Africa Books

I would request some alternatives through which we or those who would like to know more about the true faith that mankind surpose to follow,should have access to the books contents specially the spiritual ones through the internet rather than commercializing them.however,I am not aginst sales but atlease those who can buy or order the book can do so but we have to consider them who are home like Africa in which shipping is not efficient and also money is the problem.We beleive the word of Jah is already spread in the entire world but yet mankind need constant reminder and through the books,and other spiritual words. we could feed the nations spiritually and the message of ONE LOVE inculcated into the hearts of all mankind.
Back to the book, I have really not yet read the contents of the book to comment on it.
Thank

Haile Selassie the First is KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS and this truth is revealed in "Hath...The Lion Prevailed..?" Whoever does not already know that Haile Selassie is the Lion of Judah who did open the seven seals of REVELATION ...READ this BOOK and the BIBLE, You will Truly find it out. Ras Tafari is his name. If only the Black world knew that Jesus was a Nazarite Dreadlocks Rasta, crucified. Jesus said "I and my Father are one" and Jesus would not lie. If you want to be one with the Trinity and seek a better understanding of the BIBLE read " HATH ... THE LION PREVAILED? ". JAH LIVE Black KING OF ISRAEL ONE LOVE

"Hath The Lion Prevailed" is an interesting book to read about the heart of one "SOUL." It puts one in touch with an understanding of one self, and through "Rastalogy." It is a primier that give one a true understanding of Rasta. Using the bible you can see where the author proves why Haile Selassie is Jesus returned in his Kingly and conquering form. I think that "Hath The Lion Prevailed" is an execellent book and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about Rastafarian truth.

This unique book of 38 pages will assist any one, at any level, to understand the Rastafari religion. It begins , as we did, with Adam and Eve. Using biblical quotations throughout, author John Moodie, or Prince Michael as he is spiritually Known, provides an understanding of the linage of Haile Selassie 1 from the very begining. Chapter One presents the trial and tribulation of Ham, Shem, and Japhet, their curses and their blessings followed by Moses and the Burning Bush, the betrayal of Samson by Delilah and the shearing of Samson's seven locks. You probably already know about David and Goliath, but did you know about Davids youngest son Solomon anh how he seduced Sheba? Chapter Two sheds new light on Jesus Christ and what he had to endure due to his belief in God. The death that he suffered in being crucified on the cross makes one wonder why some religions continue to use the cross as a sign that is representative of ones faith. The cross was used to crucify people and yet now it is a sign of worship. The cross is a sign of death and destruction, a burning one designates the nefarious Ku Klux Klan. It is by all means, a graven image that Moodie exemplifies in his writing. " The gun today is a symbol of death, just as the cross was 2000 years ago. the cross as risen to become a symbol of holiness; will the gun in the next century become a symbol of holiness?" In Chapter Three we are educated on Haile Selassie 1."Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn an oath to David that of the fruit of thy loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on David's Throne"(Acts 2:30). H.I.M. Emperor Haile Selassie 1 fulfills this prophesy by returning to sit on David's throne. Read on in Chapter Three to learn what Selassie 1 went through during his reign as King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of Judah. "Rastafari has survived the afterbirth grime that the system has placed on H.I.M;" explains Moodie, "and today is classified by a Catholic Commission as a valid religion" ( Report of Catholic Commission on Racial Justice in Britain and Jamaica). With several photos of Haile Selassie 1, some interesting art work to embellish the words, some excellent inspirational poetry interspersed and significant insightful information, John Moodie has written a fine piece of literature that is inspired from the heart and soul. When Mr. Moodie visited the Reggae Report offices recently his spiritual vibe was omnipresent. Not only is Hath...The Lion Prevailed...? an excellent primer for the newcomer, it is enjoyable reading for all who wishes to learn more about the origins of Rastafari.

Haile Selassie the First is KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS and this truth is revealed in "Hath...The Lion Prevailed..?" Whoever does not already know that Haile Selassie is the Lion of Judah who did open the seven seals of REVELATION ...READ this BOOK and the BIBLE, You will Truly find it out. Ras Tafari is his name. If only the Black world knew that Jesus was a Nazarite Dreadlocks Rasta, crucified. Jesus said "I and my Father are one" and Jesus would not lie. If you want to be one with the Trinity and seek a better understanding of the BIBLE read " HATH ... THE LION PREVAILED? ". JAH LIVE

There are considerably information about Yoruba's History and Religion.
If you are a priest or worshipper of Orixa , you need to buy this book.

This book is one of the foundation materials that informs the depth of the Omoluabi Matrix. Inbetween the pages of this volume we can trace the concept of Omoluabi civilzation which is the single factor responsible for the continued survival and advancement of our race. Ignoring the obvious Oyo bias of the author this resource material alongside others, details the incontrovertible evidence of an ancient African civilization on which the principles of democracy could rest. It details the cultural concepts that helped to overcome the colonial beast and gives a name to terrorism in ancient times. The only draw back is that the book did not investigate the insidious root of the word "Yoruba" - an abusive 18th century coinage of ancient terrorists. The original Olukumi tag would have furthered the cause of our national reawakening.

I remember reading this book when I was in secondary school over 25 years ago and I can still recall how amazed I was to discover that we Yorubas had organized govermental inititutions. I found out why we as a people are so defragmented, the origin of the Yoruba people and different tribes, the power and might of various tribal empires. I don't think there is another book that has this amount of detail regarding the Yoruba people. Now I need a copy for my library and is now difficult to get hold of.

The author of this classic work is not to be confused with Samuel Johnson (1709-84), the English essayist, poet, and lexicographer usually known as "Dr Johnson". This Samuel Johnson (1846-1901) was an Anglican vicar of African descent. He was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, but spent his adult life in Nigeria. His peace-efforts in the 1870s contributed to the eventual end of the Yoruba wars in 1886.

In 1880 Samuel Johnson became a deacon and was ordained a vicar in 1888. Claiming Yoruba ancestry, he was concerned that his people were losing their own history and completed the original manuscript of his history of the Yoruba people from his notes in 1897. Whether by accident or design, this completed manuscript was sadly lost. However, after his death, his brother, Dr Obadiah Johnson, produced this work from his notes. It was at last published in 1921. Unfortunately, Obadiah died in 1920 so neither he nor Samuel saw the finished product.

It remains a key resource for the understanding of Yoruba history.

Any student of political history will be forced to acknowlege the explicit and almost accurate records collected by Samuel Johnson in this book. The book has a vivid picture of a generation of Yoruba Nationhood within Nigerian Nationality, prior to the British invation and colonalization of Nigeria, Yoruba had been a Nation with an institutionalized government and there is no better place to understand and assess this form of government except in this book, the book is a bag of history, politics and culture of a nation called The Yorubas, it is one of the best book to describe the politics of government in which history defines the terms and culture of power dictates the order.

