I've recently read the "autobiography" "West With The Night" for a Hight School history class. While I found Markham's book to be a beautifuly spun story of growing up in colonial Kenya and life in the early 1900s, this book left me with more questions than answers. On digging deeper, I found that this book was written by her third husband, Raoul Schumacher. Also, I found that many interesting and scandalous parts of her life had been omitted from this historical tale. However, these things do not change the fact the "West With the Night" is a completly enrapturing tale of a very strong, determined woman. I only advise that you take this story with a grain of salt; and then go read the book "The lives of Beryl Markham" by Errol Trzebinski to get the real deal.

Beryl Markam's controversial "West with the Night" gives a vivid, personal view of life in colonial Kenya. A geat aviator and race horse trainer, Beryl Markham gives new life to women everywhere.

This is truly one of the best books I have ever read. Dr. Berman describes in eloquent terms a broad overview of the many reasons Dr. Schweitzer is so celebrated. It addresses primarily his work as a physician in Africa but also describes his many literary and academic achievements. There are interesting photos and heartwarming stories which reveal Schweitzer's personal qualities and his dynamics with other staff in Lambarene as well as his professional achievements. I came away with a vivid picture of Schweitzer as a man as well has a doctor, a musician, a philosopher and a theologian. The book is written with feeling and sensitivity. One knows Dr. Berman was deeply moved by his experience with Schweitzer. By the time I finished the book I felt I had lived with these two men as they worked side by side. The book is informative, moving, and powerful.

Dr. Berman provides an insightful, but subjective, picture of the 20th century's true renaissance man. The narrative of day to day activities and anecdotes remembered from Dr. Berman's time in Gabon with Dr. Schweitzer is fascinating.

Modern Africans find themselves at the juncture of several worlds: As Basil Davidson might have noted, revolution, episodic nationalism, and postcolonial debacles have cast a pall of chaos onto an already historically chaotic field of peoples. The philosophies of Europe, the roots of tradition, African nationalism, Pan-Africanism, racial, tribal and ethnic solidarity, and a modernity which seeks to unleash individualism all come into conflict when Africans attempt to assess the problems they face, and detail solutions for these problems. Kwame Antony Appiah calls African thinkers to take up this important work, and he offers several assessments of these problems and possible solutions in his book. He believes that a better basis for solidarity in Africa is needed to replace decaying philosophies of negritude, and he discredits Pan Africanism's ability to fulfill this role. He addresses the question of what African philosophers should be preoccupied with, and whether, in their seeking to establish, unify, or recreate cultures, African philosophers can really draw upon philosophies and identities unique to Africa. The importance of an "African" identity has emerged since colonialism, and Appiah questions what such an identity should be founded upon, using Wole Soyinka and his own father Joseph Appiah as examples of intellectuals at work on the question.

After a reading of Appiah's book, I question whether an African solidarity can be usefully articulated. Can inclusive, constructive and accessible modern culture be derived in a continent-wide scale, with some collective experience as its sourcebook? Perhaps the question rides on whether tradition is truly expendable, although so far it has apparently not been expendable (although it has proven malleable). Appiah's arguments in favor of reexamining what it means to be African, while he has labored to disassociate them from the Pan-Africanist agenda, seem unsure on the issue of Pan Africanist hopes. Pan Africanism, whether informal or economic, seems more than mired in implied racialism - it seems to ignore the idea that there is a need for modern African nations to promote overture to the world, rather than aggrandized protectionism, which invariable carries with it repressive nationalist agendas. The reality is that Africa is dependent upon its ties to the rest of the world. I believe that Appiah would argue that any "Africanism" is not useful as a method of affirming culture, either, precisely because to be simply "an African" implies such a tremendous negation of one's own past.

I still want to know if Soyinka has also successfully divorced himself from a bogus Pan-Africanist and unianimist use of an "African" culture in his metaphors and references. Does he somehow successfully escape from the confines of this label with his individual-focused explorations (which are thus really Nigerian, or Yoruban?)

