In Sindiwe Magona's Mother to Mother, the old cliché put yourself in my shoes takes an interesting and unheard of twist. It is an excellent novel that gives impelling testimony of history as a basis for the actions of youth. In the story she is the mother of an accused murderer speaking to the mother of the victim. She tries to explain her and her son's history so the mother of the victim could understand why or how her son would kill her daughter. At a glance you would think what! Or how dare she! But because Magona goes into such depth of her peoples' background and uses first person throughout the novel, you will find yourself empathizing with the trials of her people.

This book is riveting. The mother-daughter relationship is powerful. The mother-son relationship is heart wrenching and warming. I felt the pain of blacks in South Africa. The understandable rage of teens in an oppressive environment is so clearly described. The human spirit that helps people survive even the most miserable conditions is a thread through this book as well. This book is a powerful read. I feel like I have been given a window on the human condition.

Ms Magona explains without any excuses why Mxolisi is a murderer. As a mother during apartheid the possibilities for Mandisa, Mxolisi's mother to direct her son's future did not exist. Mxolisi grew up in an enviroment where whites equal sorrow, death, distraction, poverty to name but a few. He never got the oppurtunity to grow up knowing that there are people like Amy Biehl. There are people who do look at blacks, as human beings. No mother comes from the hospital with a murderer in her arms. Every child deserves a chance, read the book to find out what Mxolisi's chances were. The book will take you on a tour of South Africa, it's past, and the possibilities of the future.

I just got back from a two week safari in Tanzania and both of my guides raved about my book. They each had books with pictures of birds and animals, not actual photos. The descriptions in this book are accurate, the photos beautiful, and the price is well worth it. I ended up giving my copy to my guide when he took me to the Serengeti airstrip for my trip home. I'm ordering another copy now!

This is a great reference guide to African wildlife. It could be used on safari to identify some animals or acquire additional information about already well know animals. It can also be used at home to read about the animal behavior, habitats and national parks of Africa. The book has wonderful collection of photographs useful for identification of many species. It also lists national parks and other sanctuaries by country. There are photographs of different wildlife habitats and a chapter explaining the geography of African continent. This is a very useful book, which could be used in many different ways to enjoy or gather information about the wildlife of the African continent. I recommend this guide to anybody interested in the natural history of Africa.

This book gives you everything you need to know about the biogeography of Africa and many of the animals found in Africa. Pictures of the animals and land of Africa make it especialy helpful.

I have worked in Zimbabwe for two years as a photographer and film maker. Of Spirits and Madness gives western thinking a new vantage point. Remember, there is no reality only perception. One of the best books I have read on Shona culture. The spiritual basis of life forms all other truths in Africa. Great Book, wonderful to read.

I bought this book to be polite. When a friend of 10+ years writes a book... you buy it. And the day before his reading... you start the first chapter. What I did not expect was that I would absolutely inhale the text. My brain lit up with pleasure. There are so many good things about this book. Not only is the writing itself excellent, the information that Paul tucks into the narratives of each patient is downright fascinating. He takes up politics, economics, spirituality, culture, context, and mental health. The story of each patient's illness is refracted through Paul's Western training, his good heart, and his growing understanding of the local explanations for why things happen as they do. Along the way he provides a terrific set of curbside lectures about a wide spectrum of mental illnesses. He interweaves factual information about disease states with tender compassion for and curiosity about the people he served. I learned a lot from this book and plan to read it again. Maybe I should be polite more often....

Dr. Paul Linde's book "Of Spirits and Madness" is a wonderfully entertaining and insightful look into the culture and psyche of the Zimbabwean people. As an American psychiatrist in this third world African country, he becomes immersed in a cultural quagmire of ancestral spirits, evangelical Christianity and traditional healers all colliding with modern Western medical practices. The results, a train wreck of frequently amusing and sometimes very sad situations: experienes which challenged the author's intellectual and medical skills while raising questions in his own mind about the modern world's pursuit of indivudual gain and blatant consumption. This is a great book which will make all readers laugh, think and reevaluate one's own views of what is truly important. The best book I've read this year!