Achebe's work was informative, thought provocing, and at times amusing. His work is another example of how important it is for all people to tell their own story/history, especially people who were once disposessed. This little book inspired me to write a few ideas to prevent my experiences from being misinterpreted.

Long live the proud son of Africa and our respected statesman.
Achebe the honest and truthful dispenser of both sides of the story. Colonial griots (to borrow Achebe's words) such as Elspeth Huxley and other apologists have for too long been left alone to justify the dispossession of precious lands and cultures. Until the proud son of Africa made them eat their own words and exposed them for what they are. Dishonest griots deftly laying the groundwork for self-enrichment at the expense of peace loving and decent Human Beings.
Chinua Achebe as exemplified by his few but precious books writes not to make money but only when he must say something useful. Unlike modern day "authors" who are more about money than substance. I have no doubt Achebe can write profound and moving accounts of African and world issues at the rate of one book a day but he chose only to spend his time teaching.
It is obvious why the Nobel Prize went to Wole Soyinka instead of Chinua Achebe. Achebe refuses to write for a "foreign" audience and does not take his marching orders from anybody. He is his own man. Africans and honest people all over the world have in their own ways given Achebe the best prize in the world.
Continuous interest in his worthwhile classics such as Things Fall Apart,The Man of the People,No longer at Ease,Anthills of the Savannah, Morning Yet on Creation Day,Hopes and Impediments and many others.

Home and Exile may be a small book but has enough three pence (from Achebes "somebody knock me down and have three pence!") to liberate nations and individuals from the grip and stench of colonial and racist apologia masquerading as literature.

Long live Achebe, proud son of Africa and citizen of the world.
To know Achebe (by reading his books) is to know how to be an unassuming and proud Human Being who quitely and calmly states his truth for the benefit of us all.

Excellent! Achebe has done it again. This is a must read!

Since the book is already well-summarized above, I'll just give my own reaction.

I've read a number of Achebe's novels and one essay (the excellent critique of Heart of Darkness) and really enjoyed the "backstage" feeling of hearing the author's first person voice - an insightful and kindly voice. For me, the effect of Achebe's strong positions is heightened by the dignified presentation, and of course by the poignant and funny stories from his own life that he uses to illustrate those positions. As compared to one of my other favorite authors, James Baldwin, Achebe's writing includes less calls to action, and more explanation. For instance, even in his sharp critique of Vidiadhar Naipaul's novels, Achebe's first priority is to shine light on the processes that led to Naipul's failures of vision. I think people who have read Achebe's fiction or essays and liked it, or generally care about literature from an indigenous or "Third World" perspective will really enjoy this short text. Definitely worth the cost, and may be available from the library.

The physical brevity of Achebe's "autobiography" truly belies the intrisic wisdom he so effortlessly spews upon his listeners. Mr. Achebe sets out to deconstruct the manifold, post-colonial ills (endemic to the dispossessed of African diasopora) with the assistance of historical literature, creation fables, and his own personal memories. Indeed, a thought provoking manifesto for any fan of the great Achebe; one which will aid the reader to pursue further literature with a new sense of enlightenment.

As a longtime reader of the Church Fathers, I found this book delightful. Oden's observations about Eurocentric interpretation of Church history are right on. I highly recommend it.

Thomas Oden's "How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind" was not the book I expected when I read the title. It was different, it was more, it was less, it was challenging, and it was and is important.

Oden, recently retired after a distinguished professorial career, is perhaps one of the most renowned Church historians of our day. His four-volume opus on the history of pastoral care is a classic, for instance.

Oden now sees as his life's work, for the remainder of his life, the uncovering of the buried treasure of African Christianity. Of course, what one means by "African" is crucial. Oden wisely steers clear of much modern and post-modern imbalance here. He avoids the Euro-centric approach that diminishes anything African as being simply borrowed from European culture and thinking. On the other hand, he equally avoids an "Africa first" framework that presumes that everything has its roots in Africa.

For Oden, and for "How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind," the "Africa" he speaks of is anything that happened on the African continent and anyone who lived and ministered on that continent. This avoids the endless debate, for instance, about which Church Father was or was not "African." How does one define that? By skin color? And by what amount of pigmentation? By nationality? Why wouldn't any nation in Africa be by definition African? By ancestry?

The ancestry issue coupled with geographical/cultural impact is Oden's most important contribution. In sum, he argues that even if Augustine, for instance, had a father whose ancestry was Greco-Roman, would that mean that Augustine, living his entire life in Africa was not African? Additionally, given that his famous mother, Monica, was almost definitely of Berber (north African) descent, would that not make Augustine African? And just as important to Oden, can we wipe out the impact on Augustine's parents and on Augustine of living in the African geography and partaking of the African culture?

So, for Oden, "African Christianity" is the Christianity of any person who was born and/or lived on the African continent. Thus, for Europeans to claim Augustine, Origen, Tertullian, and others is a robbery of immense proportion in Oden's thinking.

Given this perspective, Oden's entire book is actually a call for others to build upon his small start. It is a call to take seriously the oral and written tradition of material spoken and penned on the African continent. It is then a call to explore the past, present, and future impact of that legacy.

For the past impact, Oden wants to examine how African Christian theology and practical Christianity shaped and interacted with non-African Christianity. For the present and the future, Oden hopes that such increased understanding of the enduring African Christian legacy will validate and encourage modern African Christians regarding their heritage, will open the doors for African seekers to understand that to convert to Christianity is not betraying their heritage, but returning to it, and to encourage all Christians to learn from and with modern day African Christianity.

Some will find in "How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind" more ecumenism than they find palatable. However, one does not have to agree with Oden's entire perspective or agenda to learn from him and appreciate his fair and balanced historical perspective.

For anyone wanting to sort through the current debate in a scholarly way, Oden is the person to read. For anyone wanting to enliven their appreciation of the ancient African Christian faith, "How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind" is the book to devour.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction, Spiritual Friends, and Soul Physicians.

Thomas Oden writes, "Christianity would not have its present vitality in the Two-Thirds World without the intellectual understandings that developed in Africa between 50 and 500 C.E. The pretense of studying church history while ignoring African church history is implausible." (10) Yet, in his book "How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind," Oden purports that for centuries Western intellectuals have in fact ignored or downplayed the momentous contributions of African Christians to church history and theology. According to Oden, today's Christian mind has its roots in the writings and teachings of the early church leaders from Africa, in the struggles of the early church martyrs from Africa, in the lives of the desert Fathers of Africa, and in the early Christians who fled Africa taking their faith throughout the Mediterranean cities. Oden suggests that it is critical for contemporary African Christianity to learn of its prestigious heritage--to learn that Christianity is a vital, traditional African faith rather than a foreign imposition.

