those times and places splendidly to life * Nicholas Bagnall, Sunday Telegraph *The eminent Egyptologist from Cambridge University blends contemporary description with digestible doses of history and anecdote from the time of the Pharaohs to the present day. The book is made timely by a reference to recent events * Independent *

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Book Synopsis'Why am I not white like everybody else?' Nan came and sat on the edge of my bed. 'What do you mean?' A tender finger brushed against my cheek. 'Well, everyone in this house is white. Why am I Black?'A generation of Nigerian children were born in Britain in the fifties and sixties, privately fostered by white families, then taken to Nigeria by their parents. Coconut is the story of one of those children.1963, North London. Nan fosters one-year-old Florence Olájídé and calls her 'Ann.' Florence adores her foster mother more than anything but Nan, and the children around her, all have white skin and she can't help but feel different. Then, four years later, after a weekend visit to her birth parents, Florence never returns to Nan. Two months after, sandwiched between her mother and father plus her three siblings, six-year-old Florence steps off a ship in Lagos to the fierce heat of the African sun.Swapping the lovely, comfortable bed in her room at Nan's for a mat on the floor of the living room in her new home, Florence finds herself struggling to adjust. She wants to embrace her cultural heritage but doesn't speak Yoruba and knows nothing of the customs. Clashes with her grandmother, Mama, the matriarch of the family, result in frequent beatings. Torn between her early childhood experiences and the expectations of her African culture, she begins to question who she is. Nigerian, British, both? Florence's story is an unputdownable tale of loss and loneliness, surviving poverty, maltreatment and fighting to get an education. Most of all, it's a moving, uplifting and inspiring account of one woman's self-determination to discover who she is and find her way to a place she can call home. Perfect for fans of Lemn Sissay's My Name is Why and Tara Westover's Educated. Audiobook narrated by Adjoa Andoh and featured on the Graham Norton BookclubWhat readers are saying about Coconut:'Wow, how do I even do this book justice... I absolutely loved this... I would recommend this book to everyone... important and powerful... completely captivating and fascinating... stunning.' Sibzzreads, 5 stars'Heart-breaking... eye-opening... heart-warming... I couldn't recommend this enough... fantastic!' NetGalley reviewer'Extraordinarily moving...a stunning read, beautifully written with searing honesty and humor.' Abi Daré, international bestselling author of The Girl with the Louding Voice'One of the best non-fiction books I have read...Amazing.' NetGalley reviewer'I sped through it as I could not put it down.' Goodreads reviewer'Remarkable...with grace, wit, insight and not a little heartbreak.' Adjoa Andoh, actress and star of Netflix series Bridgerton'Incredible... There were places I was shocked; places I was saddened; places I was amazed, and places where I laughed... Florence is now right up there at the top of my mental list of 'inspirational people'. NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars'I found myself completely immersed from the start! Florence writes with honesty, beauty and courage...delving deeply into some of the most important issues of our times.' Christy Lefteri, international bestselling author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo'A piece of poetic resilience, Coconut is an integral intervention in our understanding of race, identity and belonging.' David Lammy'Fascinating, emotional and enlightening... I felt myself rooting for Florence all the way... captivating. Highly recommended.' Karen King

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Book SynopsisThe shocking, untold story of how African independence was strangled at birth by America’s systematic interference. Accra, 1958. Africa’s liberation leaders have gathered for a conference, full of strength, purpose and vision. Newly independent Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah and Congo’s Patrice Lumumba strike up a close partnership. Everything seems possible. But, within a few years, both men will have been targeted by the CIA, and their dream of true African autonomy undermined. The United States, watching the Europeans withdraw from Africa, was determined to take control. Pan-Africanism was inspiring African Americans fighting for civil rights; the threat of Soviet influence over new African governments loomed; and the idea of an atomic reactor in black hands was unacceptable. The conclusion was simple: the US had to ‘recapture’ Africa, in the shadows, by any means necessary. Renowned historian Susan Williams dives into the archives, revealing new, shocking details of America’s covert programme in Africa. The CIA crawled over the continent, poisoning the hopes of 1958 with secret agents and informants; surreptitious UN lobbying; cultural infiltration and bribery; assassinations and coups. As the colonisers moved out, the Americans swept in—with bitter consequences that reverberate in Africa to this day.Trade Review'[White Malice] gives us an unprecedented look into the murky underworld of Cold War geopolitics and the motivations of its major players.' -- African Business'White Malice is a triumph of archival research.' -- Africa Is a Country