Frans Lanting had created marvelous book. His pictures portray the unique beauty of the region, convey the wildness of a place, and force a viewer to visit the place immediately. The photographs and text also urge the people to save this unique ecosystem. We realize the impact of water on the unique environment of the delta that supports the greatest variety of the flora and fauna in the world. At the same time these photographs make us realize what will be lost if the water will be gone. This book has inspired me even more after I visited the Okavango delta. It made me to relive my own experiences once again. After more than 5 years of its publication, this book is still the best pictorial work on Okavango delta. Simply, the greatest!

This is a terrific book to learn more about this region. I can't recommend the book enough. The photography is stunning and the narrative is just right. I only wish it didn't end.

Mr. Lanting is a unique and wonderful photographer who is a great help to all of us. His photos capture the wildlife of the Okavango as they are -- not postcard photos. He has a respect and reverence of this fragile ecosystem (unlike none other in the world) and all that lives and dies there that is captured in this book. Botswana is a special country with a unique ecosystem in the Delta that you should travel to. I've had the good fortune to experience Africa eight times, Botswana twice. I will return many times to the Delta as there is so much there to experience and each time its fresh. Let Mr. Lantings photos pursuade you to go.

This well written book documents the evolution of Safaris from the early Boer settlers through the modern camera hunters.

The author, Bartle Bull, wrote a very interesting overview of Safari, both in fact and in legend. Combining the histories of famous professional hunters and adventurers along with the mythological "Great White Hunter" of the silver screen, he brings a very candid and personal account based on his experiences in the bush. Highly recommended if you can find a copy, one of the best I've ever read.

Bartle Bull knows about Africa, having spent many of his formative years there among its beautiful places and with some of Africa's more interesting people. As proof that all of this was not wasted on the author, he has written a marvelously detailed account of the history of the most commonly known of African institutions, the Safari. In Safari a Chronicle of Adventure, Bartle Bull starts with the first travels of Europeans in Southern Africa, on their own and for themselves, and shows how Safaris evolved into a vehicle for Ivory Hunters and explorers and finally into a business of its own. During this history trip we meet many interesting people along the way and find out how their African experiences changed their lives. At times the author takes us on some side trips explaining the lives of travelers, writers,white hunters, even Presidents and movie stars before and after their safaris. In many ways the history of the safari is the history of the European experience in Africa and the book rises to this task by giving us a sideward glance at Africa outside the safari business.The book is also a record of the exploitation of the continent wildlife and how the fortunes of people changed as the game became scarce. In all the work is well crafted with Bartel Bull's usual attention to detail and his flare for adventure that lets all of us travel on safari if only from the comfort of our easy chairs.

Dr. Messay Kebede has written a book that I think is more of a discovery than an explanation of survival of Ethiopia.

The author is able to express a dilemms with a sharp logical reasioning with a beautiful and almost poetic language while tackling this sophisticated philosophical question. He has successfully and dilectically researched the History of Ethiopia from different angles to prove his philosophical discourse. Some of us who are familiar with Ethiopian history are amazed in his ability to uncover those deep seated traits of the Etiopian mind and use his philosophical discourse to analyze them.

It is a powerful book, especially for Ethiopians and other nations, who are experiencing some kind of identity crisis in the national level. If they anlyze their society in detail, they might come up with a solution to their crisis.

Sorry I am 43 years old. I got the wrong format to write my review.
Thank you!!

This is an excellent book. How did we survive as a nation for so long and yet fail to modernize? Dr Mesay answers this question in a new and eye opening way. Few people think of modernization as anything but westernization. This book illustrates how this idea has left our nation crippled. Dr Messay presents his arguments well and I found this book to be very impressssive.
It is not an easy read. It does have sections that go by fast but at places the arguments and comparisions become heavier and require time to swallow. It is over all one of the best books I have read. I hope there is more to come from Dr Mesay.

