Immaculée Ilibagiza, a young university student, miraculously survived the savage killing spree that left most of her family, friends, and a million of her fellow citizens dead. Immaculée’s remarkable story of survival was documented in her first book, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust.In Led By Faith, Immaculée takes us with her as her remarkable journey continues. Through her simple and eloquent voice, we experience her hardships and heartache as she struggles to survive and to find meaning and purpose in the aftermath of the holocaust. It is the story of a naïve and vulnerable young woman, orphaned and alone, navigating through a bleak and dangerously hostile world with only an abiding faith in God to guide and protect her. Immaculée fends off sinister new predators, seeks out and comforts scores of children orphaned by the genocide, and searches for love and companionship in a land where hatred still flourishes. Then, fearing again for her safety as Rwanda’s war-crime trials begin, Immaculée flees to America to begin a new chapter of her life as a refugee and immigrant—a stranger in a strange land.With the same courage and faith in God that led her through the darkness of genocide, Immaculée discovers a new life that was beyond her wildest dreams as a small girl in a tiny village in one of Africa’s poorest countries.It is in the United States, her adopted country, where Immaculée can finally look back at all that has happened to her and truly understand why God spared her life . . . so that she would be left to tell her story to the world.

    Now, in her most intimate and seamlessly crafted work to date, Adichie turns her penetrating eye on not only Nigeria but America, in twelve dazzling stories that explore the ties that bind men and women, parents and children, Africa and the United States.In "A Private Experience," a medical student hides from a violent riot with a poor Muslim woman whose dignity and faith force her to confront the realities and fears she's been pushing away. In "Tomorrow is Too Far," a woman unlocks the devastating secret that surrounds her brother's death. The young mother at the center of "Imitation" finds her comfortable life in Philadelphia threatened when she learns that her husband has moved his mistress into their Lagos home. And the title story depicts the choking loneliness of a Nigerian girl who moves to an America that turns out to be nothing like the country she expected; though falling in love brings her desires nearly within reach, a death in her homeland forces her to reexamine them.Searing and profound, suffused with beauty, sorrow, and longing, these stories map, with Adichie's signature emotional wisdom, the collision of two cultures and the deeply human struggle to reconcile them. The Thing Around Your Neck is a resounding confirmation of the prodigious literary powers of one of our most essential writers.

    Tears of the Desert is the first memoir ever written by a woman caught up in the war in Darfur. It is a survivor's tale of a conflicted country, a resilient people, and the uncompromising spirit of a young woman who refused to be silenced.Born into the Zaghawa tribe in the Sudanese desert, Halima was doted on by her father, a cattle herder, and kept in line by her formidable grandmother. A politically astute man, Halima's father saw to it that his daughter received a good education away from their rural surroundings. Halima excelled in her studies and exams, surpassing even the privileged Arab girls who looked down their noses at the black Africans. With her love of learning and her father's support, Halima went on to study medicine, and at twenty-four became her village's first formal doctor.Yet not even the symbol of good luck that dotted her eye could protect her from the encroaching conflict that would consume her land. Janjaweed Arab militias started savagely assaulting the Zaghawa, often with the backing of the Sudanese military. Then, in early 2004, the Janjaweed attacked Bashir's village and surrounding areas, raping forty-two schoolgirls and their teachers. Bashir, who treated the traumatized victims, some as young as eight years old, could no longer remain quiet. But breaking her silence ignited a horrifying turn of events.In this harrowing and heartbreaking account, Halima Bashir sheds light on the hundreds of thousands of innocent lives being eradicated by what is fast becoming one of the most terrifying genocides of the twenty-first century. Raw and riveting, Tears of the Desert is more than just a memoir--it is Halima Bashir's global call to action.

    But years later when she returns home, she is shocked to see whole forests being cut down, and she knows that soon all the trees will be destroyed. So Wangari decides to do something—and starts by planting nine seedlings in her own backyard. And as they grow, so do her plans. . . .         This true story of Wangari Maathai, environmentalist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is a shining example of how one woman’s passion, vision, and determination inspired great change.         Includes an author’s note.This book was printed on 100% recycled paper with 50% postconsumer waste.

    First he earned his freedom and then he won the presidency in the nation's first free election in 1994. But he knew that South Africa was still dangerously divided by almost fifty years of apartheid. If he couldn't unite his country in a visceral, emotional way--and fast--it would collapse into chaos. He would need all the charisma and strategic acumen he had honed during half a century of activism, and he'd need a cause all South Africans could share. Mandela picked one of the more farfetched causes imaginable--the national rugby team, the Springboks, who would host the sport's World Cup in 1995.Against the giants of the sport, the Springboks' chances of victory were remote. But their chances of capturing the hearts of most South Africans seemed remoter still, as they had long been the embodiment of white supremacist rule. During apartheid, the all-white Springboks and their fans had belted out racist fight songs, and blacks would come to Springbok matches to cheer for whatever team was playing against them. Yet Mandela believed that the Springboks could embody--and engage--the new South Africa. And the Springboks themselves embraced the scheme. Soon South African TV would carry images of the team singing "Nkosi Sikelele Afrika," the longtime anthem of black resistance to apartheid.As their surprising string of victories lengthened, their home-field advantage grew exponentially. South Africans of every color and political stripe found themselves falling for the team. When the Springboks took to the field for the championship match against New Zealand's heavily favored squad, Mandela sat in his presidential box wearing a Springbok jersey while sixty-two-thousand fans, mostly white, chanted "Nelson! Nelson!" Millions more gathered around their TV sets, whether in dusty black townships or leafy white suburbs, to urge their team toward victory. The Springboks won a nail-biter that day, defying the oddsmakers and capping Mandela's miraculous ten-year-long effort to bring forty-three million South Africans together in an enduring bond.John Carlin, a former South Africa bureau chief for the London Independent, offers a singular portrait of the greatest statesman of our time in action, blending the volatile cocktail of race, sport, and politics to intoxicating effect. He draws on extensive interviews with Mandela, Desmond Tutu, and dozens of other South Africans caught up in Mandela's momentous campaign, and the Springboks' unlikely triumph. As he makes stirringly clear, their championship transcended the mere thrill of victory to erase ancient hatreds and make a nation whole.

    When his mother receives a loan from some village families, she gives a little money to her son. With this tiny loan, Kojo buys a hen.A year later, Kojo has built up a flock of 25 hens. With his earnings Kojo is able to return to school. Soon Kojo's farm grows to become the largest in the region.Kojo's story is inspired by the life of Kwabena Darko, who as a boy started a tiny poultry farm just like Kojo's, which later grew to be the largest in Ghana, and one of the largest in west Africa. Kwabena also started a trust that gives out small loans to people who cannot get a loan from a bank.One Hen shows what happens when a little help makes a big difference. The final pages of One Hen explain the microloan system and include a list of relevant organizations for children to explore.One Hen is part of CitizenKid: A collection of books that inform children about the world and inspire them to be better global citizens.

    Learn about President Kagame, who strives to make Rwanda the first middle-income country in Africa, in a single generation. In this adventurous tale, learn about Kagame's early fascination with Che Guevara and James Bond, his years as an intelligence agent, his training in Cuba and the United States, the way he built his secret rebel army, his bloody rebellion, and his outsized ambitions for Rwanda.

    But over many years, as more and more land was cleared, Kenya was transformed. When Wangari returned home from college in America, she found the village gardens dry, the people malnourished, and the trees gone. How could she alone bring back the trees and restore the gardens and the people?Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature, says: Wangari Maathai's epic story has never been told better--everyone who reads this book will want to plant a tree!With glowing watercolor illustrations and lyrical prose, Claire Nivola tells the remarkable story of one woman's effort to change the fate of her land by teaching many to care for it. An author's note provides further information about Wangari Maathai and the Green Belt Movement. In keeping with the theme of the story, the book is printed on recycled paper.

    Recording her memories of their life together in spare, wrenching prose, Mukasonga preserves her mother's voice in a haunting work of art.