Also, how usefully can a philosophical agenda be furthered by an intellectual class focused on bipolarity? The implied bipolarity of African philosophers, working to justify themselves to the world while preserving the value of traditional discourse, seems in danger of trying too hard to mold tradition, and thus lose useful contact with traditional people.

Appiah questions "...the evaluative assumption that recovery of tradition is worthwhile," implying that it is not (95). This comment seems like an important and perhaps controversial one: is it really good for philosophers in Africa, if working to establish an agenda for future clarity and intelligibility for Africans, to be ready to dismiss recovering tradition in their countries and societies? The negative effects of tradition are many, but its benefits seem easily slighted.

Appiah's critique of the ethno philosophical response to modernity seems to leaves out the important fact that a new citizen of the world, as African citizen, is rapidly, and permanently, emerging - and that as people grow up separating themselves from tradition, tribalism and rural politics, they are reassessing their traditional background while trying to create an identity. Perhaps the ethno philosophy he criticizes is in fact an attempt at an honest reappraisal of tradition, for certainly all summaries of the condition of African traditions will end up preferentially consolidating these traditions.

The question is where in the African intellectual consciousness should fit the multi-lingual, multi-national views of tradition. I think to roundly press African intellectuals to serve the highest ideals of "their people" and guide them into a modernity that is not based on European models and yet also not based upon African tradition should be recognized as especially dangerous, as such a plan may well leave its chosen flock behind.

This book, for the density and complexity as well as honesty of its inquiry, should be seen as a sold introudction to what makes Africa so problematic on the level of identity and solidarity. The existence of an "african" identity can no longer be ignored. Appiah finds all the roots of this identity and gives them rigorous criticism in light of his own personal view of Africa as well as a solid reading of African philosophy, social science and history.

Appiah's book is insightful and powerful. His mastery of language allows for a philosophical chef d'oeuvre that reads with fluency comparable to a fine novel. Appiah's unique perspective as a quintessentially modern academic whose own life has bridged gaps between three continents imbues his writing with a freshness that will captivate any fine intellect. Truly a remarkable work.

Intellectual Traditions of Pre-Colonial Africa is the most comprehensive representation of Africa's rich cultural heritage that I have seen in print. This is the Africa that white history books try to pretend doesn't exist! Dr. Hilliard completely destroys the myth of Africa as a backward, uncivilized and illiterate continent of savages. Africa has long been considered to be the cradle of civilization. With such a long history it makes sense that Africa would be full of rich oral and intellectual traditions, many of which Dr. Hilliard has addressed in her book. Its a wonder that no one has written a book like this before. Anyone with more than a passing interest in Africa's cultural heritage should read this book. It is the ultimate reference on African culture.

Dr. Hilliard, transcends the limitations of academia to provide viable insight into a people with stark honesty and innate wisdom. Often misrepresented and misunderstood, she avoids this trap by presenting the traditions as a representation of an intellectual system....without extraction, for the Western mind to perceive. A remarkable accomplishment, and generous gift.

Y.Dubel

My 2 1/2 year old son loves both puzzles and lions (he's a Simba fan), so this puzzle book was a winner. After 9 months of heavy use, we wore it out and I am on-line to buy a replacement. He memorized these puzzles, so I think the published age range is a little high, a 2 1/2-3 year old will do fine with adult supervision. The pictures are nice and the pieces stayed in well even on the bookshelf for the first few months.

My wife purchased Puzzle Safari "Into Africa" for our 2 year old daughter before embarking on two short flights with long layovers. The book saved our sanity. Marina not only enjoys using the puzzle book she also lured passengers seated next to us into the book's spell. By the time we were headed home Marina had all five puzzles memorized and pretended not to know where the pieces went so that the passenger seated next to us felt she was involved in the process. Bring a strong rubber band to wrap around the book and the pieces stay in place.