He writes, "The profound ways African teachers have shaped world Christianity have never been adequately studied or acknowledged, either in the Global North or South." (9) This is a story that Oden believes needs to be told throughout African villages and cities and must especially reach the African child. He believes it is a story best told fully by young African scholars. The story of African Christianity conveys extraordinary faith, courage, tenacity and intellect that must serve as inspiration and guides not only for African Christianity but for universal Christianity today.

In its infancy, Christianity spread to Africa. Oden laments that even African theologians have been tempted to fall victim to the stereotypical idea that Christianity developed in and came from Europe. This mindset ignores the vast oral tradition and written evidence indicating that African thought shaped and conditioned nearly every Christian diocese in the first millennium of the faith.

Oden asserts that in Christianity's first 500 years, "the period of its greatest vitality," the African Christian intellect was the model that was sought and widely emulated by Christians of the northern and eastern Mediterranean shores. (29) Oden claims, "The Christian leaders in Africa figured out how best to read the law and the prophets meaningfully, to think philosophically, and to teach the ecumenical rule of triune faith cohesively long before these patterns became normative elsewhere." (29-30) Through the third, fourth and fifth centuries, African Christian ideas were flowing to the other centers of Christianity.

The book is divided into two main parts: "The African Seedbed of Western Christianity" and "African Orthodox Recovery." Oden also includes an Appendix that outlines the challenges of early African research and a literary chronology of the first 1000 years of Christianity in Africa. Oden focuses on seven ways that Africa from the first to the fifth century shaped the Christian mind. These seven ways provide the foundation for his thesis in the book:

1.The Western idea of a university and Christian scholarship was born in Africa, mainly in Alexandria which possessed an unrivaled library and a vast learning community of philosophers, scientists, writers, artists and educators. Influential figures include Clement of Alexandria and Pantaenus.

2.Christian exegesis of Scripture first matured in Africa by writers like Origen, Didymus the Blind, Tyconius and Augustine of Hippo.

3.African sources like Tertullian, Cyprian, Athanasius, Augustine and Cyril shaped early Christian dogma on subjects such as Christology and the Trinity. Many problems of Biblical interpretation and Christian definitions were worked out through African Christians' battles against the major heresies of Gnosticism, Arianism, Montanism, Marcionism and Manichaeism.

4.Early ecumenical decision making followed early African conciliar patterns that provided a practical model for ecumenical debate and resolution. African church leaders like Demetrius of Alexandria, Cyprian of Carthage, Optatus of Milevis and Augustine raised and helped settle issues on penitence, diocesan boundaries, episcopal authority and ordination and on Christian doctrine.

5.The African desert Fathers birthed worldwide monasticism through their patterns of personal sacrifice, ordering of the life of prayer, study, work, radical discipleship and balance of solitude and communal life. Oden elaborates on the example of how the monastic patterns of Antony, Pachomius and Augustine would have lasting influence in Italy, France and all the way to Ireland.

6.Christian neoplatonism emerged in Africa with Africans Philo, Ammonias Saccas and Plotinus being the central figures. Clement of Alexandria was among the earliest to convey the connections and distinctions between logos philosophy and the Christian teaching of God.

7.Rhetorical and dialectical skills were honed in Africa prior to advancement in Europe with Tertullian, Cyprian, Arnobius, Lactantius and Augustine excelling.

According to Oden, the time for Orthodox recovery in Africa is now and urgent for three reasons:
1.rapid numerical expansion of Christianity
2.a new hunger for intellectual depth
3.the perceived might of the Muslim world, and the concurrent exhaustion of modern Western intellectual alternatives.

African Christianity does not have the comfort to invest in the Western idea of ecumenism and unity that equates all ideologies and rejects absolute truth and moral superiority of the historic doctrines. Likewise, a faith devoid of the supernatural is of no use to African Christians who rely on miraculous intervention. Oden asserts that African Christianity is rejecting a "permissive ecumenism" and tolerance for sin in favor of the truths found in its wellspring of classical exegesis that deals with the problem of sin through penitence and humility. (116) Oden sees in the heart of African Orthodoxy a model for a contemporary Christianity revitalized by a corrected perspective on the relationships between tradition and Scripture and between faith and charity inspired by the Holy Spirit.

He presents what is basically the tip of the iceberg of evidence for his thesis. He admittedly limits himself to the task of being a catalyst to ignite African and other scholars to take the initiative to fully develop his ideas. The book is sufficient to whet readers' appetites and pique interest in discovering the rest of the iceberg not seen in this book.

Oden writes, "Among the benefits of reading early African Christian teaching are the courage to face complex tasks, reduced anxiety and the consolation of knowing that suffering can be transcended by hope. Seemingly impossible obstacles do not intimidate." (135) If a lesson for all Christians stands out from early African Christianity, it may be what is articulated by Alan Paton's seminal South African novel "Cry, the Beloved Country:" "there is one thing that has power completely, and that is love. Because when a man loves, he seeks no power, and therefore he has power." Oden has illustrated that African Christianity has been characterized, since it inception to the present, by power sourced in a keen sacrificial love flowing with grace, faith, hope, and courage while remaining anchored in truth and community.

Shakespeare On Spirituality: Life-Changing Wisdom from Shakespeare's Plays

"On that day, there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of Hosts. One of these will be called the city of the sun (Heliopolis)." Isaiah 19:18



Introductory Epilogue:
One nation in Africa lead by the great city of Alexandria has played a decisive role in the formation of Christian culture from its infancy that outweighs all other nations together. The Church of Alexandria, where the Hebrew bible translation started in the third century BC, into the Greek Septuagint, became and still is the ecclesiastical holy Scripture of the Eastern Orthodox Churches. All fundamental Christian doctrines and the most formative intellectual achievements of Christianity were explored and developed in Egypt, which controlled provinces west to today's Tunisia, together of few Latin centers in Northern Africa before they moved into Italia and the Gaul of the archaic Roman Empire.

Oden Tells the Story:
Here, Oden reminds Christians that there were once major cultural and religious centers in North Africa, especially in present day Tunisia where Carthage and Hippo were located. The Mediterranean coast of North Africa had a thriving civilization and culture that produced vivid literature and fine art. The Nile River descending from the mountains of Ethiopia, passing through Nubia, and ending in lower Egypt is still the main location of a living Christianity. These Christians were able to survive the Arab invasion, even hinder Islamic cancerous growth into their areas. Another vocation that Oden points out as having a great influence on Western Asia, from Syria to Capadocia and Southern Europe was monasticism, which started in the deserts of Egypt and eventually moved east and west up to Ireland.