    They are a highly trained and experienced assassination squad reporting directly to Chris Hani.The narrative details their infiltration into the country, their operations, arrest and subsequent trial. These men are the foot soldiers who sacrificed everything. As their trial unfolds with their attorney fighting to save them from the gallows, so too does the story of their own lives and the choices they make. The story is set in a South Africa gripped by unrest and political tension, when the ANC was in exile and repression at its height.It tells of the extraordinary lengths people go to in order to fight for what they believe, and the acts people will commit to preserve the status quo. The characters are linked by bizarre coincidence and tragedy in a true account narrated by their attorney.Woven through the narrative is the construction of a bomb and its journey towards its target, and the circumstances which enable that meeting.

    It’s completely upfront with the adventures, mishaps, dust, heat and the thrills of overlanding. You’ll find that Sam’s perceptions of people, places and the various predicaments have real depth and texture. Whether he’s being shot at, arrested, jailed, knocked unconscious in the depths of the Namibian desert or living in a remote Tanzanian village, you’ll find that he evokes the sights, sounds and smells with a natural ease that takes you right into each scene.

    The government minister in his charge has been abducted.Furey, and his local counterpart, Inspector Sannie van Rensburg, go against official orders and track the kidnappers to the coastal waters of Mozambique, and then north to the shores of Lake Malawi. Sannie can't resist becoming involved in Tom's mission, even risking her job to help him.Africa is a land of danger as well as beauty, and soon lives are at risk. The hunt spirals into a fight to the death, and involves a crime beyond anyone's worst imaginings...

    Sent by the powerful Dutch India Company, their mission was simply to grow vegetables and supply ships rounding the cape. The colonists, however, were convinced by their strict Calvinist faith that they were among God’s “Elect,” chosen to rule over the continent. Their saga—bloody, ferocious, and fervent—would culminate three centuries later in one of the greatest tragedies of history: the establishment of a racist regime in which a white minority would subjugate and victimize millions of blacks. Called apartheid, it was a poisonous system that would only end with the liberation from prison of one of the moral giants of our time, Nelson Mandela.A Rainbow in the Night is Dominique Lapierre’s epic account of South Africa’s tragic history and the heroic men and women—famous and obscure, white and black, European and African—who have, with their blood and tears, brought to life the country that is today known as the Rainbow Nation.

    As Grant shows, Garvey was a man of contradictions: a self-educated, poetry-writing aesthete and unabashed propagandist, an admirer of Lenin, and a dandy given to elaborate public displays. Above all, he was a shrewd promoter whose use of pageantry evoked a lost African civilization and fired the imagination of his followers. Negro With a Hat restores Garvey to his place as one of the founders of black nationalism and a key figure of the 20th century. "A searching, vivid, and (as the title suggests) complex account of Garvey's short but consequential life." --Steve Hahn, The New Republic "The story of Marcus Garvey, the charismatic and tireless black leader who had a meteoric rise and fall in the late 1910s and early '20s, makes for enthralling reading, and Garvey has found an engaging and objective biographer in Colin Grant.... Grant's book is not all politics, ideology, money and lawsuits. It is also an engrossing social history.... Negro With a Hat is an achievement on a scale Garvey might have appreciated." --New York Times Book Review "Dazzling, definitive biography of the controversial activist who led the 1920s 'Back to Africa' movement.... Grant's learned passion for his subject shimmers on every page. A riveting and well-wrought volume that places Garvey solidly in the pantheon of important 20th-century black leaders." --Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review) "This splendid book is certain to become the definitive biography. Garvey was a dreamer and a doer; Grant captures the fascination of both." --Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) "Grant's strength lies in his ability to re-create political moods and offer compelling sketches of colorful individuals and their organizations.... An engaging and readable introduction to a complicated and contentious historical actor who, in his time, possessed a unique capacity to inspiredevotion and hatred, adulation and fear." --Chicago Tribune "A monumental, nuanced and broadly sympathetic portrait." --Financial Times

    Dr. Hermann Reuter, a son of old South West African stock, wants to show the world that if you provide decent treatment, people will come and get it, no matter their circumstances. Sizwe and Hermann live at the epicenter of the greatest plague of our times, the African AIDS epidemic. In South Africa alone, nearly 6 million people in a population of 46 million are HIV-positive. Already, Sizwe has watched several neighbors grow ill and die, yet he himself has pushed AIDS to the margins of his life and associates it obliquely with other people's envy, with comeuppance, and with misfortune. When Hermann Reuter establishes an antiretroviral treatment program in Sizwe's district and Sizwe discovers that close family members have the virus, the antagonism between these two figures from very different worlds -- one afraid that people will turn their backs on medical care, the other fearful of the advent of a world in which respect for traditional ways has been lost and privacy has been obliterated -- mirrors a continent-wide battle against an epidemic that has corrupted souls as much as bodies. A heartbreaking tale of shame and pride, sex and death, and a continent's battle with its demons, Steinberg's searing account is a tour-de-force of literary journalism.

    1 Ladies’ Detective Agency in Gaborone, Botswana, a country that is indeed fortunate.Still engaged to the estimable Mr J.L.B. Matekoni, Mma Ramotswe understands that she should not put too much pressure on him, as he has other concerns, especially a hair-raising request from the ever persuasive Mma Potokwane, matron of the orphan farm. Besides Mma Ramotswe herself has weighty matters on her mind. She has been approached by a wealthy lady to check up on several suitors. Are these men interested in the lady or just her money? This may be a difficult case, but it's just the kind of problem Mma Ramotswe likes and she is, as we know, a very intuitive lady.In the Company of Cheerful LadiesPrecious is busier than usual at the detective agency when she discovers an intruder in her house on Zebra Drive—and perhaps even more baffling--a pumpkin on her porch. Her associate, Mma Makutsi, also has a full plate. She's taken up dance lessons, only to be partnered with a man with two left feet. And at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, where Mr J.L.B. Matekoni is already overburdened with work, one of his apprentices has run off with a wealthy older woman. But what finally rattles Mma Ramotswe’s normally unshakable composure is a visitor who forces her to confront a difficult secret from her past.

    Yet while the “Green Revolution” succeeded in South America and Asia, it never got to Africa. More than 9 million people every year die of hunger, malnutrition, and related diseases every year—most of them in Africa and most of them children. More die of hunger in Africa than from AIDS and malaria combined. Now, an impending global food crisis threatens to make things worse.In the west we think of famine as a natural disaster, brought about by drought; or as the legacy of brutal dictators. But in this powerful investigative narrative, Thurow & Kilman show exactly how, in the past few decades, American, British, and European policies conspired to keep Africa hungry and unable to feed itself. As a new generation of activists work to keep famine from spreading, Enough is essential reading on a humanitarian issue of utmost urgency.

    At nineteen, he is a Death Row warder at Maximum Security Prison in Pretoria, South Africa: a shepherd who cares for the condemned - and a butcher who escorts them to the gallows. In the summer of 1987, after thirty-two men were hanged in two weeks (all real cases), Leon loses control, with tragic results. And now he's the one facing the death penalty. Only the most precarious line of legal argument stands between Leon and the gallows. Chasing a defense, his advocate trawls the deepest recesses of life in the Pot - the twilight world of Death Row - in order to determine the effect of multiple executions on his young client. In 1987, 164 people were executed at Maximum Security. Two years later, the last man went to the gallows, after more than four thousand hangings in Pretoria in that century. Shepherds & Butchers portrays legal execution in unprecedented detail, revealing its devastating impact on all those involved. At the same time, it exposes the callous violence on the other side of the noose, where murderers reign. Chris Marnewick's first novel is a gripping courtroom drama steeped in the factual.

    In this book, refugees and abductees recount their escapes from the wars in Darfur and South Sudan, from political and religious persecution, and from abduction by militias. In their own words, they recount life before their displacement and the reasons for their flight. They describe life in the major stations on the "refugee railroads:" in the desert camps of Khartoum, the underground communities of Cairo, the humanitarian metropolis of Kakuma refugee camp, and the still-growing internally displaced persons camps in Darfur.