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Book SynopsisA tragic story of the British empire run amok and the plunder of great works of artTrade Review‘Gripping…a must read.’ * FT *‘[A] balanced reconstruction of the Benin saga and probes the difficult choices facing European – and Nigerian – museums… Phillips excels at tracing the roundabout ways in which objects could find their way into museums.’ -- TLS‘The storytelling is crisp, balanced and authoritative… As Britain continues to twist on the thorny issue of racism…this book’s laser-sharp focus on the casenotes from one instance of colonial cruelty allows for a much more informed understanding of the wider issue. Whereas before the now highly valuable Benin Bronzes might have had us looking in the attic for some forgotten heirloom, perhaps now we are left examining our consciences.’ -- Tim Butcher, Spectator‘Mr Phillips, a veteran British correspondent in Africa who knows Nigeria well, adds new and much-needed context to the story of the Edo empire and its bloody finale… Mr Phillips is at pains to show how deeply the Edo people feel the loss of their physical culture… But Mr Phillips is clear-sighted about the political and financial obstacles that must still be overcome.’ -- Economist‘His compelling book is full of African voices… It is balanced, sternly critical of the Brits when that is appropriate, but at the same time humane, reasonable, and ultimately optimistic.’ -- Evening Standard‘[A] valuable guide to a complex narrative… Throughout this tortured history, Phillips writes with journalistic detail, gathering his accounts from many sources, attempting fairness.’ -- The Times‘Damning’ -- Prospect, Best Books of 2021‘A veteran journalist based for years in Africa, Mr. Phillips has written a humane and thoughtful book, devoid of the sort of posturing that mars the debate over the repatriation of objects brought to the West during the colonial era.’ -- Wall Street Journal‘Vivid, dramatic and colourful, Loot is a story of empire running amok. It still has huge resonance in the debate about colonialism and racism today.’ * Kwasi Kwarteng, MP and author of Ghosts of Empire and War and Gold *‘Persuasive… Phillips is scrupulously fair yet damning. He points to the racist hypocrisy that rationalised colonial plunder…[and] covers the ritzy, often clandestine, history of the Bronzes on the western market, where some objects have been sold for up to £10m. Above all, his tale is one of competing ways of assessing material culture.’ -- Prospect‘This timely, thoughtful and beautifully crafted volume deftly guides us through a truly astounding passage of events. These are the kind of histories that change the way that we look at things we thought we knew – whilst shocking us at the things that we simply hadn’t grasped.’ * Gus Casely-Hayford, Director of V&A East and former Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art *‘A fascinating and timely book. A brilliant model of expertly marshalled historical research and compelling narrative.’ * William Boyd, author of Any Human Heart and A Good Man in Africa *‘Reading Barnaby Phillips’s Loot is like walking a sniffing dog through the minds, homes, and storerooms of government agents, military adventurers, museums, art dealers, and collectors… Brilliant and evidenced-based… It is a highly recommended book that will thrill the reader to the last page.’ * Dr Uyilawa Usuanlele, Associate Professor of African History, State University of New York *‘This is a thoroughly researched, well written and timely contribution to the live debate about cultural restitution. Accessible yet nuanced, we hear the voices of a contested history from the looters themselves and the bronze casters of Benin City, to the leaders of the world’s major cultural institutions and so many other players in this drama. Barnaby takes us on a journey raising important questions about empire and the meaning of art, civilisation and culture.’ * Clive Myrie, BBC Chief Correspondent and Presenter *‘Phillips weaves a compelling and evocative narrative from the off, peopled by a cast that propels the story forward, sending the reader on a voyage of discovery that raises some very important questions indeed… accessible, packed with drama and utterly fascinating. It should appeal to a wide audience, from those with an interest in the history of colonialism to art historians and readers who are simply looking for a book that will be difficult to put down.’ -- All About History‘Well-balanced and highly readable.’ -- Peter Frankopan, Air Mail'Brilliant' * South African Mail and Guardian *‘Rarely have books like Loot focussed so in-depth on the perspectives of Africans. As Loot makes clear, whether in the form of Nollywood films or oral histories handed down across generations, Nigerians have had a lot to say about the Benin Bronzes… Phillips kicks off his stylish tome with an in-depth history of the Kingdom of Benin… he paints a touching portrait of the kingdom and the people who inhabited it… it’s possible that a book like Loot could offer some readers the context needed to get behind Phillips’s cause.’ -- Art News‘Debate continues to rage over whether the Benin Bronzes held in London’s British Museum should be returned to Africa. Barnaby Phillips focuses instead on their origins, investigating their medieval authors, and what they can tell us about Africa’s culture and history.’ -- BBC History‘For the first time a comprehensive account of the famed Benin Bronzes, from their creation to their pillaging by British troops to subsequent attempts at recovery. Phillips writes with ease and erudition, highlighting the many complexities that arise with each attempt at addressing this historical injustice.’ -- Alexander Herman, The Art Newspaper‘Readers interested in the diversity of Nigerian views about the Benin Bronzes will be better served by [Loot]… Phillips’s incorporation of local perspectives produces a nuanced picture.’ -- International Journal of Cultural Property

