Best of
Africa

2020

The Dragons, the Giant, the Women: A Memoir


Wayétu Moore - 2020
    Before she gets the reunion her father promised her, war breaks out in Liberia. The family is forced to flee their home on foot, walking and hiding for three weeks until they arrive in the village of Lai. Finally, a rebel soldier smuggles them across the border to Sierra Leone, reuniting the family and setting them off on yet another journey, this time to the United States.Spanning this harrowing journey in Moore’s early childhood, her years adjusting to life in Texas as a black woman and an immigrant, and her eventual return to Liberia, The Dragons, the Giant, the Women is a deeply moving story of the search for home in the midst of upheaval. Moore has a novelist’s eye for suspense and emotional depth, and this unforgettable memoir is full of imaginative, lyrical flights and lush prose. In capturing both the hazy magic and the stark realities of what is becoming an increasingly pervasive experience, Moore shines a light on the great political and personal forces that continue to affect many migrants around the world, and calls us all to acknowledge the tenacious power of love and family.

The End of Where We Begin


Rosalind Russell - 2020
    Lonely and friendless after the death of her father, she finds solace in her first boyfriend, and together they flee across the city when the fighting breaks out. On the same night, Daniel, the son of a colonel, also makes his escape, but finds himself stranded by the River Nile, alone and vulnerable. Lilian is a young mother, who runs for her life holding the hand of her little boy Harmony until a bomb attack wrenches them apart, forcing her to trek on alone.After epic journeys of endurance, their lives cross in Bidi Bidi in Uganda the world s largest refugee camp. There they meet James, a counsellor who helps them to find light and hope in the darkest of places.The End of Where We Begin is a gripping and intimate true life account of three young people whose promising lives are brutally interrupted by war. It documents their heart-breaking and inspiring battle to keep moving on through the extremes of attack, injury, exile and trauma. It is a story of the bonds of community and resilience in adversity a powerful message for our troubled times.

Too Small Tola


Atinuke - 2020
    Tola lives in a flat in Lagos with her sister, Moji, who is very clever; her brother, Dapo, who is very fast; and Grandmummy, who is very bossy. Tola proves to be stronger than she seems when she goes to market with Grandmummy and manages to carry home a basket full of yams and vegetables, chilli peppers and fish. When the taps in the flat don't work, it's Tola who brings water from the well, and it's Tola who saves the day when Mr Abdul, the tailor, needs his goods to be delivered quickly. Too Small Tola is a wonderful new character in the world of children's books by multi-award-winning children's writer and storyteller Atinuke.

I Am Not Your Slave: A Memoir


Tupa Tjipombo - 2020
    As she is transported from the point of her abduction on a remote farm near the Namibian-Angolan border and channeled to her ultimate destination in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, her three-year odyssey exposes the brutal horrors of a modern day middle passage. During her ordeal, Tupa encounters members of Africa’s notorious gangs, terrifying witchdoctors, mysterious middlemen from China, corrupt police and border officials, Arab smugglers and high-ranking United Nations officials. And of course, Tupa meets her fellow trafficking victims, young women and girls from around the world. Tupa’s harrowing experience, including her daring escape and eventual return home, sheds light on the most shocking aspects of modern day slavery, as well as the essential determination to be free.

Six Years With Al Qaeda


Stephen McGown - 2020
    Life as he knew it changed in that instant. With nothing to bargain with and everything to lose, for the next six years Steve became reluctantly engaged in what he refers to as, “the greatest chess game of my life”.Thousands of kilometres away in Johannesburg, the shock of his kidnapping hit his wife Cath and the rest of the McGown family. Working every option they could find – from established diplomatic protocols to the murky back channels of the kidnap game – they set to work on trying to free Steve.To this day he holds the unenviable record of Al Qaeda’s longest held prisoner.Six Years With Al Qaeda is not just an incredible story of mental strength, physical endurance and the resilience of the human spirit, but also a unique, nuanced perspective on one of the world’s most feared terrorist organisations. Not only did Steve survive his ordeal, but in many respects he came out of the desert both a changed man and a stronger, more positive human.

Grace in Mombasa


Tracy Traynor - 2020
    Grace in Mombasa is an intriguing historical saga of betrayal and loss, romance and heartbreak, and one woman’s journey in faith. From the day she was born, Grace Clifton has navigated a life of loss and heartbreak, without a mother to guide her and through the ravages of two World Wars. With England in the midst of a Second World War, Grace experiences the excitement of love and romance, but all too soon, it turns to heartbreak. Through it all, Grace is sustained by her unwavering faith in God, but when all she holds dear is ripped away from her, Grace is left devastated and doubting everything she’s ever believed in. As the world slowly recovers from war, Grace too begins the process of healing from bitterness and the deep wounds inflicted by life. However, her steadfastness to God is lost and she determines never to pray again. When an unexpected opportunity comes up in Kenya, Grace seizes the chance to escape the memories, hoping to find a purpose and build a new life for herself. In the city of Mombasa, Grace soon begins to realise she can’t ever distance herself from life’s complications, but if she’s prepared to open her heart, maybe her shattered faith will once more bring her hope, love and the healing that she desperately needs. Grace in Mombasa is a story about a woman with amazing faith that is shattered when her life falls apart, but will God simply let her go? If you like heartfelt dialogue, stories seeped in fact and history, and memorable characters, then you’ll love Tracy Traynor’s moving and inspirational novel. Read Grace in Mombasa to escape into a story of yesteryear and the evocative dream that is Kenya!

One of Them: My Life Among the Maasai of Kenya


Eti Dayan - 2020
    A few months later, she receives a small note informing her that her Maasai hostess, No'oltwati, has fallen gravely ill.Dayan decides to fly back to Kenya, and use creative ways to save No'oltwati's life.During her stay in the village, she falls in love with the members of the tribe. She is given a Maasai name, Nayolang, One of Us, and is invited to build her home in the village.One of Them tells the story of the amazing life of Eti Dayan which became and unexpectedly interlaced with those of the Maasai people in Kenya. Through Dayan’s Western perspective, the reader is allowed a rare peek into the culture of one of the world’s most unique ethnic groups.In a tone lush with honesty and grace, with impressive knowledge and great charm, Dayan relates wonderful stories we have not yet read about the Maasai daily life, special ceremonies and cultural clashes, while debating questions of belonging, sustenance, parenthood, ownership, sexuality, male and female circumcision, politics, heritage, hunting and more.

The Journey


Abdul Musa Adam - 2020
    He lost his entire family.Abdul and Yusuf fled with his father's best friend Abud over the border to Chad, where they lived for two years in one of the world's most inhospitable refugee camps.When Abdul was nine, Abud took him to Libya to start a new life, leaving his brother behind. But in 2011, civil war swept through Libya, and Abdul was arrested at the age of 15 for refusing to join the army: `I told them, "The army killed my family. I don't want to be in a war".'But they jailed him, and the violence and abuse he suffered in prison led to hospitalisation, where a foreign doctor, horrified by his injuries, smuggled him onto a humanitarian ship that docked in a busy French port.He slept on the streets in France for over a year before stowing away on a Swindon-bound lorry, where he was picked up by UK police.Granted asylum in Britain and diagnosed with PTSD, Abdul was helped by Greatwood, a charity that uses ex-racehorses to help disadvantaged children.This was a lifeline for Abdul. Working with horses made him feel close to the parents he lost. `When I touch a horse, I feel I am touching my father and my mother. I can speak to horses much better than I can speak to people.'This is the remarkable story of one boy's journey around the globe in a desperate search for a safe place to live.

Reggie and Me


James Hendry - 2020
    But for a one small boy in the leafy northern suburbs of Johannesburg ... his beloved housekeeper is serving fish fingers for lunch.This is the tale of Hamish Charles Sutherland Fraser – chorister, horse rider, schoolboy actor and, in his dreams, 1st XV rugby star and young ladies’ delight. A boy who climbs trees in the spring and who loves a girl named Reggie.An odd child growing up in a conflicted, scary, beautiful society.A young South African who hasn’t learnt the rules.