In this book the author, Prof. Messay Kebede, has left no stone unturned in his thorough examination of Ethiopian myth, language, life, history, culture, system of church and of government, as seen and documented by historians, poets, painters, and novelists; all the good, the bad and the ugly. He has spared no effort in wielding the philosopher's scalpel, in opening up and cutting into new, as well as old wounds, in exposing the healthy, as well as the sick and putrid flesh, the positive as well as the negative aspects of it all. Through all of these examinations, Professor Messay attempts to find an answer as to why it is that Ethiopia has failed to modernize. He compares Ethiopia with two similarly old cultures: Japan and Great Britain. The deep questions he raises in the book, perhaps, will prove far more valuable than any answers that might have been given. These questions are sure to provoke more answers from future historians and researchers. This work will be 'the handbook' for scholars on Ethiopia for many years to come, and I recommend it to any person interested in learning in depth about Ethiopia, any person that is, who would like to have more than just a passing glimpse of the country and its problems. This book goes deep into the crux, and the 'heart of the matter,' and examines the root causes of past and present day difficulties as it attempts to find what it is that must have, seriously and fundamentally, gone wrong and resulted in Ethiopia's failure to modernize. Without a doubt, this book will soon be recognized for the masterpiece and the classic work that it is, a landmark against which many future books on Ethiopia will be compared and judged. Sir, I doff my hat and salute you. You have accomplished a great work. I anxiously look forward to reading your next book. Keep up the good work.

From one of your Admirers,

G. E. Gorfu.

Ethiopian Poet, Novelist, and Philosopher.

This book deals with the rise of the Zulu Nation under Shaka to its fall under Ceteswayo. There are no glossed over facts, and the last reprint in 1996 has a covering prologue from Chief Mangasuto Buthelese. Any military historian with a keen interest in this Nations short life should make this book their top archive source. This book is still availble from some of the UK outlets priced at around £15.99. This history of the Black Spartans is a must. It tells of their true courage against unsormountable odds to defend their homeland against a well equiped and disciplined army, but also shows that they themselves were just as highly disciplined, and sure footed, and were not afraid to pitch Assegia and Cowhide shield agains, field guns, boxer henry .45 martini henrys, gatling guns and the formidable British Red Coats.

I don't believe that you will find a more accurate, concise and truthful book on the history of South Africa. I say truthful because it contradicts current day, politically correct thinking about how and who actually settled and developed South Africa.

I have a 1965 copy of this great book and I don't think that there has been a better account of the rise & fall of the Zulu nation. This is one of the best accounts of how the Zulu nation become one of the most feared in Africa under Shaka and how it fell to ruin under Cetshwayo during the war with England in 1879. A great read that has not aged in these 30 odd years. This book has been the standard that all others have been compared to since its publication. It's one of my all time favourite books and I have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone who has a love for this period or a passion for history.

This is an excellent book. In it, John Perazzo examines, chapter by chapter, some of the common myths and sociological fables that continue to separate parts of the US populace today. Perhaps his most valuable contribution is showing how so-called leaders such as Jackson and Sharpton have twisted reality to suit their own ends. To me, the most compelling and honest part of the book looked at the myth of race in the United States. US blacks are clearly the most privileged people on earth, yet vicious racists such as Kwesei Mfume, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and Carol Moseley-Brown continue to perpetuate groundless black grievance, hatred, and jealousy towards our larger society. This stands in direct contradiction to the tremendous achievements of many, many blacks, who are now predominantly members of the US middle-class. Perazzo correctly and explicitly points out (in Chapters 3 - 7) that a comparative handful of vicious racial hypocrites (Jackson, Sharpton, et al) distort and hinder (the "myths" in the title of the book) what ought to be an honest, helpful conversation on society in America today. As a black man, I feel privileged to live in the United States, and don't understand why anyone could possibly complain about how we've been treated here when we compare it to the horrid, brutal life common throughout Africa these days. Perazzo has authored an impressive appeal for us all to set aside the people who wish to gain by anger and bitterness, and he wants us all to work together for a common good. This is a great book - I'd highly recommend it. His extensive foot-noting and meticulous research make it a valuable text for those of us who want to help all Americans move forward peacefully and with our due intelligence. Buy it today at Amazon.com and pass it on to a friend.

This was one of the most upsetting books I've ever read. There were chapters that moved me to tears. Truth can be bitter but it really does set you free. I learned more about Africa from Mr.Perazo's book than I did from 4 years of Black Studies in college. The majority of the book contends that race relations are as bad as they are because certain people profit by keeping us divided. It was a powerfull book and it left me with much to think about. It's not for kids but it ought to be a required text for college students.

This book is a welcome addition to the mountain of expository evidence, which depicts the cupidity and disingenuousness in which the civil rights industry is awash.