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Book SynopsisFINALIST FOR THE CUNDILL PRIZE FOR HISTORYNot only deserves the description epic, in its true sense, but the term masterpiece as well' IndependentThis gripping epic tells the story of one of the world's most critical failed nation-states: the Democratic Republic of Congo. Interweaving his own family's history with the voices of a diverse range of individuals charismatic dictators, feuding warlords, child soldiers, and many in the African diaspora of Europe and China Van Reybrouck offers a deeply humane approach to political history, focusing squarely on the Congolese perspective and returning a nation's history to its people.Trade Review‘The research, the devotion, the inventiveness in Van Reybrouck's writing are a gift to everyone, not just fans of African history. This book not only deserves the description "epic", in its true sense, but the term "masterpiece" as well.’ Independent ‘A Big, fat, rich, readable tome … The book is alive with stories, and Reybrouck’s love of the nation and its people comes across strongly’ Independent on Sunday ‘Van Reybrouck brings this excessive history vividly to life … He has not only read through the library he intends to replace, he has dug up new archival material and draws on living memories … The result is a book as rich and resourceful as Congo itself.’ Guardian ‘A piece of luck for English-speaking readers. This is a magnificent account, intimately researched, and relevant for anyone interested in how the recent past may inform our near future … Extraordinary.’ New York Times ‘A vivid panorama of one of the most tormented lands in the world … Van Reybrouck covers all this in engrossing detail … A valuable addition to the rich literature that Congo has inspired.’ Washington Post ‘The English-speaking world has been impatiently awaiting this translation. ‘Congo’ is a remarkable piece of work. Van Reybrouck pulls off the tricky feat of keeping a panoramic history of a vast and complex nation accessible, intimate and particular.’ Michela Wrong, author of In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz ‘A monumental history . . . more exciting than any novel’ NRC Handelsblad ‘[Van Reybrouck] has a beautiful feel for language … His eye for the arresting human detail, combined with a wry appreciation for a peculiarly Congolese form of gumption, keeps you powering through this panoramic survey of 150 turbulent years … Both intimate and immediate … Fascinating’ Spectator ‘A masterful and gripping account … makes you rethink the entire project of modernity’ Yuval Noah Harari, Guardian Summer Reads

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Book SynopsisIt is a glorious book: an education and an invitation. There is such life in its pages, and such food!' Nigella LawsonA culinary expedition celebrating cooking from across the African continentAfricana travels the continent showcasing its vibrant and varied cuisines that are rich in flavour, diverse in culture and steeped in tradition.Combining recipes passed down the generations with her own modern and inventive style, food writer and cook Lerato shares her own stories of Africa with a delectable sense of adventure.Discover iconic dishes from Nigeria to Madagascar, Morocco to South Africa. There are over 100 recipes to delight and inspire, Spice Island Coconut Fish Curry, Harissa Leg of Lamb with Hibiscus, Senegalese Yassa, Tunisian Tagine, South African Malva Pudding, and the secret to the perfect Jollof.Bursting with flavour and offering a sense of wanderlust, Africana will bring the magic of the continent to your kitchen.Outstanding new book that will wake up your taste buds.' deliTrade Review‘It is a glorious book: an education and an invitation. There is such life in its pages, and such food!’ Nigella Lawson ‘Outstanding new book that will wake up your taste buds.’ delicious. magazine ‘No plantain will go to waste with this book nearby.’ BBC Good Food Magazine ‘Leaf through Africana and you’ll be sticking Post-it notes everywhere … There isn’t a dish I don’t want to cook.’ Diana Henry, the Saturday Telegraph