In Pursuit of Disobedient Women: A Memoir of Love, Rebellion, and Family, Far Away


Dionne Searcey - 2020
    Saddled with the demands of a dual-career household and motherhood in an urban setting, her life was in a rut. She decided to pursue a job as the paper's West Africa bureau chief, an amazing but daunting opportunity to cover a swath of territory encompassing two dozen countries and 500 million people. Landing with her family in Dakar, Senegal, she quickly found their lives turned upside down as they struggled to figure out their place in this new region, along with a new family dynamic where she was the main breadwinner flying off to work while her husband stayed behind to manage the home front.In Pursuit of Disobedient Women follows Searcey's sometimes harrowing, sometimes rollicking experiences of her work in the field, the most powerful of which, for her, center on the extraordinary lives and struggles of the women she encounters. As she tries to get an American audience subsumed by the age of Trump and inspired by a feminist revival to pay attention, she is gone from her family for sometimes weeks at a time, covering stories like Boko Haram-conscripted teen-girl suicide bombers or young women in small villages shaking up social norms by getting out of bad marriages. Ultimately, Searcey returns home to reconcile with skinned knees and school plays that happen without her and a begrudging husband thrown into the role of primary parent.Life, for Searcey, as with most of us, is a balancing act. She weaves a tapestry of women living at the crossroads of old-fashioned patriarchy and an increasingly globalized and connected world. The result is a deeply personal and highly compelling look into a modern-day marriage and a world most of us have barely considered. Readers will find Searcey's struggles, both with her family and those of the women she meets along the way, familiar and relatable in this smart and moving memoir.

Facets of Death


Michael Stanley - 2020
    But what was the case that established him as a force to be reckoned with? In Facets of Death, a prequel to the acclaimed Detective Kubu series, the fresh-faced cop gets ensnared in an international web of danger--can he get out before disaster strikes?David Bengu has always stood out from the crowd. His personality and his physique match his nickname, Kubu--Setswana for "hippopotamus"--a seemingly docile creature, but one of the deadliest in Africa. His keen mind and famous persistence have seen him rise in the Botswana CID. But how did he get his start?His resentful new colleagues are suspicious of a detective who has entered the CID straight from university, skipping the usual beat cop phase.Mining diamonds is a lucrative business, but it soon proves itself deadly. Shortly after Kubu joins the CID, the richest diamond mine in the world is robbed of 100,000 carats of diamonds in transit. The robbery is well-executed and brutal. Police immediately suspect an inside job, but there is no evidence of who it could be.When the robbers are killed execution-style in South Africa and the diamonds are still missing, the game changes, and suspicion focuses on a witch doctor and his son. Does Kubu have the skill and the integrity to engineer an international trap and catch those responsible, or will the biggest risk of his life end in disaster?A riveting addition to Michael Stanley's award-winning books set in Botswana, Facets of Death proves Kubu worthy of his name...

Kololo Hill


Neema Shah - 2020
    They must take only what they can carry, give up their money and never return.For Asha and Pran, married a matter of months, it means abandoning the family business that Pran has worked so hard to save. For his mother, Jaya, it means saying goodbye to the house that has been her home for decades. But violence is escalating in Kampala, and people are disappearing. Will they all make it to safety in Britain and will they be given refuge if they do?And all the while, a terrible secret about the expulsion hangs over them, threatening to tear the family apart.From the green hilltops of Kampala, to the terraced houses of London, Neema Shah’s extraordinarily moving debut Kololo Hill explores what it means to leave your home behind, what it takes to start again, and the lengths some will go to protect their loved ones.

The Book of Echoes


Rosanna Amaka - 2020
    The Book of Echoes is filled with beauty, devastation and the power of ancestral connections that ripple through the ages' IRENOSEN OKOJIE'So bewitching I almost felt like I time-travelled back into Brixton 1981. A gorgeous book – totally recommended.' ALEX WHEATLE A sweeping, uplifting story of how a boy from Brixton and a girl from Lagos escape their dark past to find themselves a bright future. 1981: England looks forward to a new decade. But on the streets of Brixton, it’s hard to hold onto your dreams, especially if you are a young black man. Racial tensions rumble, and now Michael Watson might land in jail for a crime he did not commit.Thousands of miles away, village girl Ngozi abandons her orange stall for the chance to work as a maid. Alone in a big city, Ngozi’s fortunes turn dark and soon both her heart and hopes are shattered.From dusty roads to gritty pavements, Ngozi and Michael’s journey towards a better life is strewn with heartache and injustice. When they finally collide, their lives will be transformed for ever.With irresistible joy and grace, Rosanna Amaka writes of people moving between worlds, and asks how we can heal and help each other. Humming with beauty and horror, tragedy and triumph, THE BOOK OF ECHOES is a powerful debut from an authentic new voice in British fiction.

Rising Heart: One Woman's Astonishing Journey from Unimaginable Trauma to Becoming a Power for Good


Aminata Conteh-Biger - 2020
    Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVOOne woman's astonishing journey from unimaginable trauma to becoming a power for good.In 1999, Sierra Leone was in the midst of a brutal civil war where mindless violence, vicious amputation and the rape of young enslaved women were the everyday weapons of bloody conflict.It was also where rebel soldiers snatched the young Aminata Conteh-Biger from her father's arms, then held her captive for months.After she was released, the UNHCR recognised that her captors still posed a serious threat to her safety. So, still in her teens, she was put on a plane and flown to Australia to start afresh as a refugee in a land she knew nothing about.It is here that she has proudly built a life, while never allowing her trauma to define her. Yet it was a near-death experience she suffered during the birth of her child that turned her attention to the women of Sierra Leone - where they are 200 times more likely to die while having a baby than in Australia.So she set up the Aminata Maternal Foundation, then returned to the land of her birth to help. This is her story.PRAISE FOR RISING HEART'Aminata knocked me out at our first meeting in Sydney some years ago...courage shining through as she spoke of some of her experiences in Sierra Leone. Her story, Rising Heart, will never leave you; searing, powerful, disturbing, hopeful.' The Hon. Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO'The spirit of Aminata's story will stay with you long after you finish reading. Rising Heart has refuelled my sense of perspective and purpose. Aminata's courage in sharing this intensely personal story is rewarded with the power of inspiring hope. Thank you, Aminata, for sharing.' Yael Stone, actor and activist'A powerful read that will make you cry at the injustice and brutality of our world - especially the treatment of women and girls - but then shed tears of admiration and hope. Aminata reminds us of the power of an individual to make a difference. She is an inspirational woman who has brought about extraordinary change, and is a shining example of why we must all be good global citizens. What a beautiful Australian story.' Natasha Stott Despoja AO'A gripping story of courage, survival and redemption.' Wendy McCarthy AO'An incredible story of hope and transformation, one that we can all learn from.' Emma Isaacs, Founder and Global CEO, Business Chicks'Women's reproductive health is one of the most important factors in determining their quality of life and that of their children. Aminata's extraordinary efforts in her country of origin will make a life-changing difference to the mothers and children of Sierra Leone.' Professor Kerryn Phelps AM'I have met many refugees the world over, and the courage of Aminata's personal account as a survivor of unimaginable cruelty is both disturbing and inspiring. Her unwavering belief in human kindness in the face of so much adversity is what makes her a role model for so many women and girls.' Louise Aubin, UNHCR Representative'Aminata not only gives an important voice to her own intensely personal story but also to the many forgotten women and girls caught up in war and conflict today. She is a compelling advocate for the rights of these women and also for the work of the UN Refugee Agency who supports them.' Naomi Steer, National Director Australia for UNHCR

The Rise or Fall of South Africa: Latest scenarios


Frans Cronje - 2020
    

Fevers, Feuds, and Diamonds: Ebola and the Ravages of History


Paul Farmer - 2020
    . . If what we want in this moment is insight from this brilliant doctor about pandemics, he wants us to see that they do not occur in isolation. --Carolyn Kellogg, The Boston GlobeIn 2014, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea suffered the worst epidemic of Ebola in history. The brutal virus spread rapidly through a clinical desert where basic health-care facilities were few and far between. Causing severe loss of life and economic disruption, the Ebola crisis was a major tragedy of modern medicine. But why did it happen, and what can we learn from it?Paul Farmer, the internationally renowned doctor and anthropologist, experienced the Ebola outbreak firsthand--Partners in Health, the organization he founded, was among the international responders. In Fevers, Feuds, and Diamonds, he offers the first substantive account of this frightening, fast-moving episode and its implications. In vibrant prose, Farmer tells the harrowing stories of Ebola victims while showing why the medical response was slow and insufficient. Rebutting misleading claims about the origins of Ebola and why it spread so rapidly, he traces West Africa's chronic health failures back to centuries of exploitation and injustice. Under formal colonial rule, disease containment was a priority but care was not - and the region's health care woes worsened, with devastating consequences that Farmer traces up to the present.This thorough and hopeful narrative is a definitive work of reportage, history, and advocacy, and a crucial intervention in public-health discussions around the world.