African Paleo-Orthodoxy:
Professor Thomas Oden, founder of Paleo-Orthodoxy, represents a portrait of Christian community in North Africa, in line with Patristic scholars in Europe, which is being catching up in this country through the North American Patristic Society, in the last thirty years. He challenges prevailing notions on the historical development of Christianity from its early buds to its later developed expressions. He asks some fundamental questions: If this is so, why is Christianity so often perceived in Africa as a Western colonial import? How can Christians in Africa, and throughout the world, rediscover and learn from this ancient heritage? His analysis convinced him that the pattern should be reversed the other way around. His impassioned plea to uncover the vital role that early African Christians played in developing the modern university, applies only to Alexandria. From Clement to Dedymus, the Alexandrine Catechetical school thrived, and the scriptorium produced the most accurate Codices. Origen matured Christian exegesis of Scripture, shaped early Christian dogma, and above all modelled conciliar patterns of ecumenical consolation, by arbitration in matters of faith, between disputing bishops and their Churches from Caesaria, Palestine to Rome. Early monasticism, which started by the Jewish Therapeutae who became the first Messianic Jews, established the vocation and its traditions. Alexandrine Egyptians led by Ammon Saccha and his clan Plotinus, Longinus and Origen, and others of his pupils developed Neoplatonism, while refining rhetorical and dialectical skills.

Oden Disciplined Investigation:
Professor Thomas Oden calls for "a wide-ranging research project to fill out the picture he sketches. It will require, he says, a generation of disciplined investigation, combining intensive language study with a risk-taking commitment to uncover the truth in potentially unreceptive environments." Oden envisions a dedicated scholarship, devoting common commitment endorsed with cyber technology, that will seek to shape "not only the scholar's understanding but the ordinary African Christian's self-perception." Thomas Oden proposes that contemporary Christian Africans need not synthesize any new theology, of African liberation type, but to first rediscover the patristic theology that started on the continent with the Church Fathers before the advancement of Islam. However, surviving Copts in Egypt, Christians in Ethiopia, and Eritrea already stick firmly to their Oriental Orthodoxy.

Seeking truth or Ecumenism?
Thomas C. Oden, author and general editor of The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, in 28 volumes presents how this rediscovery can be done. He encourages young African scholars to take the lead in this project and set up a website: www.earlyafricanchristianity.com.
Oden tries to be ecumenical in his approach of rediscovering how Africa shaped Christianity theologically, but Africa is reduced in reality to Egypt, mostly, and Cosmopolitan Alexandria specifically. In spite of trying to be inclusive, his emphasis is Protestant, a fact which Br. Benet Exton, O.S.B., does not seem convinced. His presentation that Africa had a great influence on Christianity is correct, but Africa in the early days of the Church, could be reduced to Egypt, and Egypt to Alexandria. Exton statement that "forgetting is mostly due to racial prejudices which Oden and others highly suggest is not appropriate," refreshes the Black Athena debate.

Oden's Continental Ecumenism:
Although Oden creatively recovered all known and proven facts, he stopped short from acknowledging the true champions of Christian Orthodoxy. Oden cannot call Egypt Africa, or deny to make an absolutely simple statement,
"Alexandria was the mind of Western Civilization, and the Egyptian Desert the soul of Christianity!"

Eminent Scholar & Author:
Thomas C. Oden is Professor of Theology and Ethics, Emeritus, at Drew University Theological School from 1980 to 2004. in addition to being the senior editor of Christianity Today, he is the general editor of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture and author of The Rebirth of Orthodoxy, between many other theological and exegetical works.

Thomas C. Oden has done a great service for the church by writing "How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind." This book takes in great consideration Africa's contribution to Early Christian History. The book surveys various topics such as Christian intellectual history, the history of literature, Scripture exegesis, philosophy, physics, moral insight, discipline, etc. However, particular attention is given to Africa's contribution to Early Christianity. The book revisits what has been silent and untold in Church History for many centuries by both ecclesiological and secular historians. Oden writes with passion, conviction, yet with an irenic spirit. He states, "Christianity has a much longer history than its Western or European expressions. The profound ways African teachers have shaped world Christianity have never been adequately studied or acknowledged, either in the Global North or South" (p.10). The author posits some serious challenges to all educated Christians to reconsider the past. Early African History is nothing but ecclesiological history. The church cannot fully appreciate her rich history unless she is learned of her great African heritage. Although the book is directed toward Christians, yet non-Christians will profit from it significantly. Those who love the truth simply cannot ignore Oden's important work.

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.

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.

This is the illustrated edition of West With the Night, published by Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1994. A handsome, quality book with a sewn binding, dustcover, and hardback boards that are quarter-cloth, 3/4's pictorial (clouds.) I think it is pretty! Heavy weight paper with something like over 125 illustrations integrated into the flow of the text.

Taken to Kenya at age three, in 1905, Beryl Markham was raised on a farm by her father and a much-hated governess - her mother soon re-abandoned pioneer life for England. And while other girls were groomed to be ladies of society, she learned to ride and train horses, played with the Nandi boys living on her father's land and went hunting with their fathers. Barely 19, she became a professional racehorse trainer; at age 24 (1926) her mare Wise Child won the prestigious St. Leger, beating the odds and the favorite, Wrack, likewise initially trained by Beryl but taken from her weeks earlier by an owner distrusting her experience. After marrying and divorcing again wealthy Mansfield Markham, whose last name she kept, she met pioneer aviator Tom Black (later pilot to the Prince of Wales), who awakened her interest in flying and soon became her instructor. Having obtained her B license - "a flyer's Magna Carta" - Markham operated a taxi and cargo service out of Nairobi and worked as a scout for professional hunters like author Karen Blixen's (Isak Dinesen's) (ex-)husband Baron Br&oring;r Blixen. After her return to England, in 1936 she became the first pilot to successfully cross the Atlantic from east to west, against the headwinds. (She didn't reach New York, as planned - technical difficulties forced her plane into a Nova Scotia bog - but her achievement created substantial headlines regardless.) After being lured to Hollywood by a film project involving her flight, and marrying and divorcing again the man who later claimed this book's authorship, writer Raoul Schumacher, Markham ultimately returned to Kenya and to racehorse training. No less than six of her horses won Kenya's East African Derby, making her a local celebrity of considerable note. She died in 1986.

