Simply put this is the best book on Africa dealing up to the 1990's. As an African living in Europe I found this book an excellent read and spot on in its findings. Students of political science, and those who have an interest in Africa such as western governments, aid agencies and miltinationals would do well to read this book. By better understanding Africa real progress could be made to solve the problems of Africa.

I cant recommend this book more strongly.

A friend gave me this book, and said "you gotta read this". And you know what, I'm really happy she did, because I learned a lot from Dispatches. Harden does a great job of weaving different short stories, each with a unique slant and look at African life. Both entertaining and educational, I'm now fascinated with Africa and ready to read more!

Blaine Harden's Africa: Dispatches From a Fragile Continent is as at once fascinating and sobering. A former Washington Post bureau chief in sub-Saharan Africa from 1985 to 1989, Harden grabs the reader with his vivid prose which weaves together a clear grasp of depressing and repressive African politics; eye-catching facts that plague the continent, diligently dug up; and tales of one character after another that together provide a sharp snapshot of Africa in the eighties.

With a region as vast as sub-Saharan Africa, containing almost 50 countries, focus is needed to make any account manageable. Harden ably does this by zeroing-in on seven countries: Kenya, Sudan, Zaire (recently re-named Congo), Zambia, Nigeria, Ghana, and Liberia. To immerse oneself into each chapter is to be right at Harden's side clearly sensing the local color and human commotion in which Africans struggle "between an unworkable Western present and a collapsing African past. Their loyalties are stretched between predatory governments and disintegrating tribes, between arbitrary demands of dictators and incessant pleadings of relatives, between commandments of the Bible and obligations to the ancestors."

This book should be read by anyone with an interest in Africa or a desire to explore a new world region through the eyes of a curious journalist. Most memorable is the profile that Harden sketches of the typical African Big Man ruler: "His every pronouncement is reported on the front page. He sleeps with the wives and daughters of powerful men in his government. He shuffles ministers without warning, paralyzing policy decisions as he undercuts pretenders to his throne. He scapegoats minorities..." And the list continues. The resulting image casts a long, haunting shadow on the continent. Though there's much in it that disturbs, the book holds the reader's attention from beginning to end.

Africa: An Artist's Journal comes from Kim Donaldson, a renowned wildlife artist who grew up in Zimbabwe on a ranch. His lifelong passion for capturing wildlife in art lends to a journal that covers the wildlife, culture, and history of Africa as a whole. A highly recommended pick for any interested in wildlife art.

This book is for anyone who loves Africa, wildlife and or artwork. It has pages and excerpts from his field sketchbooks, drawings, sketches and paintings. The artwork is exquisite. What makes it a must have is that you also get a well written brief history/description of the countries, the national parks, animals and people residing in each region interposed with Kim Donalson's personal experiences. It makes you feel like you have been there.

If you are looking for a book that does it all, this is it. Each page is a wonderfully modern treatment of the wildlife and artistic essence of unspoiled Africa. Beautiful collections of drawings, and sketches using photographs of field notes really sets off the wonderful format of the book. The artwork is breathtaking and the paintings will make your heart stir with the desire to be in Africa yourself. This is the next best thing.

I LOVED this book. Anyone that likes animals, Africa or adventures will like this book. This book does a great job of expressing what it would be like to live in the wilds of Africa. It also has great photos!

The natural history filmmaker authors have lived in the African bush for over twenty years: their lifestyle and work with wildlife is profiled in a diary of their world documenting their work. Any with an interest in African life will find The Africa Diaries an absorbing read packed with details and a 'you are there' atmosphere. Color photos complete the effect.

After so many outstanding Joubert wildlife films, we finally get to know more about the great people behind the lenses! The Joubert's second book is a classic African wildlife-book and a must for any fan of this great continent. Two books came to my mind while I devoured this wonderful book: "Serengeti shall not die" and "Cry of the Kalahari" - all three have the following in common: an honest, down-to-earth description of life among Africa's spectacular wildlife; a long-term conservation-approach; a unique way of putting the reader right in the middle of the bush-action with wonderful words and stunning photographs. The African Diaries are must-reading for any traveller to the great dark continent. Having experienced the mentioned locations many times myself this book brings back fond memories of Africa's last true wilderness area. My recommendation is to first see one of the Joubert's classic wildlife films and then to enjoy the "read behind the scenes". One will not be disappointed!