This book is surely one giant step toward the inevitable awakening of America. An awakening that will cause the entire world to condemn the narrow-mindedness and self-interest of all race hustlers, particularly the well known intellectual Lilliputians: Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. The author points out the double standards of the civil rights industry whose very existence depends on pointing out racism everywhere, even when it isn't there. Perazzo exposes the hypocites with well researched facts and statistics illustrated with anecdotes.

This book harmonizes with Jared Taylor's books: "The Real American Dilemma" and "Paved With Good Intentions" et al, as isolated voices become a chorus demanding truth and reason in discussions of race.

This book should be read by everyone concerned with the future of America.

This book should be read twice, twice by everyone in Academe and in the media.

LTC Ron Reid-Daly has written a superb book on the finest killing machine in Africa, the Selous Scouts. LTC Reid-Daly was the founder and commanding officer of this psuedo counter-insurgency force. The author gives us the insight into the bravery, courage, and brutality of his men while performing their operations. This group of highly skilled black and white operators wrecked havoc on the guerilla forces inside and out of Rhodesia. Because of his availability to intelligence Reid-Daly also gives the reader a overview of the conflict and the politics behind the decisions. This is a great read on special operations and Reid-Daly gives a great narrative of the missions and the background for them. This is a great story of an exceptional group of men written by an exceptional soldier and is a must read!

Pamwe Chete is without question one of the most interesting accounts of counter-insurgency operations ever written. LTC Reid-Daly formed the Selous Scouts in the early 1970s' at the behest of the Rhodesian Army Chief of Staff. What follows is the most famous (or infamous) counter-insurgency campaign in recent history. The Selous Scouts were the finest counter-insurgency force ever to take to the field and hunt down guerillas. LTC Reid-Daly has written an honest, detailed account that draws the reader's interest on the first page and never lets go. This book is a must read for any military historian. Reid's engaging book is chocked full of incredible stories about the incredible challenges the Selous Scouts overcame and the unbelievable but true successes they achieved.

This book should be a mandatory read for Non-commissioned officers and Officers serving in special mission units or special operations the world over. In the counter-insurgency / low-intensity conflict arena there are many valuable lessons to be learned from this text, and for the armchair historian or casual reader the story is still gripping enough to keep you enthralled to the last page. Basically this is story of the birth and death of one of the most feared insurgency units of the time, as told by the founder of this outstanding unit; Ron Reid-Daly. It covers the units training, selection, operations, and personalities of the unit with the war being the tool that propels the story and evolution of the unit. One of the most remarkable aspects of Selous scouts was their employment of pseudo-terrorist techniques, which were used to melt into know terrorist cells, to either eliminate the terrorist themselves or direct other assets to the known cells to be neutralized. While conducting these type operations the Selous Scouts maintained the cover of being a combat tracking (mantracking) unit, as to keep their true purpose under wraps from the rest of the Rhodesian Security Forces. I would also like to point out they were truly all trained tracks and maintained this capability to superb levels of proficiency. This book is a re-release and completely revamped version of "SELOUS SCOUTS - Top Secret War" (original title). If you read the original edition you will enjoy this one much better. Many areas in the book have been rewritten and their many additions and details added to the text. Many of the names of individual have added into this text, originally kept exempt for security and safety reasons. Also there are many new photographs added and the Illustrations are a lot crisper. One of the biggest treats in this edition is the added appendix covering; roll of honor, wing nominal roll, awards and citations. Bottom line is this version truly opens the door to this once 'Top Secret" organization of combat trackers turned pseudo-terrorist specialist.

I was thrilled to read Richard Sobel's powerful story of the Abayudaya. I had the opportunity to visit this community in May of 2002 on behalf of Heifer International. At the time I did not know of Sobel's book. It has made my visit all the more meaningful. Now I want to return.

The Abayudaya Women's Heifer Project is located in the Mbale district of Eastern Uganda and Heifer work with them was started in 1997. A group of seven women became the governing council. Twenty heifers were originally distributed and to date there have been 5 pass-ons. There are now 22 persons ready to receive Heifers.

This group is one of the poorest groups that Heifer works with in Uganda. However, it should be noted that the assistance of the Abayudaya Women's Heifer Project extends to those who are Christian and Muslim as well as Jewish.