"West With the Night" is a memoir of Markham's life in Kenya until her mid-1930s departure to England. In language rivaling Blixen's in poetry and Hemingway's in power and skill, it chronicles her unconventional upbringing, early 20th century colonial society, a racehorse trainer's anxieties and ambitions, a flyer's freedom and solitude, and those people who meant most to her: her father, her Nandi friends, Tom Black, and some persons also known to readers of Blixen's memoirs: Lord and Lady Delamere, Baron Blixen, and Denys Finch-Hatton, for whose attentions she competed with Blixen (who herself isn't mentioned at all, as Markham isn't mentioned, either, in "Out of Africa").

"There are as many Africas as there are books about Africa," we are introduced to the continent she considered "home:" "Being ... all things to all authors, it follows, I suppose, that Africa must be all things to all readers. ... It is what you will, and it withstands all interpretations." And the people Markham most respected matched this environment in hardiness as much as in diversity and depth: Baron Blixen, "six feet of amiable Swede," whose "appreciation of the melodramatic [was] non-existent," and who was "never significantly silent" and "the toughest, most durable White Hunter ever ... to shoot a charging buffalo between the eyes while debating whether his sundown drink will be gin or whisky." Denys Finch-Hatton, "a great man who never achieved arrogance," whose charm was "of intellect and strength," who "would have greeted doomsday with a wink," could "tread upon inferior men with his tongue," and was "a keystone" in an arch of lives which fell at his premature death, "leaving its lesser stones heaped [and] for a while without design." And Tom Black, Beryl's messenger from Destiny, who taught her that "when you fly ... you feel that everything you see belongs to you [and you're] closer to ... something you've sensed you might be capable of, but never had the courage to imagine," but who summed up the effect of Kenya's growing attraction to amateur hunters (aided not least by his own services) with the simple words "lion, rifles - and stupidity."

Perhaps Markham's most poignant accounts are those of her interactions with the Nandi. For unlike Karen Blixen, who came to Africa as an adult and never entirely abandoned a white colonialist's attitude, Markham's upbringing enabled her to innately understand their world: "He thought war was made of spears and shields and courage, and he brought them all," we learn about young warrior Arab Maina: "But [in World War I] they gave him a gun, so he left the spear and the shield behind and took the courage, and went where they sent him. [When he was killed,] some said it was because he had forsaken his spear." And when her childhood friend Kibii returns to become her servant, now a warrior himself and renamed Arab Ruta, she realizes that what a child doesn't know "of race and colour and class, he learns soon enough as he grows to see each man flipped inexorably into some predestined groove," and while Ruta will still be her friend, "the handclasp will be shorter ... and though the path is for a while the same, he will walk behind me now, when once, in the simplicity of our nonage, we walked together."

Like most memoirs - most notably Hemingway's "Moveable Feast" and Blixen"s "Out of Africa" - "West With the Night" is a selective account; and as in those works, the omissions only enhance its power. Hemingway's much-quoted lavish praise is both deserved and all the more notable as "Papa," otherwise so thrifty in lauding contemporaries, intensely disliked Markham as a person. - Authorship of the book has been called into question by the claims of Markham's ex-husband Raoul Schumacher, and by Errol Trzebinski's biography (which relies substantially on third-party accounts and merely proves that Schumacher had time and opportunity to write the book, not that he actually did). It's a great shame that writing as lasting and beautiful as this should be marred by such a controversy. Frankly, though, I don't hear any voice but Beryl Markham's in this account; both philosophically and stylistically, I have no doubt that this is her story alone. And therefore, ultimately ... "What matter who's speaking?" (Michel Focault, "What is an Author?")

Also recommended:
Splendid Outcast: Beryl Markham's African Stories
Straight on Till Morning: A Biography of Beryl Markham
Out of Africa and Shadows on the Grass
Out of Africa
Green Hills of Africa
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
The Flame Trees of Thika
Petals of Blood
Things Fall Apart: A Novel
Wind, Sand and Stars

It is debateable whether or not Beryl's husband helped to write this story. He was a writer and must have inluenced her in some ways. However, there are books other than "The lives of Beryl Markham" that give insight to the depth of his inluences upon her writing and also present Beryl's opinion on this subject. In Beryl's "African Stories" compiled by a woman who interviewed Beryl it becomes clear that Raoul's writing style did not match the writing style of this book. Raoul focused on scandal and tried to write his own story about Beryl in which scandal played a large part to help make the book popular. In Beryl's opinion the scandals of her life were unimportant details. Horses and African life were her truths and the details surrounding these truths were what she wanted to convey to the world. She used artisitc liscence. One surely should be able to to use this skill if one is writing about ones own life. Stories are not required to be as reality shows are today. The book is not titled "West With The Night A True Story". It was not meant to be taken with a grain of salt. It was meant to immerse the reader, take them to a different place if you will and make them feel as though they lived it. Allow the book to be what it is, enjoy the fine writing and let it take you to where you may have never been before. Read further and discover more. It is a facinating mystery touched by so many factors many of which we may never know because the one person who could tell us whether or not she wrote the book is dead and gone.

The book, In the Time of the Drums, by Kim L. Siegelson, is a story about the relationship between an island-born slave boy named Mentu and his grandmother, Twi, a woman who had grown up in Africa before she was captured and sent away to work on the island where the story takes place on the east coast of America. It is through her stories, secrets, and teachings of the songs played on the drums that Mentu finally understands what it means to be strong in the face of despair.
If I could come up with a word that could describe this book, it would be "descriptive." All of the words seemed to leap out at me with tons of imagery. I could actually see Mentu, Twi, and the island where they lived from my dorm room. The image of the island and its people that Brian Pinkney, the illustrator, drew also matched up perfectly with the life I envisioned Twi and Mentu having, from the look of the island and thatched roof huts to the clothes that they wore and the goat-skin drums that they played. All of these elements contributed greatly to the descriptive nature of this book and made it one that is a must-read for all young readers ages 8 and up.
I also liked the fact that this book focused on the theme of keeping one's heritage and culture alive at all costs. In a society where students of different cultures become "Americanized," it is important for young readers to value the differences they see among themselves along with their similarities. While similarities can bring all types of people together, it is our differences that make each individual unique and important in a multicultural society.

This book is rich in illustration and in story. The book resonates like a powerful drum beat. The author tells a tale that seems passed from generation to generation. This is a great read for Black History Month. This is a book you will read again and again to your children. The suggested age for readers of 4 to 8 is really too limiting. Children of all ages will enjoy and be moved by this book.