The Road Chose Me Volume 2: Three years and 54,000 miles around Africa


Dan Grec - 2020
    From the mighty Sahara Desert in the north to the dense equatorial jungles of the Congo and the open grasslands of Southern Africa, Dan turned his biggest dream into reality. Over the course of three years Dan's second major expedition spanned fifty-four thousand miles through thirty-five unique African countries.THE ADVENTURE WAS A THOUSAND TIMES BIGGER THAN HE DREAMED POSSIBLE.After exploring the Pan-American Highway from Alaska to Argentina Dan became hooked on the freedom of global overland travel, and he only wanted more. New languages, exotic foods, stunning landscapes and local people with an entirely different outlook became Dan's everyday life. As the months turned into years, through highlights and despair Dan gained a new appreciation for what it truly means to be alive.Viewing our modern world through African eyes gave Dan a new perspective, and he was pulled in by the endless joy, laughter and kindness at every turn. While the landscapes and wildlife are undeniably breathtaking, it is the natural warmth of the African people that is truly unforgettable. All across the continent Dan was welcomed with love and generosity, and now he will never be the same.

The Fortunicity of Birdie Dalal


Claire Duende - 2020
    Does Birdie listen or turn away? Will her actions haunt her forever?The year is 1972. President Idi Amin has a prophetic dream and evicts thousands of Asians from their homeland of Uganda. They are to lose everything. Among them is Birdie who arrives in England with her Cambridge educated husband Jack and their young son Mohin.From a life of comfort and the beauty of East Africa, they are now penniless refugees in cold, grey London. A new life. A fresh start.But Birdie’s plans to succeed are put to the test when an innocent victim reaches out for help and the reverberations from Idi Amin’s reign of terror are felt once again…An uplifting tale of triumph over despair – and not turning away from our true path.

Men of War: The Fighting Few Who Took on the World


Hannes Wessels - 2020
    

A Family Affair: A Novel


Sue Nyathi - 2020
    As leaders of their church, The Kingdom of God, Pastor Abraham and his wife Phumla are guiding the community of Bulawayo in faith, while trying to keep the different branches of their family intact.Independent and feisty Xoliswa returns home, after a hiatus abroad, hoping for a fresh start and a chance to steer the family business; rebellious Yandisa has met the love of her life and is finally getting her act together; while dutiful newlywed Zandile is slowly becoming disillusioned with her happily ever after.The Mafus always present a united front, but as their personal lives unravel, devastating secrets are revealed that threaten to tear the family apart. For how long will they be able to hide behind the façade of a picture-perfect family?

The Upside of Down: How Chaos and Uncertainty Breed Opportunity in South Africa


Bruce Whitfield - 2020
    You are wasting your time.In a world of fake news, deep-fakes, manipulated feeds of information and divisive social-media agendas, it's easy to believe that our time is the most challenging in human history. It's just not true.It is a time of extraordinary opportunity. But only if you have the right mindset. Fear of the future breeds inaction and leads to strategic paralysis. We put off decisions until we can have certainty. We look for signals. We wait. And while we do that, the world moves on around us.Problem-solvers thrive in chaotic and uncertain times because they act to change their future. Winners recognise that in a world of growing uncertainty, you need to resort to actions on things you can control.And the only things over which you have absolute control are your attitude and your mindset. These, in turn, determine the actions you will take and that will define your future.A robust mindset is the one common characteristic Bruce Whitfield has identified in two decades of interrogating how South Africa's billionaires and start-up mavericks think differently. They are not naive Pollyannas. They don't ignore risk or hope that problems will go away. They constantly measure, manage, consider and weigh up opportunities in a tumultuous sea of uncertainty and find ways around obstacles.If, as Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Shiller suggests, the stories we tell affect economic outcomes, then we need to tell different stories amidst the noise and haste of a rapidly evolving world.

The Street Hawker's Apprentice


Kabir Kareem-Bello - 2020
    Vipaar, who has been making a living as a hawker of random necessities on the streets of Lagos, finds Temilola and, after a violent first encounter, reluctantly takes him under his wing.They form a strong bond as they strive to make a meagre living selling mobile phone chargers to passing motorists on the dangerous highways of Lagos. The boys navigate the ruthless underbelly of Lagos and learn just how far they will go to protect themselves and each other. When tragedy strikes, their bond is broken and they are forced to separate from each other. Will the two friends find each other again after they both face increasing brutality, pain and sorrow? Or will their destinies have diverged enough to tear them apart forever?

The Last Lions of Africa: Stories from the Frontline in the Battle to Save a Species


Anthony Ham - 2020
    Haunted by the idea that they might disappear from the planet in our lifetime, he ventured deep into Sub-Saharan wilderness, seeking answers from conservation researchers, zoologists, local activists, and traditional peoples alike as to why lions are disappearing and what can be done to save them from extinction.In The Last Lions, Anthony brings readers with him on his quest, along the way revealing the latest extraordinary science surrounding the earth's dwindling lion populations and their surprising relationship to mankind. Each chapter is part gripping campfire story, part deeply researched investigation of lion habitats, and a jumping off point to explore larger mysteries of the natural world. Through Anthony's vivid storytelling - which weaves together natural history, ancient lore, and multidisciplinary science - we glimpse a world where human populations are growing and wild lands are shrinking; where lions and indigenous peoples fight not for reign of the land but for their very existence. By the book's end, readers will be enlightened, entertained, and engaged with the fate of these embattled creatures and the surprising ways they might be saved.

Applying the Blood: How to Release the Life and Power of Jesus' Sacrifice


Derek Prince - 2020
     “They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” - Revelation 12:11 (NIV)   While many Christians believe that Jesus purchased all we need at the cross, few of us grasp the true power of His blood and its vital relevance to our daily lives.   In this essential guide for every believer, honored Christian leader and Bible teacher, Derek Prince, helps you understand and apply the power of Jesus’ blood to your everyday life.   Discover… The seven-fold sprinkling of Jesus’ blood The four dimensions of applying the blood The importance of approaching God’s throne with confidence The power of proclamation  If you believe in Jesus’ death and resurrection, but have never witnessed the supernatural power of His blood at work in your life, this book is for you.   What might happen in your life today as you Apply the blood of Jesus?

The Rhino Crash: A Memoir of Conservation, Unlikely Friendships and Self-Discovery


Nick Newman - 2020
    

Ogadinma Or, Everything Will Be All Right


Ukamaka Olisakwe - 2020
    After a rape and unwanted pregnancy leave her exiled from her family in Kano, thwarting her plans to go to university, she is sent to her aunt's in Lagos and pressured into a marriage with an older man. When their whirlwind romance descends into abuse and indignity, Ogadinma is forced to channel her independence and resourcefulness to escape a fate that appears all but inevitable. Ogadinma, the UK debut by Ukamaka Olisakwe, introduces a heroine for whom it is impossible not to root, and announces the author as a gifted chronicler of the patriarchal experience.‘An intimate and dazzling exploration of the life and times of a young Nigerian woman whose move to the capital city of Lagos leads to a series of encounters, which are by turns disorienting, revelatory and tragic.’ Christopher Merrill, author of Self-Portrait with Dogwood‘Written in vivid, engaging prose, this is the story of one woman’s journey to independence.’ Chinelo Okparanta, author of Under the Udala Trees and Happiness, Like Water: Stories

The High Table


Temi Wilkey - 2020
    Look- there's no easy way of saying this, but… Leah and I are getting married.The dresses are chosen, the venue's been booked and the RSVPs are flooding in. But with her wedding to Leah drawing nearer, Tara's future is thrown into jeopardy when her Nigerian parents refuse to attend. This kind of love is unheard of, they say. It's not African.High above London, suspended between the stars, three of Tara's ancestors are jolted from their eternal rest. Stubborn and opinionated, they keep watch as family secrets are spilled and the rift widens between Tara and her parents. Can these representatives of generations passed keep the family together? And will Tara's decision ever get their blessing?An epic family drama played out between the heavens and earth, The High Table is the hilarious and heart-breaking debut play from Temi Wilkey.

What Kind of Girl?


Caroline Kautsire - 2020
    Instead, she chooses to stand out by taking risks that are curious beyond what is proper, leading to disapproval and harsh consequences. At nine years old, she finds herself enrolled in a high school at a boarding school far from her home and parents. Alone, she must finally answer the question “What kind of girl are you?” for herself.