    Despite the obvious heartbreak this causes Asabe, Adam marries a second wife, the very young and beautiful Fatima. Double tragedy prevents the realization of Adam's hope and Asabe stands firm with her husband to gather the broken pieces of their life. But, Adam isn't prepared to count his loses. He compounds their difficulties by marrying the cunning and deceptive divorcee, Sauda. This choice yields anguish and confusion, and Adam loses more than hope, but a piece of his spirit.Neglected and living in the shadow of Adam's desires, Asabe yet again proves her worth as the true bedrock in his life. Asabe becomes the catalyst that brings Adam's life full circle.Read An Unproductive Woman to learn what secrets Adam has withheld that would explain his unreasonable longing and pursuit of a son at all costs.

    When three western aidworkers are stranded here - a place where poets carry Kalashnikovs and rebel commanders wear pink dressing gowns- their presence brings hope and danger in equal measure. An ominous ode to Africa's violent beauty, Something is Going to Fall Like Rain is also a life-affirming reminder that love and happiness can co-exist with famine and conflict.

    

    It is in these nightmarish times that the fates of 5 boys and a girl are entwined. Captured from their school by the LRA, the boys wait for rescue only to discover that if they are to survive they must rely on themselves. But friendship, courage, and resilience might not be enough to save them. Based in part upon interviews with child soldiers in Northern Uganda, War Brothers is a stunning depiction of the human cost of wars fought by children.

    Lessing has combined personal recollections and vivid imagery with an exploration of key challenges faced by contemporary modern society, such as poverty, inequality and a fragmenting culture. The result is a deeply moving testament to the permanent importance of literature."The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2007 is awarded to the English writer Doris Lessing, that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny." Professor Horace Engdahl, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy

    She put on her sparkly crash helmet, armed herself with maps and a baffling array of visas, and got on her bike. Destination: Cape Town - and the small matter of tackling the Sahara, war-torn Angola and the Congo Basin along the way - this feisty independent woman's grand trek through the Dark Continent of Africa is the definitive motorcycling adventure.Colourful and hilarious, Red Tape and White Knuckles is an action-packed tale about following your dreams that will have you packing your bags and jetting off into the sunset on your own adventure before you know it.

    A fascinating excursion into a bizarre episode in 19th century Ethiopian and British imperial history, The Barefoot Emperor recalls the reign of the Emperor Theodore, who defended his mountain-top stronghold with a massive 70-ton gun.

    His book documents the travels and travails of a bikeworld rebel.

    From the tallest sand dunes in the world in the Namibian desert to the lush green wetlands of Botswana's Okavango Delta, from the swirling markets of Zanzibar to the windswept rocks and gullies of South Africa's Table Mountain, he captures the colors and cultures of Africa today.More than 200 photographs of Africa's peoples and wildlife perfectly encapsulate the vibrancy of tribal traditions and the beauty of the landscape. Here are Monzambican miners who endure harsh working conditions nearly two miles underground; Ndebele women running community workshops; Surma and Mursi women with giant plates in their lips, a custom that dates back to slave-trade days when tribes would mutilate themselves in order to be left alone; and many others across the continent, north, south, east, and west.Alongside these stories of human fortitude and stamina, there are awe-inspiring photographs of African wildlife: cheetahs, their coats a blur of color against the sun-bleached background; the vast flocks of birds scattered across bright blue skies; and herds of zebras gathered in the African moonlight.Best-selling author and photographer Steve Bloom grew up in South Africa and is one of the world's leading photographers of nature and wildlife. He lives in London.

    They will be flying again in the morning"Vlamgat, literally 'flaming hole' in Afrikaans, was the nickname the South African Air Force (SAAF) gave to the Mirage F1, its formidable frontline jet fighter during South Africa's long 'border wars' in South West Africa (Namibia) and Angola from the late 1960s to the late 1980s. Battling Soviet MiG-21s over African skies, the Vlammies, the Mirage pilots as they were affectionately known, acquitted themselves with distinction and honour.Vlamgat is a gripping account of these pilots and their deeds of bravery; their experiences are authentically related with accuracy, humour and pathos--by the author, himself a Vlammie. As Willem Hechter, former Chief of the SAAF, says: "Vlamgat deserves a place of pride in the long history of this, the second oldest air force in the world."Brigadier-General Dick Lord joined the Royal Navy as an air cadet in 1958, where he qualified as a fighter pilot. Flying Sea Venoms and Sea Vixens, he served on board the aircraft carriers Centaur, Victorious, Hermes and Ark Royal on cruises around the world. In the mid '60s, he was selected for a two-year exchange tour with the US Navy, flying A4 Skyhawks and F4 Phantoms out of San Diego, California. He completed tours of air warfare instruction, flying Hunters out of the naval air stations at Lossiemouth, Scotland and Brawdy, Wales. He returned to South Africa in early '70s and joined the South African Air Force (SAAF), flying Impalas, Sabres and Mirage IIIs. During the Border War, he commanded 1 Squadron, flying Mirage F1AZs into Angola, followed by running air force operations out of Oshikati, Windhoek and SAAF Headquarters in Pretoria. A highlight of his career was organizing the successful fly-past of 76 aircraft for Nelson Mandela's inauguration as President of South Africa in 1994.

    It takes the same amount of energy to retreat, so invest it in completion. Combining powerful concepts and principles from both theology and business, So You Want to Be the Master? delivers tools and techniques for taking control of your inner thoughts and outward actions so that you can navigate today's complicated society with confidence and ease. Joshua Maponga takes an in-depth philosophical yet practical approach to ten guiding values: privacy, effort, development, action, self-esteem, sympathy, situations, service, joy, and direction. He offers insight into each value, how society has corrupted it, and how you can use it to recover yourself and succeed in your own life with relationships and in business. Asserting that "how you believe is how you behave," Maponga shows you how faith-no matter what religion you follow-directly impacts your morality and your ability to deal ethically and effectively with modern issues. Weaving theological wisdom with common-sense advice and exercises, this inspirational guide will help you master the art of registering your existence, leaving your footprint, and impacting the world.

    In African Air, Steinmetz captures stunning panoramas in more than fourteen countries in Africa, giving readers captivating and intimate views of areas that have rarely, if ever before, been photographed.  From densely packed urban centers to small, remote villages, from migrating herds of wildebeests and elephants to infinite miles of desert, African Air is a compelling testament and celebration of the majesty and splendor of Africa’s most breathtaking landscapes. With extraordinary vision and a unique perspective, Steinmetz portrays sky, land, and water in ways that have never been expressed before.

    Mami Wata, often portrayed with the head and torso of a woman and the tail of a fish, is at once beautiful, jealous, generous, seductive, and potentially deadly. A water spirit widely known across Africa and the African diaspora, her origins are said to lie "overseas," although she has been thoroughly incorporated into local beliefs and practics. She can bring good fortune in the form of money, and her power increased between the fifteenth and twentieth centuries, the era of growing international trade between Africa and the rest of the world. Her name, which may be translated as "Mother Water" or "Mistress Water," is pidgin English, a language developed to lubricate trade. Africans forcibly carried across the Atlantic as part of that "trade" brought with them their beliefs and practices honoring Mami Wata and other ancestral deities.

    Barry Cooper began his lifelong romance with tea at an early age, being raised amongst the tea fields of Kenya, East Africa. In this book, he chronicles his ensuing forty-year quest for the perfect cup of tea. Cooper shares lessons learned while being trained in England's most esteemed tea house. He lays bare truths of the tea industry, including the unreported struggles between tea growers, buyers, blenders, and merchants around the world. Cooper reveals the crazy adventures and hair-raising situations encountered in his determination to discover previously unknown sources of herbs. And finally, he tells the inside story of the gambles he took to develop his signature teas.