Siegelson writes lyrically and gives a lovely sense of Georgia's coastal islands. The mix of history and folk tale presents well to children, and seems to capture their interest and imagination. The book is a pleasure to read aloud and held the attention of both my ten year old and my six year old.

In the Time of the Drums is an excellent story of the Gullah heritage. It tells of a people who have not forgotten. Young Mentu is told of a time by his grandmother Twi, when he will be "strong-strong." Twi, a wise, respected elder of the community, leads her people home. Mentu is "strong-strong" as he passes the heart-felt beats, and stories that can't be forgotten to descendents, and to us.

Siegelson has a mastery of words that is incredible. The rhythm of the words becomes immediately apparent as you read and it is definitely something you'll want to share right away. Brian Pinkey does a wonderful job, as usual, and the lines of his drawings echo the rhythm and lyricism of the story. I think it is interesting and appropriate to the story (you'll understand after you read it) that althought the story is based in historical fact, it is not limited by it. If you are an african-american parent, buy this book. If you are not an african-american parent, buy this book. I will be watching for the next by Kim Siegelson. Signed, a Children's Librarian in Oklahoma.

I don't even know where to begin as it relates to this book. One word would be excellent thought. It provides a clear, concise, well researched, informative (not bias or persuasive) view on Micheal Manley and Claude McKay's ideologies. I think all 'yardies' should read this book. It all honesty it has instilled a foundation for a deep sense of national pride that I didn't really have before. The book also gives an interesting blue print of Third World development and how these great products of our nation (Jamaica) got to the views that they did. It also provides some insight on what the developing world is afraid of- third world cooperation. The short of it, is that I loved the book. I could not put it down once I started reading it.

I found this book to be extremely engaging, WELL-RESEARCHED, creative and generally thought provoking. The author has taken a very original approach by comparing the written works of a Afro-Caribbean poet (who was instrumental in igniting the Harlem Renaissance) with those of Jamaica's most loved Prime Minister Michael Manley. He has compared their writings to extrapolate on their political views on globalization and its impact on peoples of the African Diaspora and the global South. The interspersing of poetic writings with declassified political documents is indeed avant-garde!! It makes the work into one that can be enjoyed by all.

I recommend it highly!!

Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (2/07)

"In-Dependence from Bondage" is a compilation of the world views of the well known Poet, Claude McKay, and the world renowned Afro-Caribbean Socialist, Michel Manley. Both men, although of different generations, are known for their dedication to social change as it relates to the exploitation of the peoples of African descent in the Western hemisphere. Claude McKay's poetry was one of the great forces in bringing about what is often called the Negro Literary Renaissance.

Over a period of nearly four centuries approximately 4,000,000 Africans were transported to North America and the Caribbean Islands as the results of slave trading. Scattered, dispersed, and separated from their family and culture, these peoples persevered to maintain their traditions, religion, language, and folklore. Lloyd McCarthy, in this book, focuses primarily on the Jamaican perspective; however, it is relevant to the social, political, and economic conditions everywhere. I found the poetry of Claude McKay thought-provoking and enlightening on the African Diaspora and the plight of these exploited peoples.

McCarthy successfully illustrates the impetus, impact and corrective tactics currently being considered which are central to combating white racism, classicism, and Western imperialism. McCarthy gives the reader a definitive compilation of the writings of Claude McKay and Michael Manley. He has analyzed their works using references from dozens of authors and their interpretations of the ideological clash and policy gaps in African Diaspora relations. His research is well documented with complete and thorough endnotes.

McCarthy also is an Afro-Jamaican, and instills the influence of his personal history and heritage in his writing. He reveals his own empathy for the peasants and the working-class outlook, and the political perspectives that McKay and Manley expressed.

This work is a major contribution to the study of African Diaspora as it relates to globalization, policy planning, and international relations with developing and impoverished nations. McCarthy also presents valuable insight into how literature, biographical narrative, and intellectual history are interconnected with politics. The book is a wake up call to the peoples and nations of the African Diaspora to find collective solutions to survive globalization.

"In-Dependence from Bondage" holds promise of becoming the guidebook or blueprint for the liberation movement and should be read by our Washington politicians as well as all New World Africans.

I recently read somewhere that 2% of the worlds richest population owns over half of the world's wealth. An article on ABC news stated that ""Wealth is heavily concentrated in North America, Europe and high-income Asia-Pacific countries. People in these countries collectively hold almost 90 percent of total world wealth." Yet, globalization is one the rise and is further touted as a means to economic empowerment. "In-Dependence from Bondage" looks at the unconstructive consequences that globalization brings to many in the African Diaspora and the world. This book illustrates how two Jamaican political figures prophetically viewed globalization's impact on developing nations during the 20th century and provides statistical analysis of how this global economic disparity has manifested itself in the quality of life of the peoples of developing nations. Mr. McCarthy defines globalization as the spread of American capitalism and provides extensive evidence as to how the throngs of capitalism (and its undercurrent of Elitism) affect impoverished nations for the benefit of a select few. Where there is a thesis, there must be an antithesis. This book represents a viable alternative view from which we all can learn. BRAVO!!!

"SURVIVAL. LIBERATION. STRUGGLE"! These are not merely fortuitous themes but the vital, mutual, connection in the theses on global capitalism and the crisis of imperialism found in the literary and political legacy of Claude McKay and Michael Manley.

*In-Dependence From Bondage* shows how the artist, McKay, and the politician, Manley, (both international political activists and writers) surveyed World-Development, over the last 500 years. They have observed how imperialist-globalization is still shutting down human liberty, producing backwardness and desperation for the majority of humanity worldwide,in the current epoch, especially in the African Diaspora.

The author demonstrates that both men were driven, like other great historical figures--true internationalists, and so moved (with their art and politics) upon the world-stage because they deeply cared about humanity, as we move in history.

As men, of the Americas, who have witnessed, participated in, and were closely acquainted with key historical figures and great events of the last century, they saw how imperialism and global capitalism have afflicted peoples in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas.

The author shows that McKay and Manley warned the Lumpen-bourgeoisie of the African Diaspora how a handful of international financial capitalists (through international agencies) were ravaging poor countries, with debt. Thus *In-Dependence From Bondage* points out that the debt burden of the African Diaspora along with that of the Global South is rising, rapidly, and is one explanation for the decline in overall human development since the end of the Cold War.

Unwise borrowing and investments in wrong projects by the lumpen-bourgeois, "Gate Keepers," of the African Diaspora, acting with and for the big predatory lenders in the imperialist countries is one explanation for the current debt burden.