The Last Giants: The Rise and Fall of the African Elephant


Levison Wood - 2020
    Fifty years ago, Africa was home to just over 1.3 million elephants, but by 1990 the number had halved. Meanwhile in the span of a lifetime, the human population has more than doubled.In Levison Wood's The Last Giants, he explores the rapid decline of one of the world's favourite animals. Filled with stories from his own time spent travelling with elephants in Africa, the book is a passionate wake-up call for this endangered species we take for granted. The Last Giants was written to inspire us all to act - to learn more and help save the species from permanent extinction.

Formation: The Making of Nigeria From Jihad to Amalgamation


Fola Fagbule - 2020
    Formation challenges the orthodox understanding of Nigeria’s past as merely a product of colonial interference, revealing an incredibly complicated portrait of a nation with a tangled history, where slavery, violence and instability was and remains a primary organising principle for elite competition and political negotiations.Influential figures loom large over the narrative including: Usman dan Fodio, the revolutionary Islamic reformer and founder of the Sokoto Caliphate, Efunroye Tinubu, the prominent slave-trader and political figure, Fredrick Lugard, British colonial administrator, Nana Asma’u, revered poet and teacher, Samuel Ajayi-Crowther, Yoruba linguist and first Nigerian Anglican Bishop, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, political campaigner, suffragist and mother to Fela Kuti, maverick British statesman and industrialist, Joseph Chamberlain, alongside other well-known and many less familiar names. Formation uses colourful character sketches and first-hand reporting to show how local events and characters are intertwined with global occurrences over the period. Coming on the 60th anniversary of the end of formal colonial rule in Nigeria, Formation arrives at a critical time when the world is reawakening to the struggles of Black people re-ignited by the police killing of George Floyd and the activism around Black Lives Matter. This book grounds these struggles, guiding readers into the 19th century events of Africa’s most populous country where through slavery and colonialism, the terms of trade were calculated in human currency, creating an environment of deep-seated mistrust, animosity and a universally morbid and hard to dislodge political economy.

Prayers from the Far Quarter


Roger DeBlanck - 2020
    Its historical breadth and sweep traverse three continents to chronicle the extraordinary life of Isa Muhammad Rahman, an African Muslim. Isa’s unforgettable voice and distinct prose style narrate his journey that begins in 1850 from the Bornu kingdom of sub-Saharan Africa. From his capture in his homeland, to his sojourn in Victorian England, to his enslavement on a cotton plantation in the antebellum South, to his work with the American Anti-Slavery Society in the North, and finally through his sacrifices as a Union soldier, Isa relies on the guidance of Islam to strengthen his humanity as he struggles for survival and freedom. During his efforts to gain inclusion for himself and his family as American citizens, Isa’s journey affords him remarkable opportunities to share Islam’s message of accepting people of all races and faiths. His quest for equality and a just society leads his life on a path where he meets and works alongside figures as majestic and revered as Charles Dickens, Queen Victoria, William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Tubman. In its totality Prayers from the Far Quarter honors the sacrifices and contributions of Muslims throughout American history, and through the voice of Isa Muhammad Rahman the novel resonates with the great peace and compassion at the heart of Islam.

Toubab Tales: The Joys and Trials of Expat Life in Africa


Rob Baker - 2020
    "The music is amazing," they said. "And you get ten hours of sunshine every day." So I did, and this is the story of my three years in a poor yet incredibly rich West African country; a story of hope, warmth and positivity in the face of adversity.As a Toubab (Westerner) in Mali, I acquired many new skills: how to deal with persistent street sellers, how to use a 'long drop' toilet, surviving malaria and dysentery, enduring a climate constantly hotter than my own body, breaking down hours from anywhere, and making a 17-hour river journey on the roof of an oversized canoe. And all in the aid of ethnomusicology: the science of music in culture. My story closes amidst machine-gun fire, curfews and sudden farewells as the country spirals into chaos following a military coup; not the best weeks my life, but certainly among the most interesting.

AFROSURF


Mami Wata - 2020
    This unprecedented collection is compiled by Mami Wata, a Cape Town surf company that fiercely believes in the power of African surf. Mami Wata brings together its co-founder Selema Masekela and some of Africa's finest photographers, thinkers, writers, and surfers to explore the unique culture of eighteen coastal countries, from Morocco to Somalia, Mozambique, South Africa, and beyond. Packed with over fifty essays, AFROSURF features surfer and skater profiles, thought pieces, poems, photos, illustrations, ephemera, recipes, and a mini comic, all wrapped in an astounding design that captures the diversity and character of Africa.A creative force of good in their continent, Mami Wata sources and manufactures all their wares in Africa and works with communities to strengthen local economies through surf tourism. With this mission in mind, Mami Wata is donating 100% of their proceeds to support two African surf therapy organizations, Waves for Change and Surfers Not Street Children.

Sirens: Tales of Youth and Love


Leroy Mthulisi Ndlovu - 2020
    This short story collection is that whore: lovable in the extreme, uniquely appealing and with just enough hints at horror to keep you reading and wishing you could stop. You will keep reading.Ndlovu’s characters are nothing like you’ve seen before. They are charismatic, distinctive, tragic, relatable and best of all, they are proudly, undeniably Bulawayo.A young barely-functioning alcoholic finds love in the midst of a haunting by his mother’s ghost and loses that love in the most heartbreaking way. A young boy discovers he’s been made into a cannibal without his knowledge or consent. There’s another young man who walks into the light - and back again. Do not make the mistake of thinking it’s a collection about young men with myriad problems - there are women too, and what women. The penny whores who aren’t quite what they seem. The lover who reads The Prophet and takes sexual liberation to new heights, with tragic consequences and of course the inimitable one known only as The Thoroughbred.Ndlovu writes with the lyrical skill of a master, seamlessly weaving isiNdebele into his tales so that it weaves through the collection reminding readers that is a collection conceived and written in the City of Kings and true to those kings, there is no mercy for the uninitiated. As the adage goes: ngeshwa ke isiNdebele asitolikwa.Some of the stories are shocking, all of them are appealing. From layout to subject to language and tone, this is a collection the like of which has not yet been published, and writing like you’ve never read: a perfect read for all of Bulawayo and indeed all of the literary world. The stories capture every sense to detail the beauty and expose the horrors of the city’s underbelly along with its surrounds. If you know Bulawayo you’ll enjoy this collection and if you don’t, you’ll wish you did.Reviewer: Noluthando LeonorahInstagram: @curateprettyTwitter: @beautysdaughter

The Profiler Diaries: From the case files of a police psychologist


Gérard Labuschagne - 2020
    

Moral Hazards


Tim Martin - 2020
    After she is humiliated by the loss of a high-profile case against a Nazi war criminal who had been hiding out in Canada, she looks for redemption in the world's largest refugee camp, Dadaab. Against the backdrop of a devastating African civil war, women refugees provide evidence to Anik that atrocities are happening where a UN peacekeeping operation has been deployed. Together with Omar, a renegade politician, Anik embarks on a quest for justice that takes her into deadly conflict with an ambitious UN general and a vicious warlord....

The Bodies That Move


Bunye Ngene - 2020
    Seeing no future in Nigeria, he is persuaded by an old schoolmate to migrate to Europe. In order to achieve this, he employs the services of smugglers.His journey takes him through many transit cities, safe houses and detention camps in Nigeria, Niger and war-torn Libya, and sees him cross the Sahara Desert. On his journey, he meets other travellers, each with unique stories. They are all united, however, by the desire for a better life in Europe.

Foreign Native: An African Journey


RW Johnson - 2020
    

burnin' oceans.


Mike Kleine - 2020
    Funereal pyres ring the sky hole / cell phone signals interrupted by atmospheric disturbance / everyone disappears / the world continues to blaze.

Between Everything and Nothing: The Journey of Seidu Mohammed and Razak Iyal and the Quest for Asylum


Joe Meno - 2020
    Seidu, who identifies as bisexual, lived under constant threat of exposureand violence in a country where same-sex acts are illegal. Razak’s life was also threatenedafter corrupt officials contrived to steal his rightful inheritance. Forced to flee their homeland, both men embarked on separate odysseys through the dangerous jungles and bureaucracies of South, Central, and North America. Like generations of asylum seekers before, they presented themselves legally at the U.S. border, hoping for sanctuary. Instead they were imprisoned in private detention facilities, released only after their asylum pleas were denied. Fearful of returning to Ghana, Seidu and Razak saw no choice but to attempt one final border crossing. Their journey north to Canada in the harsh, unforgiving winter proved more tragic than anything they had experienced before.Based on extensive interviews, Joe Meno’s intimate account builds upon the internationalmedia attention Seidu and Razak’s story has already received, highlighting the harrowingjourney of asylum seekers everywhere while adding dimension to one of the greatesthumanitarian concerns facing the world.