    Woodson Distinguished Visiting Professor of African History at Cornell University s Africana Studies and Research Center. The study explores Clarke s development and conceptualization of Afrikan World History by examining his intellectual influences and training, his approach to teaching Afrikan World History, his notions regarding Afrikan agency and Afrikan humanity, his explorations of themes of Pan Afrikanism and national sovereignty, his ideas concerning the relevance of Afrikan culture in historical perspective, and his legacy in Afrikan intellectualism and culture, including his contribution to the Afrocentric paradigm that is the core of the discipline of Africana Studies/Africalogy. As an academician and intellectual, Clarke emerged as one of the leading theorists of Afrikan liberation and the uses of Afrikan history as a foundation and grounding for liberation. Under Clarke s formulation liberation was defined not simply as freedom from European domination, but fundamentally as the restoration of Afrikan sovereignty. He explored history s utility in moving an oppressed and subordinated people from a position of subjugation on multiple levels to full status as a self-sustaining, self-defining, self-directed, free, and independent people on a global stage. Further, the study examines the influence of indigenous Afrikan intellectualism in the United States in Afrikan cultural and intellectual history. Although a leader among European academy-trained Afrikan intellectuals who join the European academy largely beginning in the 1970s, Clarke s education and training were the product of a movement for the indigenization of Afrikan academic intellectualism in Harlem of the 1930s that can be traced back to the early nineteenth century. It is the first extensive critical examination of Clarke as an exemplar of indigenous intellectualism in Afrikan culture in the United States.

    By the mid-fifteenth century, Timbuktu had become a major center of Islamic literary culture and scholarship. The city's libraries were repositories of all the world's learning, housing not only works by Arab and Islamic writers but also volumes from the classical Greek and Roman worlds and studies by contemporary scholars.The astonishing manuscripts of Timbuktu form the lavish visual heart of this book. Beautifully graphic, occasionally decorated, these exquisite artifacts reveal great craftsmanship as well as learning. All were written in the Arabic script, but not all are in Arabic, for they also feature a range of local African languages.Aside from scholarly works, the surviving manuscripts include a wealth of correspondence between rulers, advisers, and merchants on subjects as various as taxation, commerce, marriage, divorce, adoption, breastfeeding, and prostitution, providing a vivid insight into the ordinary life and values of the day.

    The eight-year-old narrator of "An Ex-Mas Feast" needs only enough money to buy books and pay fees in order to attend school. Even when his twelve-year-old sister takes to the streets to raise these meager funds, his dream can't be granted. Food comes first. His family lives in a street shanty in Nairobi, Kenya, but their way of both loving and taking advantage of each other strikes a universal chord. In the second of his stories published in a New Yorker special fiction issue, Akpan takes us far beyond what we thought we knew about the tribal conflict in Rwanda. The story is told by a young girl, who, with her little brother, witnesses the worst possible scenario between parents. They are asked to do the previously unimaginable in order to protect their children. This singular collection will also take the reader inside Nigeria, Benin, and Ethiopia, revealing in beautiful prose the harsh consequences for children of life in Africa.Akpan's voice is a literary miracle, rendering lives of almost unimaginable deprivation and terror into stories that are nothing short of transcendent.

    After his murder in 1961 he became an icon of anti-imperialist struggle. His picture was brandished on demonstrations in the 1960s across the world along with Che Guevara and Ho Chi Minh.

    T. J. Desch-Obi explores another cultural continuity that is as old as eighteenth-century slave settlements in South America and as contemporary as hip-hop culture. In this thorough survey of the history of African martial arts techniques, Desch-Obi maps the translation of numerous physical combat techniques across three continents and several centuries to illustrate how these practices evolved over time and are still recognizable in American culture today. Some of these art traditions were part of African military training while others were for self-defense and spiritual discipline.Grounded in historical and cultural anthropological methodologies, Desch-Obi's investigation traces the influence of well-delineated African traditions on long-observed but misunderstood African and African American cultural activities in North America, Brazil, and the Caribbean. He links the Brazilian martial art capoeira to reports of slave activities recorded in colonial and antebellum North America. Likewise Desch-Obi connects images of the kalenda African stick-fighting techniques to the Haitian Revolution. Throughout the study Desch-Obi examines the ties between physical mastery of these arts and changing perceptions of honor.Including forty-five illustrations, this rich history of the arrival and dissemination of African martial arts in the Atlantic world offers a new vantage for furthering our understanding of the powerful influence of enslaved populations on our collective social history.

    As an emblematic figure of the enslaved woman in the Atlantic world, Venus makes plain the convergence of terror and pleasure in the libidinal economy of slavery and, as well, the intimacy of history with the scandal and excess of literature. In writing at the limit of the unspeakable and the unknown, the essay mimes the violence of the archive and attempts to redress it by describing as fully as possible the conditions that determine the appearance of Venus and that dictate her silence.

    This is the story of this trail-blazing outfit.

    Rumors of rebel attacks were no more than a distant worry. But when 12-year-old Mariatu set out for a neighboring village, she never arrived. Heavily armed rebel soldiers, many no older than children themselves, attacked and tortured Mariatu. During this brutal act of senseless violence they cut off both her hands. Stumbling through the countryside, Mariatu miraculously survived. The sweet taste of a mango, her first food after the attack, reaffirmed her desire to live, but the challenge of clutching the fruit in her bloodied arms reinforced the grim new reality that stood before her. With no parents or living adult to support her and living in a refugee camp, she turned to begging in the streets of Freetown. As told to her by Mariatu, journalist Susan McClelland has written the heartbreaking true story of the brutal attack, its aftermath and Mariatu's eventual arrival in Toronto where she began to pull together the pieces of her broken life with courage, astonishing resilience and hope.

    For Christiaan Bakkes, recklessness and an insatiable lust for adventure led to tragedy. Writing about his experiences a unique writer s voice was born a South African Hemingway. He published three collections of wilderness stories, of which a choice selection is offered here, as well as two novels. At 42, Chris Bakkes has led the kind of life that most people can only dream of. After he recovered in 1995 he travelled through Africa for five months, worked for the WWF in the Kaokoveld in Namibia for three years and then joined a safari company conducting ecotours, first at the Skeleton Coast and now also in Damaraland. He and his wife both work for Wilderness Safaris Namibia, Christiaan as a guide and area manager. He also leads gorilla safaris in the forests of Uganda from time to time.

    It is the first modern edition of this classic text. Napoleon and Betsy, a major Hollywood film, is currently in production starring Al Pacino as Napoleon and Emma Watson as Betsy.

    For example, there are 20 more species of lemur than in the last edition, and the number of known frog species has nearly doubled.

    The author's involvement in the struggle against the virus started in 1989, soon after his return from a long exile in Europe and the Middle East. On arrival he found the disease devastating his country, compelling him to fight the modern-age plague. He became one of the leaders in a protracted fight against the scourge and an advocate for universal access to life-saving antiretroviral therapy. In this book the author exposes the incredible self-indulgence of the pharmaceutical companies and the cold-heartedness of the rich world that turned a blind eye until it was far too late, and then responded too slowly with too little. The book details his challenge to the powerful pharmaceutical companies that insisted on profitable business as usual, ignoring the lives of millions, and his call for more ethical and humanitarian ways of trade, involving crucial life-saving drugs, and a new world order to ensure entitlement of the poor to rapid humanitarian relief.

    This book of images by award-winning photojournalist Kristen Ashburn—culled from her work in Malawi and Africa over the past seven years as well as from her specially commissioned photographs for the film—provides an intimate look at the lives of eight Malawian children featured in the film and reveals the harsh reality of the AIDS pandemic throughout southern Africa.The title is derived from the concept of “Ubuntu,” an idea in African spirituality that states that all of humanity is connected, that we cannot be ourselves without community, that an individual’s well-being is dependent upon the well-being of others. These heart-wrenching stories are a call to action. In Malawi, a country of 13 million people, over one million are orphans. Looking into the hearts and minds of children who have endured unimaginable suffering, the book provides an unflinching view of life at the center of the global AIDS crisis. This is not just a story about orphans in Malawi, but about global responsibility and human interconnectedness. I Am Because We Are includes a foreword by Madonna, an afterword by Ashburn, excerpts from interviews with Malawian children, their biographies, and extended captions. Author proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to the charitable organization Raising Malawi for their extensive work with orphans throughout Malawi.

    Amid burned-out battlefields, the dark corners of the forests, and the high savanna, where thousands have been massacred and quickly forgotten, Mealer searches for signs that Africa's most troubled nation will soon rise from ruin.At once illuminating and startling, All Things Must Fight to Live is a searing portrait of an emerging country devastated by a decade of war and horror and now facing almost impossible odds at recovery, as well as an unflinching look at the darkness and greed that exists in the hearts of men. It is nonfiction at its finest--powerful, moving, necessary.