This is a most impressive book on the African Elephant, with page after page of fabulous photos of these mighty beasts. It would make a great coffee table book just for the pictures but it is much more than that.

The main focus is on preservation of the species in the face of shrinking habitats and the poaching for ivory that continues today. The efforts of 16 African wildlife preserves and parks are fully described here.

Each region is profiled with information on its elephants and several photos of the elephants specific to that area. The mature huge tuskers of Kruger National Park are truly awesome.

There is also plenty of information on elephant history, physiology and social interaction. This is a beautiful and significant book on the life and challenges facing the African Elephant.

This is a wonderful book for anyone interested in African elephants. It combines outstanding photographs with interesting and entertaining text.

This book moved me beyond what feelings I have ever known. I learned a great deal of facts from this book and hope to share them with others. I urge other readers to cherish this book...as I do.

This is a wonderful book for the garment sewer who wants to work with African fabrics. You learn about the characteristics of a variety of African fabrics, how to recognize true mudcloth, fancy prints vs. wax prints etc. and how and where to buy them in and outside Africa. -Plus you learn technical tips on how to sew these fabrics, and the book is full of pictures of clothing that incorporates them. The book has staying power. It even includes patterns in the back.

African Fabrics provides crafts people with fourteen original projects which use African fabrics to create tunics, place mats, pillows, shawls and other items. Discussions of mudcloth, fancy prints, Kuba cloth and Kente cloth, among others, provide a unique and excellent introduction to African fabrics as a whole, making this more than just a crafts guide. A wide audience will find it important for both its historical overview of African fabrics and its artistic/crafts attractions.

Asante Sane - Danke Schon - Merci Beaucoup - Muchos Gracias: A world of THANKS for a book that meets the inspirational needs of the contemporary multiculturalist who loves stylish fashion wear, unique interior design and simple creative construction. The beautiful illustrations were quite fascinating and they served as great enhancement to the book's well written information and neat instruction. From the front cover to the back cover and all of the pages in between, author Ronke Luke-Boone takes the reader on an exciting journey that is richly infused with lessons in history, geography, fabric preservation, nifty sewing techniques, super shopping resources and much, much more. Most valuable for me is the instruction she provides for working with the popular mud cloth, Kubba cloth and Kente. Unfortunately, these hand crafted textiles defy the sewing logic that is normally associated with that of the symmetrically printed machine woven fabrics. One must be taught how to reinforce these ethnic textiles correctly and how to lay the patterns properly to prevent the completed garment from taking on a life of its own while it is being worn. Ms. Luke-Boone provided a corrective experience for me in this regard. Previously, I had not had the desired success in working with these fabrics, so I had set them aside. Reading through the book several times was the much needed source of motivation that guided me to complete two Kubba cloth pillows and a beautiful mosaic swing coat, pieced with mud cloth, denim, Korhogo, calvary twill and tea-dyed linen burlap,just as she instructed. At last, no more quality control issues with these fabrics. I recommend this publication to any one from any culture who has basic sewing skills and a great flair for exotic styling.

This is the best book I have found on the psychology and understanding of African masks. Just fantastic, worth the money. 80% color plates, brief outline of basic African mask types and their interpretation, grouped by region and by style.

First-rate, high quality throughout, this volume does what a book of this type should do: packs in plenty of color plates of the masks, and shows them being worn (in black-and-white in situ photos) on the accompanying left-hand pages of the spreads. The collection is far-ranging and, though it cannot include every type of mask, it does manage to convey the incredible variety, richness and paradoxical sophistication of this art form. Highly recommended.

This book has fantastic photos and information about the masks pictured. There are also archival photos of similar masks from earlier times. The most impressive part is the photos of the masks in use. I have often had trouble imagining how the masks were worn or used until this book. Not only are there photos of many of the masks in use the whole costume is also pictured. Truly one of the best books I've seen on the subject.

i got this book a few years back&it touched me.the prayers&Poems really touched me alot.Desmond TuTu is a Great Human Being.This Man has touched many lives.i have enjoyed this book since day one.