Finding Freckles (Diary of My Best Friend, Horsing Around #1)


Molly Lawson - 2020
    All Emma wants to be is a professional showjumper when she grows up. The only problem is, her mom can't afford to buy her a horse of her own to train with.An outride with her friends leads to the discovery of an abandoned gelding.As Emma works to restore the horse back to health, she is determined to adopt him as her own.But will her love be enough to overcome the obstacles that loom over their budding relationship?

The SADF and Cuito Cuanavale: A Tactical and Strategic Analysis


Leopold Scholtz - 2020
    This war is not fought with bullets or artillery shells, not with tanks or bombers, but rather with words. The war is, in effect, fought again on paper.”In 1987–1988 the dusty Angolan town of Cuito Cuanavale was the backdrop for the final battles of the Border War. Ever since the war ended, the fighting around Cuito has been the subject of a fierce public debate over who actually won the war.While the leadership of the former South African Defence Force (SADF) claims it was never defeated, the supporters of the Angolan MPLA government, Cuba and SWAPO insist that the SADF was vanquished on the battlefield. They contend that the SADF wanted to overrun Cuito Cuanavale and use it as a springboard for an advance on Luanda.But was Cuito Cuanavale ever really an objective of the SADF? Leopold Scholtz tackles this question by examining recently declassified documents in the SANDF archives, exploring the strategic and tactical decisions that shaped the six main battles, from the SADF’s stunning tactical success on the Lomba River to the grinding struggle for the Tumpo Triangle.His incisive analysis untangles what happens when war, politics and propaganda become entwined.

The Fugitives


Jamal Mahjoub - 2020
    The only problem is . . . the band no longer exists.Rushdy is a disaffected secondary school teacher and the son of an original Kamanga King. Determined to see a life beyond his own home, he sets out to revive the band. Aided by his unreliable best friend, all too soon an unlikely group are on their way, knowing the eyes of their country are on them.As the group moves from the familiarity of Khartoum to the chaos of Donald Trump's America, Jamal Mahjoub weaves a gently humorous and ultimately universal tale of music, belonging and love.

My Soca Birthday Party: with Jollof Rice and Steel Pans


Yolanda T. Marshall - 2020
    Anne loves the sound of Caribbean soca music played on steel pans and West Africa’s spicy jollof rice. Hence, her friends planned to celebrate her special day with a fusion of sounds and traditional dishes from Caribbean and African countries — a representation of their diverse yet comparable cultures. Anne was in for a real surprise.

The Greedy Barbarian: A Novel


Kakwenza Rukirabashaija - 2020
    and desperately need sanctuary, human kindness and divine favour. The new country gives them sanctuary, the natives show them kindness and the local spirits do the miraculous on their behalf. But can Kayibanda be as gracious to his new country as it has been to him? Can he overcome his profoundly flawed nature, which appears to be hereditary?

Black Love: Modern poetry that heals the body and soul of depression through feminine energy (Milk and Honey feminismo)


Thomas Ayim - 2020
     everyone wants to survive and thrive that's why we seek pleasure of happiness in a treasure of gold. and i don't mind what society thinks about me all the time cause confidence without clarity is a disaster in life. "HIM" jericho brown. now look at your skin brown and radiant with a touch of the sweetness of a stretch that has always swelled the blues in me. Black love is not only a reflective collection of poetry but also, a life Walkman ― as poetickofi has carefully sandwiched it with thrilling paintings and photography by some of the most talented African American artists in the world. It is split into seven chapters, each of which gives you an opportunity to crawl, walk, run and eventually fly your way out of loneliness, loss, depression, trauma, heartbreak, abuse and slavery while reminding you about how unique and amazing you’re. “There is always something that you can do”, and from seeing so many women and men who don't believe they can fully overcome their pain--or even know where to begin — find out How to Overcome Your Emotional Wounds in order to Achieve Personal Growth in this life-changing little but yet invaluable book of poems and paintings amidst the fight for mental health and the fight against racism. emancipate yourself from mental slavery; none but ourselves can free our minds.

Unfair Game: An investigation into South Africa's captive-bred lion industry


Michael Ashcroft - 2020
    Over 11 pages of a single edition of the Mail on Sunday he showed why this sickening trade, which involves appalling cruelty to the ‘King of the Savannah’ from birth to death, has become a stain on the country.Unfair Game, to be published in June 2020, features the shocking results of a new inquiry Lord Ashcroft has carried out into South Africa’s lion business. In the book, he shows how tourists are unwittingly being used to support the abuse of lions; he details how lions are being tranquilised and then hunted in enclosed spaces; he urges the British government to ban imports of captive-bred lion trophies; and he demonstrates why Asia’s insatiable appetite for lion bones has become a multi-million dollar business linked to criminality and corruption which now underpins South Africa's captive lion industry.

Brick by Brick: Building Hope and Opportunity for Women Survivors Everywhere


Karen Sherman - 2020
    With her world--work, marriage, family--crashing down, she made the rash decision to move to Rwanda with her three sons. While her boys attended the international school, she worked to better the lives of women survivors of war. But as the survivors--Josephine, Ange, Grace, Euphraise, Debora, Yvette, and Teresa--shared their stories of grit and determination, building lives and raising families despite the brutal challenges of war, genocide, and inequality, Karen began to see how her work was connected to the abuse in her own past, and how it was preventing her from becoming the woman she wanted to be. The struggles of these survivors, she realized, were the struggles of women everywhere, regardless of place or circumstance: striving to balance work and family, fighting for real options and choices, trying to make their voices heard. The strength of these women helped Karen find her own way through conflict zones and battles with corrupt politicians. In the end, the journey brings her home to her family and to a renewed commitment to fighting for women around the world to live free from violence and abuse, in peace and with dignity.

The Army and Politics in Zimbabwe: Mujuru, the Liberation Fighter and Kingmaker


Blessing-Miles Tendi - 2020
    Based on the unparalleled primary interviews with informants in the army, intelligence services, police and ZANU PF elites, Blessing-Miles Tendi examines Mujuru's moments of triumph and his shortcomings in equal measure. From his undistinguished youth and poor upbringing in colonial Rhodesia's Chikomba region, his rapid rise to power, and role as the first black commander of independent Zimbabwe's national army, this is an essential record of one of the most controversial figures within the history of African liberation politics.

War Party: How the ANC's political killings are breaking South Africa


Greg Ardé - 2020
    

Seven Votes: How WWII Changed South Africa Forever


Richard Steyn - 2020
    Parliament’s narrow decision to go to war in 1939 led to a seismic upheaval throughout the 1940s: black people streamed in their thousands from rural areas to the cities in search of jobs; volunteers of all races answered the call to go ‘up north’ to fight; and opponents of the Smuts government actively hindered the war effort by attacking soldiers and committing acts of sabotage. World War Two upended South Africa’s politics, ruining attempts to forge white unity and galvanising opposition to segregation among African, Indian and coloured communities. It also sparked debates among nationalists, socialists, liberals and communists such as the country had never previously experienced.As Richard Steyn recounts so compellingly in 7 Votes, the war’s unforeseen consequence was the boost it gave to nationalism, both Afrikaner and African, that went on to transform the country in the second half of the 20th century. The book brings to life an extraordinary cast of characters, including wartime leader Jan Smuts, DF Malan and his National Party colleagues, African nationalists from Anton Lembede and AB Xuma to Walter Sisulu and Nelson Mandela, the influential Indian activists Yusuf Dadoo and Monty Naicker, and many others.