*In-Dependence From Bondage* argues that the historical evidence, since 1948, is readily available to show that the disaster that is called capitalism was not warmly welcomed by the mass of people in the African Diaspora. It was forcibly imposed in many countries through military interventions, political assassinations and destabilization carried out by the agents of Capitalism and imperialism, under the false pretense of fighting "communism" in the Third World.

McCarthy believes that some of the loans, which are now the source of the debt burden in poor countries, may well have been granted to the lumpen-bourgeoisie (including the lumpen-Black-bourgeois), as reward money for their capitulation to imperialist globalization, during and after the Cold War.

According to McCarthy, under such circumstances, morally the devastated ravaged-poor of the African Diaspora should now resist. They must not repay "reward' loans." Let the greedy-opportunists pay! His argument for the case is that, under the warped system of Western political democracy, it is unlikely that the people, who are now being asked to repay such cruel loans, knew anything about the conditions of the agreements or when their corrupt elites entered into negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

*In-Dependence From Bondage* makes the point that, the nationalist elites collaborated with US based international loan sharks, the IMF and World Bank in usurping the democratic rights of the people in the process of borrowing. Thus, they have helped to tighten the noose of capitalist exploitation and imperialism around the neck of the African Diaspora's economy.

McCarthy reiterates that, both the World Bank and the IMF, predatory lenders, are instruments of imperialism for the big financial capitalist of the North. Any promise of a "debt relief" is not trustworthy because it is a "gift horse" that must be examined closely. The "benevolent" bearer of "debt reliefs are the wolves of capitalism making sure that the political environment in the black Diaspora remains welcoming to further exploitation. p.154

Although the work is a non-fiction on the subject, capitalism/imperialism, McCarthy makes the book light, lively and entertaining by presenting and interpreting some of McKay's rare poetry and fictional writings.

In contrast, he also examines Manley's relations with the infamous Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, but STRANGELY, he suggested that Kissinger may have been more empathetic to Michael Manley and Jamaica during the 1970s than they ever realized. Other elements in the US administration, advocating for the international bauxite giants, instead, were Manley's main antagonists.

With this said, in the worldviews of McKay and Manley, the survival and liberation of humanity and the African Diaspora, from under the heel of imperialist-globalization demands "STRUGGLE... CONTINUOUS STRUGGLE!" says McCarthy.

This interesting, fast moving, easy to read book of only 192 pages, should be read by students, artist, politicians and general readers with an interest in history, politics, literature, and the fate of humanity!

See also:

Life And Debt

"Into Africa" is a wonderful, almost breathless, whirlwind tour of the African continent. The travels described in the book may have begun as a search for what remains of the ancient empires that once existed, but became as much a discovery of what Africa is today, and what it will become.

Authors Marq De Villiers and Sheila Hirtle divide the book (and the continent) into nine sections, each with its own distinct character and history. Part one looks at southeast Africa, highlights of which include a visit to the impressive stone ruins of Great Zimbabwe, ruins which produce a sound when one's ear is pressed against them, the source unknown. We are introduced to the Makuni or the "Living Stones" of Zambia, named not after the famous explorer and missionary but rather for the fact that a chief begins his duties by swallowing a small stone, which lodges in his gut and becomes an embodiment of his people. This region is also home to the colorful Maasai warriors, often noted by tourists in colorful red garb (so that people will want to photograph them), nomadic pastoralists that have been pushed out of the increasingly artificial wildlife sanctuaries of Ngorongoro and the Serengeti despite having lived there for many hundreds of years.

Part two looks at the east coast of Africa, the lands of the Swahili speakers. Fabled east Africa, long a tropical coast skirted by (increasingly threatened) coral reefs and (disappearing) dhows, one can still find along it Lamu, near the Somali border, still an island of coral brick buildings and mosques dating back to the 14 century. Even more famous is exotic Zanzibar, fabled island known to the ancients and part of Tanzania in name only, once a famous source of spices.

The third section looks at southern Africa, a land largely shaped by the Zulus and the migrations they caused in the 1800s thanks to the tyrant Shaka Zulu. We read about mountainous Lesotho, well known for its conical hats, vigorous ponies, and blankets (called Victorians), a distinct national character that is only 150 years old, invented by arguably Africa's wiliest diplomat, Moshoeshoe the Great; and Swaziland, one of the last of the traditional African monarchies, famous for the Umhlanga or Reed Dance, where barely clad young maidens symbolically offer themselves to the king as brides. The enigmatic San or Bushmen of the Kalahari also receive attention.

Part four looks at the ancient rain forest lands of the Kongo, long a source of slaves for the world and even well into the 20th century under the yoke of forced labor by France (in the Congo) and Belgium (in Zaire). It is a troubled region, but one of great contrasts; separated by the Stanley Pool of the mighty Congo River are two very different capital cities; Brazzaville of Congo the authors describe a sleepy and pleasant town, in vivid contrast to Kinshasa, capital of Zaire, a much larger, angrier, and dangerous city. Some of the most interesting passages in the book are in this section, particularly of his travels up the Congo River, in war torn Angola, and among the pygmies of Cameroon.

The fifth section looks at the Gulf of Guinea, long fabled as the Gold Coast and dominated by the fierce Ashanti, bold enough to challenge the British Empire and almost win. Of particular interest are violent and overpopulated Nigeria; the country of Benin (growing more into a model of how Africa could be), whose ancient kingdom of Dahomey was once noted for "Amazon" warriors; Togo, where vodun (the African incarnation of Haitian voodoo) still reigns; Ghana, perhaps the most "Christian" of the west African nations and a robust democracy; and Liberia and Sierra Leone, whose prospects are gloomy indeed.

Section six was quite interesting, examining the peoples and old empires of the Sahel, the grasslands bordering the southern Sahara, as well as the Sahara itself. Once dominated by a series of mighty empires, first Ghana for over 800 years, then Mali, the greatest perhaps of Sub-Saharan African empires, then nearly 400 years later the Songhai. Fabled Timbuktu is covered in this section, the desert city a center of Islamic learning from the 14th century on. The authors' coverage of Mali is especially interesting, notable for Mansa Musa, an African king so extravagantly wealthy he was well known in 14th century Europe after his pilgrimage to Mecca, and his predecessor, Abu Bakari II, the Voyager King, who actually sought to reach lands he believed to exist on the other side of the Atlantic, disappearing from history when he accompanied personally 2000 vessels for a perilous journey into the unknown. Also fascinating was coverage of the Tuareg or "Blue Men" of the Sahara, a fair-skinned desert nomad group where the men go veiled, not the women, and the Dogon tribe, cliff-dwellers in southern Mali that are neither Christian nor Muslim but have instead their own complex religion.