In "The African Prayer Book," Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town has assembled a series of prayers on such topics as adoration, contrition, thanksgiving, supplication and daily life; ranging from authors who wrote their prayers in antiquity, and those living in modern times. Although the primary focus is Christian, prayers from other faith traditions are included.

This book is exquisite, to see and touch as well as to read, and the prayers are beautiful. Archbishop Tutu prefaces each chapter with a meditation on the topic: those alone are well worth owning the book. A wonderful collection.

This book is just beautiful. It is a wonderful collection of prayers and poetry. The very first one entitled An African Canticle is worth the price alone.

Thank you so much for writing this book. Thank you for revealing your personal journey so tenderly, so honestly, honoring your western influence and yet opening to the mysteries of the unknown and yet familiar. Thank you for reminding me of the Great Web, the weaver and the thread. Thank you for this book that sits in my lap urging me to continue following my own path of healing.

I started browsing this book and couldn't put it down until I read every word. What a brave and fascinating adventure story. What a insightful and honest look into the sacred Sangoma tradition. An absolute "must read" for anyone interested in indigenous spirituality and culture. I loved it!

As a Woman of Color, I'm not sure what to make of this affluent and educationally priviledged white woman's 'journey' to South Africa and its healing tradition. Self-congratulation at the expense of discerning the structuring of Difference seems to be the keynote here. But I suppose the 'Heart of Darkness' fantasy/nightmare lives on in a contemporary hypocrisy; yet it is not usually so grotesque as it appears here. The tremendous courage and intelligence of other theorists, especially of course African American writers but also a few white writers, who write on Africa and its glorious tradition, remains a great Spiritual resource for me. This book most certainly does not number among the books which I would recommend to the young African Americans that I teach. I would have wished that this white author had examined the incredibly insightful bell hooks and other important writers' books for an *intelligent* perspective on contemporary African discourse.

I wanted to learn something about the traditional beliefs of the Akan people so I ordered this book. It was very readable and very informative. What interested me the most was that the author used structures developed by Fowler and Erikson. Since these two are foundational in the study of western faith and personality development, I felt right at home, even though the destination of the book was halfway around the globe. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in a "first book" about this subject.

I found this book a very quick read, but incredibly insightful especially with regards to the reasons behind the traditions described. It delves into the consciousness in a personal yet impartial way, which I appreciated.

This book is written by an African who was educated in the US -- rec'd his PhD from Emory U. This is real look at real life in Ghana among the Ashanti and their view of life and death. This book is the result of Dr. Donkor's research for his PhD. This text is suitable for classroom and research purposes or for those who would like to find about their African roots.

Mark Mathabane writes that the oppression of women is widespread in South Africa. This is largely because apartheid over the years emasculated and degraded black men and stripped them of their manhood by depriving them of the means to provide for their families and loved ones. Many of these men found convenient targets for their rage, frustrations, and bitterness in those under their immediate and absolute control, their wives and children. This abuse of women and children was made easy because apartheid, for its own devious ends, encouraged and rewarded tribalism among blacks. Husbands and fathers continued to cling to customs and traditions that had long outlived their usefulness, mainly out of a sense of desperation. Under tribalism men have power, authority, and respect, while in the modern world ruled by the white man they were powerless, got no respect, were called "boys," and were treated as less than dirt. African Women is a harrowing, poignant, heroic, and inspiring saga of three women who, in their individual ways, refused to buckle under to tradition, custom, and oppression. They fought against daunting odds to preserve their individuality and independence, their dignity and pride, their hearts and souls. They worked and raised children in a culture and society where black women had hardly any rights, were daily discriminated against by apartheid, and were regarded as the property of their husbands or fathers by custom. Any attempts to liberate themselves were condemned and harshly dealt with.

this book is awsome. i actually felt what the women were feeling. growing up in america, this book allowed me to count my blessings!

Couldn't put this book down! It read like an African Waiting to Exhale only the characters were real. This really showed how over 3 generations more things remained the same than not. These women were very, very strong women who overcame a great deal