ArabLit Quarterly Summer 2020: the CRIME Issue


M. Lynx Qualey - 2020
    

Cape Town: A Place Between


Henry Trotter - 2020
    Between two oceans, between first and third worlds, between east and west. So too the majority of its citizens, a people between black and white, native and settler, African and European. The Cape coloureds. This tween-ness complicates and perplexes. It threatens key conceptions we have about the histories, identities, and cultures of those who live on the continent. It makes us wonder how we can understand a city that is most assuredly in Africa, though not--seemingly--of it?By exploring these liminal spaces of tween-ness--between the Cape's breath-taking beauty and its shattering violence, between its creative cosmopolitanism and its crude racial divisions, between its glitzy wealth and its grinding poverty--we can begin to understand the soul of this town. Haunted by its past, unsure of its future. Always emerging, never arriving. A sun-drenched peninsula best viewed through a prism noir.Compact and concise, this book allows readers to quickly identify the unique pulse of the city, its throbbing historical, social, cultural and political beat that underlies the transactions between all Capetonians. It is not a guidebook, but a perfect companion to one, filling in the intimate details that other books leave out.Written in accessible, punchy prose, Cape Town: A Place Between offers a portrait rendered with humor, wit and passion, based on the author's twenty-year relationship with the Cape.

Through the Leopard's Gaze


Njambi McGrath - 2020
    Thirteen-year-old Njambi, fearing her assailant would return to finish her, courageously escaped, walking through the night in the Kenyan countryside, risking wild animals, robbers and murderers, before being picked up by two shabbily dressed but safe men. She buries the memories of that fateful day and night, and years later ends up in London with a British husband and children. Then one day a simple unassuming wedding invitation arrives in her mailbox causing her to have to confront the remnants of a past she had thought was behind her. This is a book about survival, and courage when all else fails. It’s a searingly honest examination of human cruelty and strength in equal measure.

The Kingdom of Kush: A Captivating Guide to an Ancient African Kingdom in Nubia That Once Ruled Egypt


Captivating History - 2020
    

Closing the Gap: The Fourth Industrial Revolution in Africa


Tshilidzi Marwala - 2020
    

The Mabamba Return, A Historical Novel


John B. Franz - 2020
    

But Where Are You Really From?: On Identity, Humanhood and Hope


Amanda Khozi Mukwahi - 2020
    Exploring her experiences of racism and how we need to share a diversity of stories to prevent dangerous assumptions and stereotyping, she challenges polarising perceptions and offers an uplifting celebration of universal connections of identity, hope and what it means to be human.

As Big as the Sky


Carolyn Rose - 2020
    But when Caleb has to leave home to attend a good school, Prisca misses him terribly. Hoping to earn enough money to visit him, Prisca begs a local peddler to sell her crafts—but no one buys what she’s made. However, thanks to Prisca’s kindness and compassion, her dreams of reuniting with Caleb just may come true.

Love and Hiplife


Nana Prah - 2020
    It doesn’t matter who dies, leaves her high and dry, or hates her guts, she’s on fire. But, her supervisor wants to prove just how much he’d love to see her fail by throwing obstacles to thwart her from reaching her goal. Desperate for help and nowhere else to turn, she’s forced to ask for the assistance of the hiplife artist who once saved her from a nasty fall. She finds that their scorching attraction is a problem and is determined to tamp her rising emotions because nothing will stop her from getting what she set out to accomplish.Blaise Ayoma is on the verge of taking African Francophone countries by storm with his new style of music. Learning how to sing in French without butchering the beautiful language is harder than he thought. Multi-linguist, Lamisi is the key to his success. When his presence in her life puts her in danger, will he end the budding relationship in order to keep her safe?

The Magic Doll: A Children's Book Inspired by African Art


Adrienne Yabouza - 2020
    Her mother had difficulty getting pregnant, so she seeks help in the form of a doll which she treats like a human baby, carrying it on her back and covering it with kisses. Months go by and finally the woman's belly begins to grow! This beautiful story explores the Akua-Ba fertility figures of the Akan people of Ghana, while also depicting the deep love a mother has for her children. �lodie Nouhen's subtle, gorgeous illustrations combine collage and prints that are reminiscent of traditional African art, while remaining uniquely contemporary. Each spread communicates the look and feel of West Africa--the blazing yellow of the sun, the deep blue of the sky, the richly patterned textiles, and vibrant flora and fauna. Adrienne Yabouza's text echoes the rhythms of life in her homeland--the Central African Republic. The book closes with a short introduction to African art and the importance of fertility statues in African cultures.

Note Worthy


Dhasi Mwale - 2020
    He'd abandoned her when she needed him most. She should be fuming. Right? But Wezi's always been her weakness and maybe this time things will be different.

Africa State of Mind: Contemporary Photography Reimagines a Continent


Ekow Eshun - 2020
    Both a summation of new photographic practice from the last decade and a compelling survey of the ways in which contemporary African photographers are engaging with ideas of “Africanness,” Africa State of Mind is a timely collection of those photographers seeking to capture the experience of what it means to “be African.”Presented in four thematic sections—“Hybrid Cities,” “Inner Landscapes,” “Zones of Freedom,” and “Myth and Memory”—each part presents selections of work by a new wave of African photographers who are looking both outward and inward: capturing life among the sprawling cities of the continent, turning the continent’s history into the source of resonant new myths, and exploring questions of gender, sexuality, and identity.With over 300 photographs by more than fifty photographers, Africa State of Mind is a mesmerizing survey of the most dynamic scenes in contemporary photography and an introduction to the creative figures making them.

Jihadists of North Africa and the Sahel


Alexander Thurston - 2020
    Yet on closer examination, jihadist movements are immersed in politics, negotiating political relationships not just with the forces surrounding them, but also within their own ranks. Drawing on case studies from North Africa and the Sahel - including Algeria, Libya, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mauritania - this study examines jihadist movements from the inside, uncovering their activities and internal struggles over the past three decades. Highlighting the calculations that jihadist field commanders and clerics make, Alexander Thurston shows how leaders improvise, both politically and religiously, as they adjust to fast-moving conflicts. Featuring critical analysis of Arabic-language jihadist statements, this book offers unique insights into the inner workings of jihadist organisations and sheds new light on the phenomenon of mass-based jihadist movements and proto-states.

Fine Maple


Emem Bassey - 2020
    She is the description of what society calls an 'old cargo', a woman with kids whom no sane man would marry. She is okay with this reality and only lives to take care of her kids and grow her business.Until Bass shows up at her door. He’s everything that’s wrong – he’s younger by seven years, he’s kind of an online celebrity, he’s her neighbour and her only friend’s cousin. It was a disaster waiting to happen but Bass thinks otherwise. Can Agnes dare believe his convincing words?

Africa First!: Igniting a Growth Revolution


Jakkie Cilliers - 2020
    

She Down There


Lynton Francois Burger - 2020
    Her name is her destiny: half woman, half sea creature. Down with the octopus she dives. She swims out beyond the waves with the sea lions and the orcas. She rolls with the sea otters in the kelp. She rests in the intertidal – that place which is half sea, half land. When the winter storms break, she shelters on the reefs, deep below the thrashing waves, with the rockfish and the wolf eel. She sees all in the sea. She feels all. The sea has always been in Claire Lutrísque’s blood. Descended from Canada’s native Haida people, she is hurled by tragedy on a southward path, to the warm waters of Mozambique, where she joins the fight to safeguard the region’s coral reefs. Navy diver Klaas Afrikaner first swam into these same waters on a covert military mission. Seven years later, he is languishing as a divemaster in the sleepy coastal town of Tofo. But the shark-fin trade is threatening the only thing that keeps him going. So he too must rise to his calling. A shared love of the ocean and a deep desire to protect it brings these kindred spirits together. Steeped in the myths of the sea, Lynton Francois Burger’s novel is as lyrical as it is exhilarating. Part ecological thriller, part tender love story, She Down There is a timely song to the world’s oceans and the creatures living in them.

Guardians: The Awakening


David A. Atta - 2020
    In desperation she casts her fate, mantle, and relics of power 400 years into the future, into the hands of a teenage girl: Hadiza.With no say in the matter, university student Hadiza Ibrahim finds she has inherited Queen Amina’s enemies; evil and powerful beings from another dimension hell-bent on the destruction of her Northern kin. But she also receives the Queen’s mighty weapons and supernatural abilities.She sets out with the one ally she can trust, evading enemies on all sides, from the forests of Zamfara to the hills of Abuja on a quest to fulfill Queen Amina’s task and become the new Guardian of the North.

Finding Soul, From Silicon Valley to Africa: A Travel Memoir and Personal Journey Through Twenty Countries in Africa


Kurt Davis - 2020
    

War and Peace with the Beasts: A History of Our Relationships with Animals


Brian Griffith - 2020
    Basically, one culture’s animal partner is often another culture’s nightmare from hell. Naturally, I wonder how relations between people and animals got to be so different around the world. How did it happen that some cultures treat bats, snakes, wolves, or ravens as embodiments of evil, while other people treat the same animals with affection or even reverence?”Our wars with the animals go way back. Beyond the light cast by our prehistoric campfires, the eyes glowing in the night seemed to represent a great hostile force. As we began to cultivate crops and husband a few favoured animals, we generally regarded other creatures as threats to our chosen few. Using the logic of war, we sought to maximize the populations of certain creatures, and the destruction of others. In the past, that war effort was our great crusade for the advancement of civilization as we knew it. The war had a frontier, a front line, and an ongoing battle on the home front. Expanding outward from our various cradles of civilization, we progressively “tamed” the forests and grasslands, converting them to monocrop plantations or pastures. Then we had to defend our monocrops from encroaching weeds, insects, and wild animals.In this immediately engaging, story- and fact-filled page-turner of a book, Brian Griffith looks at the range of ways we relate to animals and the stories we tell about them. He asks how we choose whether buddyhood, fearful respect, businesslike predation, or genocidal war is the most appropriate response to each species we meet. He watches how our treatment of “inferior beings” affects our treatment of “inferior people,” and traces some of the chain reactions we unleash when we try to weed out species we don’t like. “Without much hope of making animals fit my personal preferences,” he writes, “I wonder how good our relations can get.”Media endorsement:“Griffith invites us into the ebb, flow, and evolution of our complex and ambivalent relationships with animals of all kinds – from wolves, dogs, snakes and cows to monarch butterflies, spiders and microbes – from pets to pests. This book is an accessible, fascinating and compelling revelation, urgently needed to regenerate a world worth living in together.” -- Tom Atlee, Research Director for the Wise Democracy Project; Founder and Director of The Co-Intelligence Institute

Beautiful Mess


Mukami Ngari - 2020
    The only man she loves is the one she can never be with.Is their love strong enough to overcome the dark past?

Sahel: Art and Empires on the Shores of the Sahara


Alisa LaGamma - 2020
    This is the first book to present a comprehensive overview of the diverse cultural achievements and traditions of the region, spanning more than 1,300 years from the pre-Islamic period through the 19th century. It features some of the earliest extant art from Africa as well as such iconic works as sculptures by the Dogon and Bamana peoples of Mali. Essays by leading international scholars discuss the art, architecture, archaeology, literature, philosophy, religion, and history of the Sahel, exploring the unique cultural landscape in which these ancient communities flourished. Richly illustrated and brilliantly argued, Sahel brings to life the enduring creativity of the different peoples who lived, traded, and traveled through this crossroads of the world.

Becoming Kwame Ture


Amandla Thomas-Johnson - 2020
    But Kwame Ture lived on for another 30 years and he was as politically active as he had been in the ‘60s. At the time of his death, Ture had become perhaps the foremost Pan-Africanist of his day. He co-founded (with Kwame Nkrumah) and led the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party, arguably the most significant Pan-African political party in its heyday, and he established himself as the leading black advocate for Palestinian rights. Why do we know so little about the last 30 years of his life?

The Political Life of an Epidemic: Cholera, Crisis and Citizenship in Zimbabwe


Simukai Chigudu - 2020
    Cholera, however, was much more than a public health crisis: it represented the nadir of the country's deepening political and economic crisis of 2008. This study focuses on the political life of the cholera epidemic, tracing the historical origins of the outbreak, examining the social pattern of its unfolding and impact, analysing the institutional and communal responses to the disease, and marking the effects of its aftermath. Across different social and institutional settings, competing interpretations and experiences of the cholera epidemic created charged social and political debates. In his examination of these debates which surrounded the breakdown of Zimbabwe's public health infrastructure and failing bureaucratic order, the scope and limitations of disaster relief, and the country's profound levels of livelihood poverty and social inequality, Simukai Chigudu reveals how this epidemic of a preventable disease had profound implications for political institutions and citizenship in Zimbabwe.

One More Night


Rosemary Okafor - 2020
    With a world of uncertainty between them, they must determine if the reasons that tore them apart in the first place will do so again.Imelda has known one kind of love—hard, stressful and abusive. Then she crosses paths with Kolawole, a far cry from her usual taste in men. With an old debt to pay, forced loyalty and blackmail, can she walk away from an old relationship that threatens to tear her apart?Chinyeaka’s life has not been easy. But she’s determined to get the future she deserves by any means necessary.One More Night weaves the stories of these women as they search for love, second chances, forgiveness and self rediscovery.

Diamonds


Armin Greder - 2020
    In Africa for example . . . A powerful parable that explores how the desire for endless riches perpetuates chains of inequality and corruption.

Into Africa A personal Journey


Yvonne Blackwood - 2020
    Into Africa, a Personal Journey begins in Nigeria with exposure to the tight control by the military that causes Blackwood to experience fear as never before. The journey takes her on an exploration of a new mysterious world where she experiences joy and wonderment as she shares in the lives of family members, friends and new acquaintances.In Ghana, her respect for human beings, and her sense of adventure along with destiny, lead her to meet Adamson. Determined to see it all, she finds herself in desperate situations, each mysteriously resolved by strangers. Peppered with nostalgic flashbacks to her native Jamaica, and colourful descriptions of West Africa, the memoir resonates with unique poignancy, a love of people, and Blackwood’s growing spiritual quest for her African roots among the proud Ashanti people. Down to earth, vulnerable yet fearless, Blackwood shares with us a small part of her life as it unfolds.

Gospel Haymanot: A Constructive Theology and Critical Reflection on African and Diasporic Christianity


Vince L. Bantu - 2020
    

Handa's Noisy Night


Eileen Browne - 2020
    The latest tale in the best-selling Handa series.When Handa sleeps over at her friend Akeyo’s house, she hears lots of strange sounds in the night: snorts, chattering, rattling, squeaks, slurps, wails, a big thud. Akeyo says it’s just her family, laughing, talking, playing music, riding a bike, drinking their bedtime milk. Or maybe the baby crying. Or a door slamming. But is she right? Young readers will be happy to be in on the joke as a sequence of animals pay a visit on the facing pages: a pig, fox, porcupine, bat, pangolin, bush baby, owl, and woodpecker. Illustrated in luminous colors, Eileen Brown’s humorous take on things that go bump in the night includes endpapers picturing and naming all the nocturnal creatures.

Vintage Postcards from the African World: In the Dignity of Their Work and the Joy of Their Play


Jessica B. Harris - 2020
    Harris has collected postcards depicting Africans and their descendants in the American diaspora. They are presented for the first time in this exquisite volume. Vintage Postcards from the African World: In the Dignity of Their Work and the Joy of Their Play brings together more than 150 images, providing a visual document of more than a century of work in agricultural and culinary pursuits and joy in entertainments, parades, and celebrations.Organized by geography--Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States--as well as by the types of scenes depicted--the farm, the garden, and the sea; the marketplace; the vendors and the cooks; leisure, entertainments, and festivities--the images capture the dignity of the labors of everyday life and the pride of festive occasions. Superb and rare images demonstrate everything from how Africans and their descendants dressed to what tools they used to how their entertainments provided relief from toil.Three essays accompany the postcards, one of which details Harris's collection and the collecting process. A second presents suggestions on how to interpret the cards. A final essay gives brief information on the history of postcards and postcard dating and its increasing use and value to scholars.

Diversity, Violence, and Recognition: How Recognizing Ethnic Identity Promotes Peace


Elisabeth King - 2020
    In Diversity, Violence, and Recognition, Elisabeth King and Cyrus Samii examine the reasons thatgovernments choose to recognize ethnic identities and the consequences of such choices for peace. The authors introduce a theory on the merits and risks of recognizing ethnic groups in state institutions, pointing to the crucial role of ethnic demographics. Through a global quantitative analysis andin-depth case studies of Burundi, Rwanda, and Ethiopia, they find promise in recognition. Countries that adopt recognition go on to experience less violence, more economic vitality, and more democratic politics, but these effects depend on which ethnic group is in power. King and Samii's findingsare important for scholars studying peace, democracy, and development, and practically relevant to policymakers attempting to make these concepts a reality.

Not Just Another Interlude


Lara T. Kareem - 2020
    Fate has its own plan and puts her in the path of the man of her dreams, Jide.Jide isn’t afraid to go after what he wants. Crossing Sewa’s path more than once, he doesn’t leave it up to chance because there is something special about her.When their budding relationship suffers a huge blow, Jide will have to prove that love is worth fighting for, to Sewa.