    Now, he displays some of his most dramatic works in Reza War and Peace–a powerful and moving photo collection that illuminates current events and recent history in places of conflict we see represented in the news every day. These remarkable pictures convey torment and upheaval, but also the art, culture, and traditions of Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and other areas–as well as the photographer’s understanding of humanity and deep commitment to justice. Reza trains his lens not just on war and conflict, but also on friendship and loyalty, family life and love. The book follows Reza’s photographic career and is narrated in his own words, focusing our attention on the costs of war and the human condition. Sebastian Junger contributes an introduction, offering intimate insight into what it's like to work with his longtime friend and collaborator. Despite the challenging subject matter, Reza’s message is not despairing, but ultimately hopeful. For readers interested in world history, current events, and the human experience, this photographic tour de force is a must.

    They are descendants of "Creators" who were given a world to rule with superhuman powers. The siblings travel to the world of Fahdamin-Ra and use their newfound abilities. Making friends among the three tribes, the Harun, the Masamba, and the Jabulani, they joyfully use their powers to cure, fly, and create animals. However, their fun soon turns to serious work when the Fahdamins are threatened by the evil Shadow Men, who have unusual abilities of their own. Can they triumph over this group of brutal men, or will they be expelled from Fahdamin-Ra forever?

    Told through the experiences of two boys, Ayuel Leek and Beny Ngor Chad, the book traces the journey of thousands of displaced children who walked for months across barren land, menaced by starvation, disease, wild animals, and gunfire. Author Barbara Youree, in collaboration with Leek and Chad, follows them through their years in refugee camps and their journey to the United States, where the author mentors them in college as they follow the American dream and pursue their goal of helping other Sudanese. Two million Sudanese have been killed and thousands more tortured, displaced, or sold into slavery. This is their story.

    A variety of different ethnic groups proclaim that they are returning to long-forgotten Jewish roots, and African clans trace their lineage to the Lost Tribes of Israel. Africans have encountered Jewish myths and traditions in multiple forms and various ways. The context and circumstances of these encounters have gradually led, within some African societies, to the elaboration of a new Jewish identity connected with that of the Diaspora.This book presents, one by one, the different groups of Black Jews in western, central, eastern, and southern Africa and the ways in which they have used and imagined their oral history and traditional customs to construct a distinct Jewish identity. It explores the ways in which Africans have interacted with the ancient mythological sub-strata of both western and African ideas of Judaism. It particularly seeks to identify and to assess colonial influences and their internalization by African societies in the shaping of new African religious identities. The book also examines how, in the absence of recorded African history, the eminently malleable accounts of Jewish lineage developed by African groups co-exist with the possible historical traces of a Jewish presence in Africa.This elegant and well-researched book goes beyond the well-known case of the Falasha of Ethiopia, examining the trend towards Judaism in Africa at large, and exploring, too, the interdisciplinary concepts of metaphorical Diaspora, global and transnational identities, and colonization.

    Now couple that with images of Conrad's Heart of Darkness and distant jungle battles, and you have a great book.Portugal was the first colonial power to arrive in Africa and the last to leave. Being a small country with limited resources, their longevity can be attributed to their creativity, adaptablity, and affinity for their colonial home.

    The extraordinary works presented exemplify the craftsmanship of highly skilled African weavers and provide insight into the lives and culture of various ethnic groups. Whether the materials used are wool, cotton, silk, raffia, or bark, the patterns the weavers produce are predominantly geometric and abstract, but highly stylized figurative motifs are also found. The designs frequently illustrate excerpts from historical or mythical stories. The book presents a breathtaking variety of costumes, textiles, and accessories used for everyday wear and for special celebrations, and explores the different techniques, influences, and meanings behind these colorful works of art. The essays describe the history of the development of these techniques and the richness of the symbolism in this form of cultural heritage. The superb photography showcases the splendor of these intricate and exquisite textiles.

    Reveals many aspects of the Ancient Egyptian 36,000-year-old civilization, such as: their societal/political system—the source of Plato’s Ideal Republic and Laws, and their knowledge and practices in medicine, music, science, manufacturing, industries, trades, and much, much more.

    Its name conjures up visions of carpets and Casablanca, mint tea and the Marrakech Express, associations that are not entirely dispelled by visits to the country. However, in recent years Morocco has faced challenges to its stability. The advent of new technologies, such as satellite communications and the Internet, has enhanced the public's access to information and led to greater demands for human rights and government accountability. At the same time, Islamist influences are on the rise, with criticism from some that current structures of governance are not Islamic enough.As different factions assert competing visions for the identity of the Moroccan state, the status of women is frequently invoked as a barometer of the country's progress. The nation-state has characterized the Moroccan female citizen as simultaneously modern, secular, and Islamic, while religious discourse has framed the nationalist vision as hopelessly enslaved to Western secularism, suggesting that the Moroccan woman needs to return to an authentic Muslim identity.Based on two years of fieldwork conducted in the city of Fes, Rachel Newcomb's Women of Fes offers valuable insights into the everyday lives of Moroccan women. Newcomb evokes the struggles middle-class women face as they challenge and modify competing ideologies to create new forms of identity in work, family, and urban space. Simultaneously, the book situates women's lives within larger processes, such as globalization, human rights, and the construction of national identity.

    The book contains 78 poems and is the culmination of three years of writing during which the author travelled extensively internationally and throughout South Africa. This work contains Mashile’s signature themes of gender, identity, spirituality, and politics. It also includes the new and significant theme of travel. Flying Above the Sky reflects the author’s maturity as a writer as it is a much more personal and vulnerable collection of work. Once again, Mashile’s unique sense of rhythm and performance is unmistakable.

    Written in a lively and accessible way, the subsequent chapters offer insight into: . Identification to group level, with an inclusive list of related species . A detailed description of appearance, together with colorful images . Biology and behavior of each group . Conservation status of species . Reproduction details . Distribution Informative panels provide key information at a glance, with a distribution map and clear icons giving typical habitat and period of activity. A wealth of full-color photographs throughout brings the subject matter vividly to life. This book will appeal to all wildlife enthusiasts, both professional and amateur, and will prove to be a valuable guide in the field."

    Some are well-known, like Saints Augustine, a doctor of the church, and his mother, Monica, while others may be unknown to us, such as Blessed Daudi Okelo and Blessed Jildo Irwa, twentieth-century Ugandan martyrs. Regardless of popularity, each holy person included in African Saints, African Stories displays perseverance in faith and can inspire us all. Dr. Camille Brown has chosen to share forty stories from hundreds, some for the first time, in this book. Each chapter provides a brief biography, a relevant Scripture passage, a prayer and reflection questions. The African men and women included are declared saints, blesseds or venerables in the Catholic church, as well as "saints in waiting," those who have not yet received official recognition from the church but who contributed to the faith and are members of the communion of saints.

    For nearly all of this time, its inhabitants have made tools from stone and have acquired their food from its rich wild plant and animal resources. Archaeological research in Africa is crucial for understanding the origins of humans and the diversity of hunter-gatherer ways of life. This book provides an up-to-date, comprehensive synthesis of the record left by Africa's earliest hominin inhabitants and hunter-gatherers. It combines the insights of archaeology with those of other disciplines, such as genetics and palaeoenvironmental science. African evidence is critical to important debates, such as the origins of stone toolmaking, the emergence of recognisably modern forms of cognition and behaviour, and the expansion of successive hominins from Africa to other parts of the world. Africa's enormous ecological diversity and exceptionally long history also provide an unparalleled opportunity to examine the impact of environment change on human populations. African foragers have also long been viewed as archetypes of the hunter-gatherer way of life, a view that is debated in this volume. Also examined is their relevance for understanding the development and spread of food production and the social and ideological significance of the rock art that many of them have produced.

    Many of the most famous names and places connected with Africa appear in these pages, including Karen Blixen's farm and Ernest Hemingway and Theodore Roosevelt on safari. This is a book to delight anyone who has ever traveled to East Africa or been intrigued by its history.

    Insects and Spiders Up Close INsiders brings insects and spiders to life, with the most up-to-date information and state-of-the-art 3-D illustrations that practically leap off every page, stimulating minds and imaginations in a whole new way.

