Michener’s masterly chronicle of South Africa is an epic tale of adventurers, scoundrels, and ministers, the best and worst of two continents who carve an empire out of a vast wilderness. From the Java-born Van Doorn family tree springs two great branches: one nurtures lush vineyards, the other settles the interior to become the first Trekboers and Afrikaners. The Nxumalos, inhabitants of a peaceful village unchanged for centuries, unite warrior tribes into the powerful Zulu nation. And the wealthy Saltwoods are missionaries and settlers who join the masses to influence the wars and politics that ravage a nation. Rivalries and passions spill across the land of The Covenant, a story of courage and heroism, love and loyalty, and cruelty and betrayal, as generations fight to forge a new world.

    They can survive in the harshest of conditions like nobody else. The noble inmouchar Gacel Sayah, is the master of a large extension of the desert. One day, two fugitives arrive from the north and Gacel, following his ancient and sacred hospitality laws, gives them shelter. However, Gacel doesn't realise that his act of kindness will lead him towards a deadly adventure.

    Robyn Ballantyne and her brother Morris have waited years for this moment: to return to Africa, to search for their missionary father who had disappeared somewhere in the wilderness.Traveling north from Cape Town, they follow a map left by a madman--into an uncharted world of waterfalls and jungle, teeming wildlife, murderous disease, and the ghastly ruins of an astounding city.Uncovering their father's trail, Robyn and her brother are in the midst of a slave trade that pours out of Africa like a bloody wound. Now, to survive what they have found, they must make their separate ways out--through pitched battles on land and on sea…and through the pride, passions and fury of their hearts…

    His wife Lynn and two young children were among the survivors. The buildup of tension is relentless - Lufthansa's Boeing 747 Hessen lifting into the night sky over Germany, crossing the Mediterranean and the African deserts in the dark; some passengers watching a Clint Eastwood movie, others sipping cocktails in the upstairs lounge. As morning breaks, the 747 lands smoothly in Nairobi for a brief refuelling stop and a change of crew on the way to Johannesburg. And then, with 157 aboard, a take-off run. The wheels lift, the aircraft rises 100 feet and plunges back to earth, breaking in two against an embanked road. It ploughs on, bursting into flames. It comes to a halt in the muddy bush, and the survivors begin a desperate fight to escape the inferno. Some seemingly "ordinary" people become heroes. And ninety-eight make it out.  This is their story.

    

    Now his most important speeches are collected in a single volume. From the eve of his imprisonment to his release twenty-seven years later, from his acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize to his election as South Africa's first black president, these speeches span some of the most pivotal moments of Mandela's life and his country's history. Arranged thematically and accompanied by tributes from leading world figures, Mandela's addresses memorably illustrate his lasting commitment to freedom and reconciliation, democracy and development, culture and diversity, and international peace and well-being. The extraordinary power of this volume is in the moving words and intimate tone of Mandela himself, one of the most courageous and articulate men of our time. "There is no easy way to walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountain tops of our desires." -- Nelson Mandela, September 1953

    His message of religious tolerance and universal love is profoundly important in a world where different faiths are often at odds with each other.

    "Black Sunlight" gives a similar cockroach-eye view of London.“I really tried to put terrorism into a historical perspective, neither applauding their acts nor condemning them. The photographer does not take sides; he just takes the press photographs.” In an unspecified setting the stream-of-consciousness narrative of this cult novel traces the fortunes of a group of anarchists in revolt against a military-fascist-capitalist opposition. The protagonist is photojournalist Chris, whose camera lens becomes the device through which the plot is cleverly unraveled. In Dambudzo Marechera’s second experimental novel, he parodies African nationalist and racial identifications as part of an argument that notions of an ‘essential African identity’ were often invoked to authorize a number of totalitarian regimes across Africa. Such irreverent, avant-garde literature was criticized upon publication in Zimbabwe in 1980, and Black Sunlight was banned on charges of ‘Euromodernism’ and as a challenge to the concept of nation-building in the newly independent country.

    

    

    This novel of wisdom and charm tells the story of Tansa, a boy growing up in a Cameroonian village which has been split down the middle by the arrival of a missionary - the white man of God.

    The author recounts ancient Maasai legends and songs, and powerfully describes the vivid ceremonies that mark the passages in Maasai life....Everyday tribal life and the ceremonial high points are photographed with a clarity and eye for drama that make Maasai a breathtaking experience.

    It is the winner of the Noma Award.

    Interspersed with drawings by Georgina Beier of Yoruba motifs and collected and translated by authors and artists long-familiar with Yoruba culture, the myths are compiled and introduced here by Ulli Beier, who himself holds two Yoruba chieftaincy titles. Some are creation myths: these explain the division of the original God into the many orisha, or gods, and the development of their various functions. In the folk- or trickster-tales the orisha often assume different personalities whose actions and their consequences reveal the Yoruba wisdom and customs. This book makes the myths of an orally transmitted religion available as literature to Nigerian school children, who are often unfamiliar with their traditional mythology. It will also strengthen English interest in original African literature.

    Her correspondence, spanning more than 40 years, provides a fascinating record of and insights into the life-style of an unconventional white settler in early British days in Kenya.

    Ethiopia was considered by the Greeks to be home of the Gods and retreat of the Muses.

    From reviews of the first edition:..". an ethnographically rich contribution to the historical understanding of West African culture, as well as an exploration of the continued vitality of that culture in the changing environments of the Americas." --African Studies Review..". leav[es] the reader with a sense of the vitality, dynamism, and complexity of Ogun and the cultural contexts in which he thrives.... magnificent contribution to the literature on Ogun, Yoruba culture, African religions, and the African diaspora." --International Journal of Historical Studies

    The text has been completely revised to take account of recent research findings on West African history, new chapters have been added on West Africa since independence, and the language level has been simplified where necessary. The maps have been redrawn and improved, and many new photographs have been included.

    The pivot that revolves around the novel is the poet Kabalanju who dreams of heroic acts, but it implicitly recognizes that colonialism violence can not be overcome in Africa only by force of arms and the lifting of the gun.

    The Fourth Edition of this history shows the amazing continuity of Somali forms of social organisation and the ingeniousness with which the Somali way of life has adapted to all forms of modernity.

    

    A prototype for initial studies, Serengeti contains baseline data for further and comparative studies of ecosystems. The new Serengeti II builds on the information presented originally in Serengeti; both books together offer essential information and insights for ecology and conservation biology.

    INTO INDIGO examines five major techniques - from the popular tie and dye and batik to the lesser-known processes involved in creating adinkra, bokolanfini, and Korhogo cloths.In addition, Polakoff explores the traditions and symbolism associated with each design. A fascinating survey of both cultural history and actual techniques, INTO INDIGO is an invaluable guide to this important art tradition.Illustrated with 7 color plates, 129 black and white photographs. Glossary, bibliography, index.