This book was purchased for our elementary school's "The Cheetah - The Y.E.S. Mascot" shelf and has won the hearts of students and staff. It has all the great elements of children's books at their best - art gallery quality drawings, a warm touching story of a mother cheetah keeping her cubs safe while she is gone hunting, and factual information presented in an simple,understandable format. The factual information on the cheetah is incorporated into the story line with skill, making it a very readable source that our reluctant readers can use as a resource in their current research papers on cheetahs. It educates and entrances both child and adult readers alike.

We borrowed this book from the library and had to have it for our own collection. The story communicates values that we want to instill in our children. With charming illustrations , you are drawn into a day in the lives of four cheeta cubs,left alone by their mother as she hunts. Our four year old listens and watches with wide -eyed interest as the cubs meet some of the animals who share the savannah.

This entertaining read is a follow up to the equally wonderful Safari. The reader follows Reggie the bear, as he travels through Egypt with his owner. The handwritten diary/scrapbook account is accompanied by vivid illustrations in the true book art fashion. Anyone who truly appreciates beauty and art will thouroughly enjoy this book.

What a fun book! I was charmed by Reggie the bear's personality in "Safari: My Trip to Africa," his first book, and now I'm thoroughly endeared. Favorite moments: Reggie imagining himself as one of King Tut's treasures, forever gilded in gold ("Although the possibility of one day being loved to death does cross our minds from time to time," he notes, "bears, for the most part, give little thought to the idea of an 'afterlife.'"); his observations on the Rosetta Stone ("...arguably the single most important thank-you note ever written...."); and his tips on haggling at a Cairo bazaar (including, "Never put your bear up for trade--Not even in jest!"). Throughout the book, Reggie's grumbly, informative, teddy-bear's perspective sheds new light on the fascinating sights, history, and animals of Egypt. Like the movie "Toy Story," the beautiful visuals will delight young children and the words will entertain teens and adults.

A delightful baseball book about trying hard and overcoming obstacles. The slow, fat hippos put their patience and weight behind a baseball game and beat the monkeys in this jungle game. Enjoyed by my 10 month old son, who comes running whenever I read a passage from the book...whacka, whacka hoo boys - monkey, monkey, monkey,

This second of the Paxton--Schmidt combo (Going to the Zoo was the first) was a real winner in our family! The lush illustrations hilariosly depict the underdog hippos in a valiant fight to the finish. With a pathos that made my kids as well as myself cheer out loud at the ending, Jungle Baseball hits a home run--we loved this book!!

Featuring a Foreword by the Dalai Lama, Kakuma - Turkana: Dueling Struggles, Africa's Forgotten Peoples by Daniel Cheng Yang offers the nonspecialist general reader a profound interesting photographic journal of the struggles of the indigenous peoples of northwest Kenya. The emotional and unforgettable black-and-white photographs capture the harsh reality of life in lands with highly limited resources in an unforgettable compendium of images and commentary. Kakuma - Turkana is highly recommended photo-documentary for African Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

A very informative book of a country not covered by the media. The photographs bring the reader to an understanding of the plights these people face in everyday life

This book saves you the discomfort of a trip deep into the African Jungle: I have never read such a detailed description of the real 'Circle of Life' in Africa. Mr. Daems tells us the story of Kianza's life, starting with the first encounter of Kianza's father with white people, up to the independence of Congo. Tales of slavery, intiation rites, secret societies, local politics and economics, all these subjects are demystified in this book by Kianza himself. Kianza is not just a first row spectator but a participant himself. The arrival of white man however disrupted the existing fragile social structures which had evolved out of several thousands of years of trying to live in harmony with nature. "Kianza however did not oppose progress blindly, but it was blind progress that he opposed."

Kianza's Congo is the inside story of black life in the Congo. Written by a man who lived 10 years with the tribes. He spoke their language, witnessed their customs, and learned of secret rituals.

The life of Chief Kianza is told in Kianza's own words and translated by his confidant Mr. Daems. The book includes suspense, sex, politics, power, and even an experience of slavery. To be accepted in the male elite clan you must pass tough rituals, or die trying. These and more are described in this excellent book. This is REAL AFRICAN LIFE.