    As a symbol of West African urbanism, Lagos contradicts almost every defining feature of the "moderna city. And yet ita (TM)s a city that works. In over five hundred pages, this mega-book documents the changing mega-city with essays, illustrations, maps, diagrams, rumors, interviews, images, and anecdotes. It follows the development of Lagos from a small-scale, traditional settlement on the shores of the Gulf of Guinea in 1800 into one of the largest megacities in the world today. With an emphasis on modernity, infrastructure, and the role of oil and town planners in the 1970s, it observes the effects that globalization has had on the citya (TM)s identity, from its position on the cutting edge of African modernity through its dramatic decline during the oil crisis until today.

    Just the thought of an African safari evokes thoughts of adventure, a journey through nature's greatest spectacle, a glimpse of the earth before man. African Safari is an exploration of all that the word safari encompasses, from journeys on horseback and dugout canoes, the quiet drifting of a balloon and the tension of waiting on foot to the smell of dung, soil and the rain. African Safari is an intimate odyssey through the great wilderness of Africa and an eye on its wild denizens, spiced with the echoes of a romantic history. African Safari is divided into eight chapters: South Africa (Kruger & the Kgalagadi)Namibia (Etosha, Damaraland and Kaokaland)Botswana (Okavango, Chobe, and Linyanti)Zimbabwe (Mana Pools and the Zambezi) Zambia (North and South Luangwa)Tanzania (Ngorongoro and the Serengeti)Kenya (Masai Mara, Amboseli, and Tsavo) Rwanda & Uganda (Parc des Volcans and Mgahinga).

    But a preoccupation with identity and language has obscured the fact that Kabyle dissidence has been rooted in democratic aspirations inspired by the political traditions of Kabylia itself, a Berber-speaking region in the north of Algeria. The political organisation of pre-colonial Kabylia, from which these traditions originate, was well described by nineteenth-century French authors. But their inability to explain it encouraged later theorists of Berber society, such as Ernest Gellner and Pierre Bourdieu, to dismiss Kabylia's political institutions, notably the jema'a (assembly or council), and to reduce Berber politics to a function of social structure and shared religion.  In Berber Government, Hugh Roberts, a renowned expert on North Africa, explores the remarkable logics of Kabyle political organisation and the unusual degree of autonomy it possessed in relation to both kinship divisions and the religious field. This book further offers a pioneering account of the social and political history of Kabylia during the Ottoman period and establishes a radically new way to understand the complex place of the Kabyles in Algerian politics.

    Public alarm over climate change has helped to make sustainable development a major public policy issue and a topic of growing importance in the daily lives of Americans. This book is a comprehensive assessment of U.S. progress toward sustainable development and a roadmap of necessary next steps toward achieving a sustainable America. Packed with facts, figures, and the well-informed opinions of forty-one experts, it provides an illuminating “snapshot” of sustainability in the United States today. And each of the contributors suggests where we need to go next, recommending three to five specific actions that we should take during the next five to ten years. It thus offers a comprehensive agenda that citizens, corporations, nongovernmental organizations, and government leaders and policymakers can use to make decisions today and to plan for the future. Sustainable development holds enormous promise for improving the quality of life for Americans over the coming decades. Agenda for a Sustainable America describes what we need to do to make the promise a reality. It assesses trends in twenty-eight separate areas of American life—including forestry; transportation; oceans and estuaries; religion; and state, local, and national governance. In every area, contributors reveal what sustainable development could mean, with suggestions that are specific, desirable, and achievable. Their expert recommendations point the way toward greater economic and social well-being, increased security, and environmental protection and restoration for current and future generations of Americans. Together they build a convincing case for how sustainable development can improve our opportunities and our lives.

    This book reconstructs the development of rice-growing technology among the Baga and Nalu of coastal Guinea, beginning more than a millennium before the transatlantic slave trade. It reveals a picture of dynamic pre-colonial coastal societies, quite unlike the static, homogenous pre-modern Africa of previous scholarship. From its examination of inheritance, innovation, and borrowing, Deep Roots fashions a theory of cultural change that encompasses the diversity of communities, cultures, and forms of expression in Africa and the African diaspora.

    the volcanic highlands of the Drakensberg/Maluti, Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Mount Kenya, Tsodilo Hills, Mount Sinai, the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, and of course Table Mountain, the jewel in South African tourism. Mountains of Africa is a journey of both historical and modern travel: walk alongside great explorers of bygone eras while reading about modern-day activities available for mountain enthusiasts. Also covered are people's interactions with the mountains from the perspective of the people living in the surrounds, as well as information found in geological, geographical and pioneering history, and substantial reference is made to particular mountains that are natural sanctuary to certain endangered animals, and to the vegetation and protected parks and areas.

    Mami Wata, pidgin English for Mother Water, is a beautiful, seductive water spirit who brings wealth and good fortune to those she favors. Practices associated with winning her favor, widespread in West Africa and the Black Atlantic diaspora, are explored in 46 rich and perceptive essays by an international group of scholars and practitioners. This book addresses the diversity of belief and practice, audiences, gender, reception, hybridity, commodification, globalization, dispersal, and religious mutation of Mami Wata rituals. It includes more than 129 images and a supplemental DVD featuring nearly 500 images, several photographic essays, and film clips of performance/rituals, and music. As the first volume to probe the depth and scope of water deity arts and cultures, Sacred Waters is a definitive resource and landmark reference tool for readers in a wide range of academic disciplines.

    Chronicles Craig Boddington's third decade of African hunting.

    As this book in the Groundwork Guides series shows, these characteristics are both true and a caricature at the same time.With the bold new presence of China in Africa, with an active and angry civil society demanding more from their governments, and with a new generation of leaders apparently committed to doing better in the future, a real possibility for positive change now exists. But for Africa to move forward, the citizens of rich countries must be aware of the false premises on which their own leaders deal with the continent.While Africa faces a daunting list of challenges, the vast majority of the continent's citizens live ordinary lives with the hopes and dreams that all of us share.

    A general Introduction and headnotes to each selection provide cultural, historical, and religious context; copious footnotes identify terms and references that may be unfamiliar to modern readers. A map and an index are also provided.

    This book describes the contributions to freemasonry from the Ancient African civilizations of Egypt, Nubia and pre Islamic Arabia. It is designed to give the reader a deeper understanding of its origins and its connection to world civilization and religion, all of which has an African presence. This book will also looks at the universe of the African Masonic organization from the early 18th century to the 20th century America, which ranged from the origins of Prince Hall Freemasonry to Black Nationalism and esoteric religious sects like the Moorish Science Temple of America, the UNIA and several other offshoots. Contrary to prior accounts, African American Freemasonry was concerned with far more than simply acknowledgement and respectability. The book will demonstrate that Freemasonry played a critical role in, history, politics and African American social life. In addition i discuss such topics as the impact of Greek philosophy on western civilization, the rise of Islam and its impact on the African continent and finally the grandeur and accomplishments of the moors of Spain and African people have been at the very core of this rich foundation. I discuss the comparisons between the ancient Egyptian civilization and modern day freemasonry. I explore its symbolism as well as the esoteric foundations that freemasonry relies so heavily upon. Once freemasonry reach the western hemisphere it became a tool for influencing Europe's elite. Moreover, my research covers the history of the knight's of Europe and the origins of european chivalry and how Arabic poetry played an important role in its establishment. Additional topics include Napoleon Bonaparte, The mystic shrine and the foundations of Orientalism.

    Since then, in contrast to the complete collapse of Somalia, Somaliland has successfully managed a process of reconciliation, demobilization, and restoration of law and order. They have held three successful democratic elections and the capital, Hargeysa, has become an active international trading center. Despite this display of good governance in Africa, Somaliland has yet to be recognized by the international community. International efforts have been directed toward the reunification of Somalia, which has failed, even after 14 peace conferences and international military intervention. Warlords continue to overrun and destabilize southern Somalia while Somaliland works to build peace, stability, and democracy. How long will it be before this African success story achieves the recognition it deserves?