The later sections of the book are somewhat shorter, but no less interesting. Part seven looks at the Maghreb and the Barbary Coast of North Africa, an area once controlled by the now extinct Carthage, the land of the Berbers, the Bedouin, and the Moors, once dominated by the Almoravid and the Almohad civilizations, in part infused from the Andalucian culture of Islamic Spain. Part eight devotes some time to Egypt, which the authors maintain it is definitively a part of African civilization, and Ethiopia, a fascinating land of rock-hewn churches and according to some the home of the Ark of the Covenant, and once dominated by the powerful Axumite Empire. The book closes with the Great Rift, believed by paleontologists to be the true cradle of mankind, home to the enigmatic Chwezi or BaChwezi empire, the fabled Mountains of the Moon, and the horror that was Idi Amin in Uganda and is the conflict between the Tutsi and the Hutu in Rwanda and Burundi.

A fantastic book!

This book was extremely entertaining and interesting and most importantly stimulated interest in me for learning more about many of the regions and peoples described. Much in the work, however, seemed a bit over-romanticized. Nevertheless, I highly recommend the book: it was one of the best I read last year. Excellent introduction to the history and current situations in Africa (a little out of date for Zaire, of course)

The major highlight of this book is that it mentions every country on the continent; many books which view Africa as a whole tend to stick with maybe a dozen of the 45 countries that make up Africa, but the authors have touched, albeit briefly, along all modern African states, and attempt to bring them together as a whole, and make cohesive conclusions about the continent. The continent - a real study of the continent in all of its incarnations. As an overview of the continent, as a pair of authors taking the long view, and reaching unique and enlightening conclusions, there is no better book.

As a seasoned traveller to Africa (on bicycle and 4wd). I was relieved to find this book both informative and enlightening in its excellent balance of past and present times. The lighthearted approach mingled with the odd tribal poem and sometimes witty dialogue will appeal to those for have an affinity for Africa and wish to delve a little deeper. My only real criticism is that the book doesn't delve deep enough - but should it have, then the lighthearted feel would be lost. The style of writing is a joy considering the breadth of Africa and to have the authors own past thrown in at times, reaqlly does purvue a sense of a 'personal account' of this wondrous continent. If you want to feel Africa in your heart and its culture in veins without the security blanket of a tour operator and a 5* hotel this is the book you have been waiting for!

I really enjoyed this book because it was well written history of the African people. The man who wrote this book is an exceptional writter for National Geographic. He seems to have a very good perpective upon the history of the African people. The other great thing is he provides a source for the Pharoah Khufu being an African person. He shows the deepest respect to African people and their culture. He is one of the only white writters on Africa that seem to do this. We have other people like J PHilipe Rushton,John R Baker,and the people behind the bell cruve seem to be on a cultural campain to posion the masses.
I wish however the writter would have went more indepth into African spirtuality. He does talk about the Mountains of the Moons being the source of the acient Egyptains.

This is a wonderful book!! Most of us will never have the opportunity to travel the world. We will be forced by circumstance to travel via armchair from home. My advice is to let Alistair Caldicott take you to glamorous, exotic and exciting destinations and leave him to deal with the disturbing, uncomfortable and dangerous because he copes so well and lives to tell us all about it. This book is not a travel guide. It's more personal than that, chatty and well written, and an all around good read in every way.
His journey begins in India. Through mind sapping heat, he shares every step with his readers: grand palaces, staggering poverty, beautiful people and places, and sickening squallor. We experience the river Ganges, a holy river so polluted that oxygen can no longer live in it. He hikes the Himalayas while fighting bouts of altitude sickness and diarrhea, introduces us to Sherpa strongholds and yak caravans in Nepal and Tibet, and climbs pristine blue glaciers. And just when you think it could not possibly get more exciting, he heads for Australia via Bangkok and Singapore.
I've always been curious about Australia. He soaks it all in like a sponge and takes his readers with him. From one end of Australia to another, he travels dusty outback roads, gapes in awe at ancient cliffs and Aboriginal rock paintings. We feel the blistering heat and the incessant swarms of flies that buzz at every human orifice demanding entry. And we share his wonder at sleeping under night time skies.
New Zealand is a land of charming contrasts: tropical vegetation, volcanoes, boiling mud pools and geysers, mist shrouded craters, ancient water caves, glaciers, fjords, and an unexpectedly mild climate.
Africa is a beautifully diverse continent in ways most of us will never see. Caldicott describes it as a raw, challenging, enthralling, rewarding continent, then sets out to show us exactly what he means by that statement. From the southernmost tip of Africa he treks, sometimes painfully, to his final destination, Mt. Kilimanjaro. Along the way we visit rubbish infested cities in decline, learn about apartheid and other political injustices, and walk pristine beaches. We accompany the author as he snorkels with whale sharks in the Indian Ocean and hikes the Khyber pass. He introduces us to oasis pools in the world's oldest desert and hidden gems not yet discovered by tourists. We rough camp in the bush surrounded by wild animals, go white water rafting on the Zambize River, and suffer with the author through a frightening bout of malaria. And finally we struggle with him through the crowning achievement of his travels -- climbing Kilimanjaro.
This is an exhilarating book, a thoroughly satisfying read from beginning to end. If you are at all curious about the world and its wonders, I suggest you buy this book then lean back and let Mr. Caldicott take you on a journey of the mind. Allow him to stimulate your senses through his words.

Laurel Johnson
Mid-West Book Review, US

I would like to recommend this book to anyone who aspires to travel as well as those who already have. And also for those who just like to sit back and read about faraway palces in other parts of the world!
Take an armchair journey around the world with this engrossing real life adventure. Experience unusual people, places and incidents. We learn about some very well known palces, but it is also the less well-known places which prove just as riveting.
During his long journeys we alternated between the unintentional and the unpredictable, as he both enjoys and endures, but does so in an engaging and articulate manner. His powers of observation are sharp and it is during the moments of difficulty when the entertainment is best.
Very enjoyable and out of the ordinary at times.

With a refreshingly crisp turn of phrase, admirable candour and disarming self-depreciation, this book is absorbing. There is little time for slushy banalities or bland, weary cliches, but there is plenty of time for the unleashing of an excellent sense of humour, which cares little for offending people who deserve to be offended, while warming to those who are genuinely hospitable. No patronising smugness or condescension in the narration - just honest, insightful observation from someone who somehow tends to do things the hard way.
And the author has plenty of unusually entertaining experiences along the way - the incident of him getting whacked by a tree branch on the top of a bus in Nepal had me in stitches. Just when you think his last close shave will not be surpassed, another one comes along, but he takes it all in his stride. There's been a lot of travel books on the market in recent years,