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Book SynopsisA Financial Times Book of the Year 'Jaw-dropping' Daily Express 'Grimly fascinating' Financial Times 'Humane, timely, accessible and well-researched' Irish Times The dictator who grew so rich on his country's cocoa crop that he built a 35-storey-high basilica in the jungles of the Ivory Coast. The austere, incorruptible leader who has shut Eritrea off from the world in a permanent state of war and conscripted every adult into the armed forces. In Equatorial Guinea, the paranoid despot who thought Hitler was the saviour of Africa and waged a relentless campaign of terror against his own people. The Libyan army officer who authored a new work of political philosophy, The Green Book, and lived in a tent with a harem of female soldiers, running his country like a mafia family business. And behind these almost incredible stories of fantastic violence and excess lie the dark secrets of Western greed and complicity, the insatiable taste for chocolate, oil, diamonds and gold that has encouraged dictators to rule with an iron hand, siphoning off their share of the action into mansions in Paris and banks in Zurich and keeping their people in dire poverty.Trade ReviewThe stories it tells of dictators such as Robert Mugabe and Muammer Gaddafi are grimly fascinating and leave the reader to ponder why so many of Africa's liberation heroes turned into villains * Financial Times, Books of the Year *A humane, timely, accessible and well-researched book that shines a light on urgent African issues [...] that, when we consider the state of our own societies, can no longer be dismissed as merely somewhere else's problem * Irish Times *Paul Kenyon is a brilliant writer who's been there and tells a story of unparalleled greed and western complicity in vivid detail -- Michael BuerkIt is [the] minute observations that make Mr Kenyon's book so hard to put down * Economist *Mr Kenyon narrates a jaw-dropping tale of greed, corruption and brutality * Daily Express *Well written and sensibly structured... Some of the most revealing passages are based on interviews with retired expatriate executives and diplomats who were witness to the excesses of the early post-colonial years' * Sunday Times *Kenyon's stories of corruption and excess are truly compelling, while his analysis of the West's motivations is astute and illuminating * Culture Trip *A heart-breaking and stomach-churning history but also an utterly absorbing one... Kenyon blends in gripping, authenticating first-hand testimonies from those who were behind the carnage and corruption... This book shines a vital light on how Africa was robbed "in broad daylight"' * UAE National *Highly readable... A chapter on the rise of Félix Houphouët-Boigny is especially vivid' * The Times *A familiar story, but still shocking * Sunday Times *

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Book Synopsis'Meredith has given a spectacularly clear view of the African political jungle' – Spectator 'This book is hard to beat... Elegantly written as well as unerringly accurate' – Financial Times The fortunes of Africa have changed dramatically since the independence era began in 1957. As Europe’s colonial powers withdrew, dozens of new states were born. Africa was a continent rich in mineral resources and its economic potential was immense. Yet, it soon struggled with corruption, violence and warfare, with few states managing to escape the downward spiral. So what went wrong? In this riveting and authoritative account, Martin Meredith examines the myriad problems that Africa has faced, focusing upon key personalities, events and themes of the independence era. He brings his compelling analysis into the modern day, exploring Africa’s enduring struggles fTrade Review‘As a narrative of Africa’s political trajectory since independence, this book is hard to beat … Elegantly written as well as unerringly accurate’ * Financial Times *‘Meredith is a sure guide to this colossal, sad story’ * Sunday Times *'You cannot even begin to understand contemporary African politics if you have not read this fascinating book' -- Bob Geldof'As a popular introduction to the subject it could hardly be bettered' -- Piers Brendon * Sunday Telegraph *'A highly readable digest of half a century of woes in the cradle of mankind' * Economist *'A brilliant and vitally important work for all who wish to understand Africa and its beleaguered people' * Booklist *

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Book SynopsisEmpower yourself with the guidance and spells of the Orishas. What if you could control what the reality around you returns by controlling the energies you sent to the Universe in actions, words and thoughts? What if you could become the creator of you own happiness, changing the reality around you and achieving your dreams with the power of African Gods and Goddesses? Through African magical traditions and its resemblance with Latin America, the Orishas spirituality and the lessons of the Odus are part of a growing daily process in which magic happens when we start to assume self-responsibility for our choices in life. Once we understand that what happens to us in the present is a consequence of our past choices (or the lack of them), we begin to connect with the holy source of all happiness and joy, becoming conscious and able to create the life we dreamt about. That's what you'll find in the rituals and meditations from African Gods Oracle: a self-transformation tool from which you can ask the Orishas about the goals and anguishes of your life and get the Odus answers that will lead you to success.

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Book SynopsisThe defining experience of Chinua Achebe''s life was the Nigerian civil war, also known as the Biafran War. For more than forty years Achebe was silent on those terrible years, until he produced this towering reckoning with one of modern Africa''s most fateful events. A marriage of history, remembrance, poetry and vivid first-hand observation, There Was a Country is a work of wisdom and compassion from one of the great voices of our age.Trade ReviewIt has the tense narrative grip of the best fiction. It is also a revelatory entry into the intimate character of the writer's brilliant mind and bold spirit. Achebe has created here a new genre of literature -- Nadine GordimerEngrossing ... an elegy from a master storyteller who has witnessed the undulating fortunes of a nation ... his strongest expressions are his poems, scattered between chapters, offering affecting interludes -- Noo Saro-Wiwa * Guardian *Matchless ... what a man; what a life -- Giles Foden * Daily Telegraph *Part-history, part-memoir, [Achebe's] moving account of the war is laced with anger, but there is also an abiding tone of regret for what Nigeria might have been without conflict and mismanagement * Sunday Times *A blend of historical overview, personal memoir and political manifesto ... fascinating * Evening Standard *

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