    Despite this he volunteered for National Service in July 1984 and then volunteered to serve in the South African Medical Service. Following basic training he was posted to SAMS' Combat Medical Operation Company (Ops Company) for six months of advanced specialist training. In the lecture room and later in civilian hospitals he learned the arts of stabilising patients, stopping bleeding, maintaining airways, suturing wounds, administering drips and performing minor lifesaving medical procedures. On 1 March 1985 he was sent to SWA/Namibia, where he saw service in Angola until the SADF withdrew its troops a month later. From there he was posted to 53-Battalion's company base at Etale. It was garrisoned by Owambo troops of the SWATF's 101-Battalion and white National Servicemen. He writes about border patrols conducted on foot and in Buffel mine protected fighting vehicles, seeking out SWAPO's armed guerrillas who had infiltrated from Angola and the constant anticipation of ambush by an elusive foe.He tells of the stabilisation and casevac of casualties by helicopter. In truth white National Service units achieved little success in the border war against an underrated enemy. As one senior officer put it: 'In my view SWAPO, despite inferior weaponry, was ahead of us in most respects. We took a boy who had just matriculated, gave him a gun, two or three months of basic training - and threw him into the middle of a country that he didn't know, people he didn't understand and an enemy he had never seen. No wonder he didn't do very well. Nevertheless, the young conscripts bore a terrible load, for which they received little gratitude.' So this is not the story of elite and glamorous fighting units like the Reconnaissance Commandos, Koevoet, 32-Battalion, or the Parachute Battalions and the successes they achieved, but of young, white, conscripted National Serviceman, often straight from school, who were thrown headfirst into a guerrilla war in a country outside of South Africa and far from home. Many National Servicemen, including 37 Ops Medics, died fighting in the Border War. Fifteen were awarded the Honoris Crux (two of the silver grade) for bravery - four posthumously.

    The Congo is synonymous in most people’s imagination with exploration, deepest jungle and an escape from the Western world.  This new Bradt guide will be the first full guidebook to publish new information on both the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the People’s Republic of Congo (PRC) in well over a decade.  It will appeal to travelers who are seeking to explore a new region of Africa emerging from many years of conflict, a region that is changing rapidly as stability returns to the region.Natural history is given due prominence in this guide, the Congo possessing a high percentage of Africa’s remaining, intact rainforest.

    

    The Zulu victory at Isandlwana, the heroic British defense of Rorke's Drift and the eventual British triumph are among the most closely researched events of the colonial era. In this historical companion, Ian Knight, one of the foremost authorities on the war and the Zulu kingdom, provides an essential reference guide to a short, bloody campaign that had an enduring impact on the history of Britain and southern Africa. He gives succinct summaries of the issues, events, armies and individuals involved. His work is an invaluable resource for anyone who is interested in the history of the period, in the operations of the British army in southern Africa, and in the Zulu kingdom.

    He focuses upon the ties between foreign firms and African rulers in Sierra Leone, where politicians and warlords use private networks that exploit relationships with international businesses to buttress their wealth and so extend their powers of patronage. This permits them to expand the reach of their governments in unorthodox ways, but in the process they undermine the bureaucracty of their own states. Dr Reno suggests that as the post-colonial state is eroded there is a return to the enclave economies and private armies that characterised the pre-colonial and colonial arrangements between European businessmen or administrators and some African political figures.

    Frequently exploitative, it is also just as often propelled by an almost irresistible urge to do good . The persistence of this impulse is intriguing. From Doctor Livingstone 150 years ago to the rock star Bono today, outsiders have championed foreign intervention in Africa in political, social, economic, and health care reforms. But underlying all these good intentions, isn t there a hierarchical belief that we, as outsiders, somehow know what s best for Africa? As a journalist and documentary filmmaker, Larry Krotz follows the projects of Canadian, American, British and European scientists, NGOs, lawyers, and peacekeepers, all motivated in some manner by the desire to do good in Africa. He focuses specifically on people involved in trying to end the Angolan civil war, AIDS research in Kenya, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and the UNIM circumcision research project in Kenya. Along with telling their stories, he examines the ethical and social implications of humanitarian and research projects in Africa, raising many difficult, yet critically important, questions. How have we come to think the way we do about Africa and its people? What has motivated us to action, for good or ill? And, in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, is there a choice between doing nothing and doing the well-intended, but, perhaps, wrong thing?

    After all, he is a Basenji, a dog used y African tribesmen to track lions, a breed so old it is depicted on the ancient walls of the Pharaohs. In this boo, Qtutu Follows Through, our hero's other qualities stand out: tenacity, creativity and pluck. He wins young readers' hearts as he rescues Missy, an Albino Chimp, from poachers, teaches tricks to Porxina the pig, and protects baby bats from intruders. All this without being able to bark! Qtutu Follows Through will enchant young readers and amuse parents and teachers who read to them. The readership target is grades five through seven.

    In-your-face and unapologetic, Tebogo finds that Johannesburg's streets are not always kind. A hard-hitting novel for young adults, Tebogo is in search of what every young person wants: are sex, drugs, music and redemption.

    In scholarly essays and beautiful photographs, Grass Roots follows the coiled basket along its transformation on two continents from a simple farm tool once used for processing grain to a work of art and a central symbol of African and African American identity. Featuring images of the stunning work of contemporary basket makers from South Carolina to South Africa, as well as historic photographs that document the artistic heritage of the southern United States, Grass Roots appears at a moment when public recognition of the Gullah/Geechee heritage is encouraging a reexamination of Africa's contribution to American civilization.Working with basket makers from Charleston and Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, historian Dale Rosengarten has been studying African-American baskets for over 20 years and brings her research up-to-date with interviews of artists and the results of recent historical inquiry. Anthropologist Enid Schildkrout draws on her research in West Africa and museum collections around the world to explore the African antecedents of Lowcountry basketry. Geographer Judith A. Carney discusses the origins of rice in Africa and reveals how enslaved Africans brought to America not only rice seeds but, just as important, the technical know-how that turned southern coastal forests and swamps into incredibly profitable rice plantations. Historian Peter H. Wood discusses the many skills that enslaved Africans contributed to the settlement of the Old South and at the same time used to resist the conditions of their servitude. John Michael Vlach, a leading authority on African American folk art, discusses the history of visual depictions of plantation life. Fath Davis Ruffins, a specialist on the imagery of popular culture, sheds light on the history embedded in old photographs of African Americans in the Charleston area. Cultural historian Jessica B. Harris explores the tradition of rice in American cooking and the enduring African influences in the southern kitchen. Anthropologist and art historian Sandra Klopper sketches the history of coiled basketry in South Africa, illuminating its evolution from utilitarian craft to fine art, parallel to developments in America. Anthropologist J. Lorand Matory traces the changing meanings of Gullah/Geechee identity and discusses its appearance as a significant force on the American cultural scene today.

    Chapters by prisoners inside Kirikiri maximum security prison in Lagos, Nigeria are published alongside chapters by scholars and activists. While prisoners document the daily realities and struggles of life inside a Nigerian prison, scholar and human rights activist Viviane Saleh-Hanna provides historical, political, and academic contexts and analyses of the penal system in Nigeria. The European penal models and institutions imported to Nigeria during colonialism are exposed as intrinsically incoherent with the community-based conflict-resolution principles of most African social structures and justice models. This book presents the realities of imprisonment in Nigeria while contextualizing the colonial legacies that have resulted in the inhumane brutalities that are endured on a daily basis.