We visited many of the farms and then visited the people gathered at the synagogue. They shared their story and we felt the power of their faith. The cows are helping the move toward self-reliance, but it is their own strength that is so empowering.

Richard Sobol has just come out with Abayudaya: The Jews of Uganda, an exquisite volume of photographs with text about this remarkable group, and a CD of Abayudaya music is included in a pocket attached to the back cover. The music was recorded and annotated by Rabbi Jeffrey Summit, an ethnomusicologist at Tufts University.
Those of us who have lived and traveled in sub-Saharan Africa universally bemoan the fact that our pictures cannot capture the color and contrast, the rhythm, the unique beauty that is Africa. Richard Sobol, a seasoned pro, has captured the essence of these African scenes as few others can (Carol Beckwith comes to mind). Views of the Ugandan countryside and towns, of Abayudaya prayer and study and feasting, of women washing dishes and carrying water and preparing food, of elders in contemplation, of adults and children at play, of vendors of colorful housewares, of stunning posed portraits - it's all there, and each photo is a masterpiece.
And Sobol's 18-page essay about Abayudaya history and life and Jewish practice is a fine summary for those who have not been introduced to this unique community before.
Summit has written a five-page text to introduce the CD, which is entitled Abayudaya Music of Worship and Celebration. This essay is both informative and poignant. It reviews the various influences on Abayudaya music - Zulu music, church and Salvation Army music, Bantu folk music, Western visitors, and Nairobi (Kenya) synagogue melodies - often learned from recordings or the radio.
Summit recorded this wonderful sampling of Abayudaya music in informal sessions in Uganda in 2000 and 2002. The first half of the CD includes unaccompanied traditional hymns and psalms, some dating back 20 or 30 years, one composed by the community's founder, Semei Kakungulu, in the 1920s. The annotations themselves make fascinating reading. One note explains that Psalm 136, heard on the recording as a responsive "reading" with soloist and chorus, reminds the community of the downfall of Idi Amin since it recounts God's deliverance with the splitting of the Red Sea. A particularly precious rendition is Rena bat Esther's solo in Psalm 121, used by the Abayudaya to provide strength and comfort when a person is ill. This is one of the few compositions on the CD by a female composer. Another woman's composition is the melody to Psalm 130, which is sung repeatedly during a burial while shoveling earth and filling up the grave. Women seem to specialize in consolation.
Twagala Torah ("We Love the Torah") is a charming children's song composed by one of the youth leaders of the community, Moses Sebagabo. The text, in Luganda, English and Hebrew, is sung by Abayudaya children who attend public school.
The more upbeat second half of the CD features guitar accompaniment by Gershom Sizomu and electric keyboard by John Mark Nkoola, musical director of the Abayudaya high school. In an interesting contrast, Summit placed the a capella rendition of Psalm 136 in the first half and the electric version of the same psalm in the latter half.J.J. Keki's song "Ali Omu Yekka" ("My Only One") sounds like a standard love song: "I have one chosen one. I only have one love. I'm warning those others, don't come near me, she's enough...." But Summit points out that the Torah is the object of the songwriter's love, and the song is a veiled warning to Christian and Muslim proselytes in Uganda!
John Mark Nkoola wrote a modern song about the feeling he has when somebody has died. The words are particularly poignant in this place where deaths from AIDS and malaria are not uncommon: "The time has come. We must be going back where we have come from, to dust... When I think about death, I become afraid. I wish I had somebody to explain why this happens. Perhaps I may settle my mind. Let us enjoy life... Enjoy life in the right time, place and with the right people before you disappear like a shadow."
A few of the selections were heard on the community's first recording, "Shalom Everybody Everywhere!" produced by Kulanu with the Abayudaya in 1997. It is particularly satisfying to hear the beautiful, mature voice of Rachel Namudosi, in "Adonai Mukulu" ("God Is Great"). We heard her lovely child's voice on earlier recording. Happily, more recordings are in the works.

This book is the fascinating and bizarre true story of a small group of rural Ugandans who got the idea to convert to Judaism about 75 years ago. The prose part of the book is actually quite brief, but the pictures are beautiful, and the CD that accompanies the book (their prayer music) is a musical treat.