A Place Called Happiness


Diana Anyango - 2020
    When the architect of her pain, her mother, crawls back seeking forgiveness, Geraldine is not ready to let her into her life and leaves home.Brandon Odhiambo is a broken man. His wife ran off with his best friend and he must stay strong to take care of his daughter. Love is the last thing on his mind. Until he meets Geraldine.Desire so strong brews between them. But their past lives intrude, and love is put to the test. Can they find a place called happiness, together?

A Slave Between Empires: A Transimperial History of North Africa


M'hamed Oualdi - 2020
    As a youth, Husayn was brought from Circassia to Turkey, where he was sold as a slave. In Tunis, he ascended to the rank of general before French conquest forced his exile to the northern shores of the Mediterranean. His death was followed by wrangling over his estate that spanned a surprising array of actors: Ottoman Sultan Abd�lhamid II and his viziers; the Tunisian, French, and Italian governments; and representatives of Muslim and Jewish diasporic communities.A Slave Between Empires investigates Husayn's transimperial life and the posthumous battle over his fortune to recover the transnational dimensions of North African history. M'hamed Oualdi places Husayn within the international context of the struggle between Ottoman and French forces for control of the Mediterranean amid social and intellectual ferment that crossed empires. Oualdi considers this part of the world not as a colonial borderland but as a central space where overlapping imperial ambitions transformed dynamic societies. He explores how the transition between Ottoman rule and European colonial domination was felt in the daily lives of North African Muslims, Christians, and Jews and how North Africans conceived of and acted upon this shift. Drawing on a wide range of Arabic, French, Italian, and English sources, A Slave Between Empires is a groundbreaking transimperial microhistory that demands a major analytical shift in the conceptualization of North African history.

Breaking Ground: Transforming Mines to Vines


Heidi Kühn - 2020
     Roots of Peace offers a compelling path out of terror and a way to heal the wounds of war. Here is an “economics of peace” grounded in practical solutions to entrenched global problems. The book is written from the point of view of a mother of four with a strong background in business and a humanitarian vocation. Kuhn is a woman of faith who seized an unprecedented opportunity to join an international cause: from the basement of her California home, Kuhn created a nongovernmental organization of groundbreaking impact. The result of her efforts, Roots of Peace, has propelled her into a leading role on the world stage, where she takes her place at the table with secretaries-general, popes, prime ministers, and presidents to champion the needs of families and children throughout the world. In telling her own story of engagement, Kuhn inspires ordinary people to join together to do the extraordinary—beat swords into ploughshares and turn seeds of hate into seeds of peace.

Crossroads: An Anthology of Resilience + Hope by Young Somali Writers


Marian A. Hassan - 2020
    

The Divine Song


Abdourahman A. Waberi - 2020
    Paris is an old Sufi cat who keeps watch over his brilliant yet pathetic master, Sammy Kamau-Williams, the Enchanter. In Sammy, we recognize the African American singer-composer, poet, and novelist Gil Scott-Heron who is best known for his song “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.”   ​The Divine Song takes us from the shores of Africa to Sammy’s ancestors’ arrival in the Americas in the hold of the slave ships. From there, Abdourahman A. Waberi takes the characters from Tennessee—under the tutelage of Lili Williams, Sammy’s beloved African-born grandmother—to New York and the concert halls of Paris and Berlin, wherever blues and jazz find an enchanted audience. African tales, religious practices, segregation, the civil rights movement, addiction, and jail—Sammy’s life comes to encompass the whole of the African American experience. At a time when social and racial divisions have yet again come into sharp relief, this lyrical novel by one of African literature’s rising stars is necessary reading for anyone who celebrates the resilience of art.

Kwaito Bodies: Remastering Space and Subjectivity in Post-Apartheid South Africa


Xavier Livermon - 2020
    Drawing on fieldwork in Johannesburg's nightclubs and analyses of musical performances and recordings, Livermon applies a black queer and black feminist studies framework to kwaito. He shows how kwaito culture operates as an alternative politics that challenges the dominant constructions of gender and sexuality. Artists such as Lebo Mathosa and Mandoza rescripted notions of acceptable femininity and masculinity, while groups like Boom Shaka enunciated an Afrodiasporic politics. In these ways, kwaito culture recontextualizes practices and notions of freedom within the social constraints that the legacies of colonialism, apartheid, and economic inequality place on young South Africans. At the same time, kwaito speaks to the ways in which these legacies reverberate between cosmopolitan Johannesburg and the diaspora. In foregrounding this dynamic, Livermon demonstrates that kwaito culture operates as a site for understanding the triumphs, challenges, and politics of post-apartheid South Africa.

Conkers: Go To Africa (Conkers Go To #1)


T.A. Kapp - 2020
    She meets Gigglybop from the Tree People family. He pleads with her to travel to Africa to help stop some bad men from destroying the homes of the Mopane Tree People.Elle and her friend Ben, both agree and start on an adventure to Victoria Falls and the hidden world to save them. Elle is so happy and then sad to find her dad inside the Conker Tree, but he is stuck there, blocked from travelling through to home.They make a plan to trap Gogglyteef but he escapes to tunnels under Victoria Falls. Enlisting more help from Akashinga, the local Shona people, the Dung Beetle Army and Locust Soldiers they descend into the tunnels again to capture Gogglyteef.Gigglybop confronts him and tries to get him to surrender but is surprised to learn that Gogglyteef is working for someone else more powerful. However, he escapes before they can catch him by melting into a giant crystal, an escape route that bursts through the Zambezi River and floods the tunnels. They manage to get out before they fill up and must start all over again.Will they ever be able to capture him?Will dad be able to go home with Elle to see her mom?Who is the powerful one Gogglyteef reports too and how do they stop him?

Sapeurs: Ladies and Gentlemen of the Congo


Tariq Zaidi - 2020
    Its followers are known as »Sapeurs« (»Sapeuses« for women). Most have ordinary day jobs as taxi-drivers, tailors and gardeners, but as soon as they clock off they transform themselves into debonair dandies. Sashaying through the streets they are treated like rock stars – turning heads, bringing ‘joie de vivre’ to their communities and defying their circumstances. Traditionally passed down through the male line, many Congolese women and their children have recently begun donning designer suits. As Papa Wemba (1949–2016, Congolese singer and fashion icon who popularized Sape) once said: »White people invented the clothes, but we make an art of it.«

Long Walk to Nowhere


Allan Munn - 2020
    Its insanity props up autocrats who are controlling uncontrollably. Blind eyes are turned on the causes of the African refugees’ plight, as millions flee annihilation along their long roads to nowhere. The resulting human devastation is causing alarming global ripple effects.Eastern super powers shrewdly capitalise on Africa’s political stalemate whilst western nations remain impotent, hiding behind their post-colonial guilt syndromes.This story is a journey down a long road that focuses on answers. It seeks clarifications of misinformed western political perceptions of how, why and when post-colonial Africa’s long walks to freedom went so comprehensively wrong and why the world is suffering as a result.

The Land Wars: The Dispossession of the Khoisan and AmaXhosa in the Cape Colony


John Laband - 2020
    The central theme in this country’s colonial history is the dispossession of indigenous African societies by white settlers, and current calls for land restitution are based on this loss. Yet popular knowledge of the actual process by which Africans were deprived of their land is remarkably sketchy. This book recounts an important part of this history, describing how the Khoisan and Xhosa people were dispossessed and subjugated from the time that Europeans first arrived until the end of the Cape Frontier Wars (1779–1878). The Land Wars traces the unfolding hostilities involving Dutch and British colonial authorities, trekboers and settlers, and the San, Khoikhoin, Xhosa, Mfengu and Thembu people – as well as conflicts within these groups. In the process it describes the loss of land by Africans to successive waves of white settlers as the colonial frontier inexorably advanced. The book does not shy away from controversial issues such as war atrocities committed by both sides, or the expedient decision of some of the indigenous peoples to fight alongside the colonisers rather than against them. The Land Wars is an epic story, featuring well-known figures such as Ngqika, Lord Charles Somerset and his son, Henry, Andries Stockenström, Hintsa, Harry Smith, Sandile, Maqoma, Bartle Frere and Sarhili, and events such as the arrival of the 1820 Settlers and the Xhosa cattle-killing. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand South Africa’s past and present.