    With a focus on areas of positive change and concrete developments in justice-based initiatives, these essays refute the stereotyped view of Africa as a tragic, war-torn region. Thematic, continent-wide overviews are combined with country-specific references, making this volume accessible and insightful for scholars and students alike. Pan African elder Bill Sutherland stated, "At the time of the liberation movements, there was a lot of hope, yet there were also the seeds of the troubles to come. Today, there are a lot of troubles, but in these presentations lie the seeds of new hope."Contributors include Shelley Anderson, Judith Atiri, Rais Neza Boneza, Horace Campbell, Imani Countess, Jacques Depelchin, Silvia Federici, Richard Jackson, Jorgen Johansen, Nunu Kidane, Andrew Murray, Bernedette Muthien, Laurie Nathan, Chesterfield Samba, and Yash Tandon. Seeds of New Hope brings together a new generation of scholars and activists, working to build what Africa's founding fathers and mothers hoped to bequest. Those seeking a true peace must study and reflect upon these important contributions, and redouble our efforts for justice and for a true African humanism.Kenneth D. Kaunda, from the foreword, "A very much needed book, bringing Africa to peace studies and peace studies to Africa, hopefully for the benefit of both. The authors dig into the immense complexity of Africa; a major reason why peace researchers have stayed away. Africa offers no simple bipolarity like the Cold War in Europe or the US Empire in Latin America. On the other hand, one often forgotten polarity is given ample treatment in the book: gender." Congratulations to the authors and to the editors! Johan Galtung, Director of TRANSCEND; pioneer of the field of peace research

    She shamelessly sells her body on the South African streets of Yeoville and views her job as no different from those of young black graduates who take up affirmative action posts as perpetual juniors under soul-destroying mentors. Thandiwe's searing views on the post-apartheid corporate world become public when she is approached by Kwena, a young film-maker who is interested in telling the stories of prostitutes and the shameful secrets of many. For Thandiwe, that personal story begins in the poor, rural village where Thandiwe and her best friend Zonke grew up, facing the many challenges of a vulnerable childhood together. They both fend off unwanted sexual attention and Thandiwe loses her mother in a freak accident, leaving her an orphan. When she runs away from her guardians to avoid circumcision, Thandiwe arrives in Jo'burg and soon launches her unconventional career. While Zonke pursues a more sheltered and conventionally successful course of action, Thandiwe has to fight fiercely for her independence, even at the risk of endangering her own life.

    This trek should have heralded a new era of French prosperity. Instead, it was a deadly fiasco. Under-armed in hostile territory, and foolishly employing the enemy as guides, the one hundred men of the expedition were ambushed and stranded without camels or supplies in the deserts of southern Algeria. Many were killed outright, and for four months the survivors were menaced by the Tuareg, the "lords of the desert," robbed, starved, and tricked into eating poisoned fruit. To escape, the men hid in the wastelands of the Sahara with little hope of finding food or water. They were finally forced to eat their own dead, or, worse, the merely weak. Only a dozen malnourished men lived to tell their tale. The story of their 1,000 mile journey is one of the most astonishing narratives of survival ever recorded. With a "superb grip of narrative and uncanny ability to evoke battle scenes" (The Guardian), Michael Asher has written an amazing true story that is as dramatic as it is frightening.Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

    This collection looks at the on-going significance of Black Consciousness, situating it in a global frame, examining the legacy of Steve Biko, the current state of post-apartheid South African politics, and the culture and history of the anti-apartheid movements.

    Rather than the Make Poverty History slogan "Double aid to Africa," Glennie suggests the opposite: "Halve aid to Africa"--to achieve the same result and reduce aid dependency. Through an honest assessment of both the positive and negative consequences of aid, this book will show you why.

    Adopting complex aesthetic fromulations, they idealized their subjects but also added specific details—such as emblems of rank, scarification patterns, and elaborate coiffures—in order to evoke the individuals represented. Imbued with the essence of their formidable subjects, these works played an essential role in reifying ties with important ancestors at critical moments of transition. Often their transfer from one generation to the next was a prerequisite for conferring legitimacy upon the leaders who followed. The arrival of Europeans as traders, then as colonizers, led to the dislocation of many of these sculptures from their original sites, as well as from the contexts in which they were conceived; thus, today, they are seen primarily as timeless representations of generic archetypes. Heroic Africans reexamines the sculptures in terms of the individuals who inspired them and the cultural values that informed them, providing insight into the hidden meaning and inspiration behind these great artistic achievements. Author Alisa LaGamma considers the landmark sculptural traditions of the kingdoms of Ife and Benin, both in Nigeria; Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire's Akan chiefdoms; the Bangwa and Kom chiefdoms of the Cameroon Grassfields; the Chokwe cheifdoms of Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (D.R.C.); and the D.R.C's Luluwa, Kuba, and Hemba chiefdoms. More than 140 masterpieces created between the 12th and the early 20th century—complemented by maps, drawings, and excavation and ceremonial photographs—reveal the religious and aesthetic conventions that defined distinct regional genres.

    A lifetime officer in the Royal Engineers, he served in several theaters of war and imperial contest, most notably China and the Sudan. His last assignment took him back to the dusty Sudanese capital, Khartoum, where he supervised the overmatched Anglo-Egyptian garrison’s evacuation in the face of imminent attack by Islamic extremists. He was killed there in January 1885, just two days before a British relief expedition arrived.In this new biography of General Gordon, C. Brad Faught looks afresh at the life of one of the most famous Victorian military men. Although a later age would come to reject Gordon’s record and the values by which he lived, he has remained an enduring figure in the British Empire’s late-nineteenth-century heyday and an important means by which to examine its contemporary issues: abolitionism, territorial conquest, and the rule of dependent peoples. Faught traces Gordon’s life from his childhood in England and Corfu to his youth and training as an engineer at the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich and his subsequent military and proconsular service in the Crimea, eastern Europe, China, India, Mauritius, South Africa, and the Sudan. Throughout his varied career Gordon was guided by his staunch, conventional Christian faith—despite his critics’ best efforts to suggest otherwise—and remained devoted to the best features of imperial rule. Whether as a key opponent of the Arab slave trade or a leader of troops in battle, Gordon was usually successful in his undertakings but always controversial. This biography gives an up-to-date rendering of an important British imperial figure whose demise at the hands of a Muslim extremist is both resonant and potentially instructive for the era in which we live today.

    Tourist brochures inviting visitors to sunny and romantic Andalusia, home of the ingenious gardens and intricate arabesques of Granada's Alhambra Palace, are not the first texts to trade on Spain's relationship to its Moorish past. Despite the fall of Granada to the Catholic Monarchs in 1492 and the subsequent repression of Islam in Spain, Moorish civilization continued to influence both the reality and the perception of the Christian nation that emerged in place of al-Andalus.In Exotic Nation, Barbara Fuchs explores the paradoxes in the cultural construction of Spain in relation to its Moorish heritage through an analysis of Spanish literature, costume, language, architecture, and chivalric practices. Between 1492 and the expulsion of the Moriscos (Muslims forcibly converted to Christianity) in 1609, Spain attempted to come to terms with its own Moorishness by simultaneously repressing Muslim subjects and appropriating their rich cultural heritage. Fuchs examines the explicit romanticization of the Moors in Spanish literature--often referred to as literary maurophilia--and the complex, often silent presence of Moorish forms in Spanish material culture. The extensive hybridization of Iberian culture suggests that the sympathetic depiction of Moors in the literature of the period does not trade in exoticism but instead reminded Spaniards of the place of Moors and their descendants within Spain. Meanwhile, observers from outside Spain recognized its cultural debt to al-Andalus, often deliberately casting Spain as the exotic racial other of Europe.

    Featuring the works of sixteen South African photographers and video artists from 1950 to the present, the catalogue was conceived to accompany the exhibition of the same name at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The cultural and political turbulence of South Africa has lent particular urgency to the role of these media. The eight sections of this catalogue explore a broad spectrum of social and aesthetic themes that have not been brought together in this way before in the United States or abroad.Darkroom focuses on four generations of artists, including those who lived and worked primarily in South Africa during the apartheid era (1948-1994) and a younger generation that has gained wide international prominence since apartheid's end. The title refers to both literal and metaphorical dark rooms: the actual place where photography and video is made or seen; the artistic isolation created by apartheid; and the psychological and physical hardship of making meaningful work under threat of imprisonment, torture, and exile.The images appear as they are organized in the galleries: eighty-six photographs, eight photo-based installations, and six video installations. The artists include native South Africans and long-term South African residents from Germany, the United States, and England.Contributing Artists: Roger Ballen * Ian Berry * David Goldblatt * William Kentridge * Peter Magubane * Thando Mama * Senzeni Marasela * Santu Mofokeng * Zweiethu Mthethwa * Robin Rhode * Tracey Rose * Jurgen Schadeberg * Berni Searle * Andrew Tshabangu * Nontsikeleio Veleko * Sue WilliamsonDistributed for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts