Africa Books

This book is an excellent piece of herpetological literature, and a must for any serious herpetological enthusiast or anyone with an interest in snakes. It offers somewhat detailed species description on African taxa, and is a valuable source of information about the continent's venomous species. The descriptions are divided into sections for each species, including identification, distinguishing characteristics, races (subspecies), similar species, behavior, distribution, habitat, natural history, venom, snakebite, case histories and treatment. Herpetologists, serious naturalists and herpetoculturists will especially appreciate the detailed information provided on behavior, venom and case histories, while casually interested readers will enjoy the sections on distinguishing characteristics and natural history. This book should be a part of every herp library! It is also pretty hard to find, so if you see it, grab it!

This is a very interesting and informative book. Rich in information aswell as magnificent photographs adding to the overall class of the book. A definte MUST for anyone seriously interested in snakes, especially african species.

The book is well written and very informative. The information regarding snakebites and how to address them is very good. It is a good field guide but the photographs are really too small. Also may times the photos show the head of the snake and not the whole animal. The information is top notch and it really shows the lack of documented information on african snakes. I would highly recommend it to anybody with an interest snakes

This book is a valuable asset to any library. The only problem I had with this book is trying to read Swahili. I took Introduction to Swahili 101 at Oklahoma City Junior College, but I guess that just was not good enough.

There are plenty of serious human rights abuses in Africa which Westerners, particularly American corporations and arms dealers have strong complicity in: the 4 million dead in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia under Meles Zenawi, Equatorial Guinea under Teodor Obiang, Chad under Idriss Deby, Uganda under Museveni. One can also mention the horrors of the neoliberal economic model which African governments have followed so studiously. But Sudan and Zimbabwe seem to take up 90 percent of recent Western media reporting about abuses in the region. Both governments, vile as they certainly are, have struck independent courses via US power over the years and so are demonized in the US media. Former Senator John Danforth, US ambassador to the UN in 2004, stated on British tv in 2005 that the main reason the Bush administration made noises about Darfur in the election year of 04' was to please the voting block of fundamentalist Christians who have long believed the Sudanese regime to be satanic.

There is plenty of stuff in this book about the barbaric atrocities of the Sudanese government and the Janjiweed, the paramilitary force which acts as a proxy for the Sudanese military in Darfur.. In Darfur, the driving Arab supremacist ideology was rooted in the "Arab Gathering" group which emerged under the backing of Colonel Qadaffi of Libya in the 70's and 80's. Many in Sudan's government have been influenced by this ideology. The authors provide much quotation from these brethren who stress the need to make Darfur a purely Arab homeland and to cleanse it of non-Arab elements. Qadaffi funded the Sudanese Islamist/Arab nationalist groups Ansar and Muslim Brothers against his enemy, Sudan's then dictator Jafarr Nimieri in the 70's and early 80's. Many in these groups ended up in positions of power after the Islamist regime took power in June 1989. Qadaffi also funded Arab supremacists in Chad during the 80's, many of whom found refuge in Darfur and have since made not insignificant contributions to the violence there.

It also appears from the authors' discourse that the conflict is driven by the struggle for land and water in an area which has seen much drought, and a dwindling supply of water and arable land.....
The authors point out that Arabs of the Bagarra Rizeigat--to which the majority of Arabs in Darfur belong--have kept out of the conflict.... A not insignificant number of the janjiweed are violent criminals released from Sudan's prisons to serve in that body......

Bagarra Rizeigat have protected refugees from Janjiweed terror. The Bagarra Rizeigat chief, Saeed Madibu has resisted efforts by the Khartoum government to bribe him and terrorize him into submission. The authors seem to imply that most of the Arab tribal elites in Darfur would greatly prefer peaceful social, political and commercial interaction between Arabs and African tribes instead of the apopaclyptic ideology of a Darfur cleansed of all black people that Janjiweed leaders profess. Saeed Madibu, in a contumacious act to the Khartoum government, has resurrected meetings of Darfurian tribal elders to negotiate in an equitable fashion, land and resource issues.

One of the two Darfurian opposition groups, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) is divided between two tribal based factions, the Fur, led by Abdel Wahid and the Zaghawa, led by Minnie Minawi. These two groups spend alot of time making war upon each other, rather than upon the Sudanese army and Janjaweed. They mention that the SLA, perhaps a joint action of the two factions, attacked Bagarra Rizeigat territory in the Summer of 2004 and burned villages, stole livestock and engaged in other such activities at which the Janjiweed are such experts but Said Madibu's forces drove them out of their land.

The JEM is much more sophisticated. Islamists disillusioned with the extreme corruption and violence of the Khartoum regime seem to make up a significant part of the JEM's leadership. In interviews with one or another of the authors, the JEM leaders disavow any association with Hassan Al-Turabi, the Islamist scholar who was Sudan's de facto ruler throughout the 90's until he lost a power struggle with the country's president General Omar Hassan Al-Bashir in 2000 and was thrown into prison. Turabi had attracted many to his cause in the 70's and 80's because he spoke of a brotherhood of Muslims regardless of race and spoke out against the extreme corruption and inequality in Sudan's society. JEM leaders, according to the authors' interview of them, think that Turabi is a disgusting fraud and don't want anything to do with him. However many of them are specifically committed to setting up an Islamic state in the Sudan, which they say will grant freedom of worship to other faiths and will fullfill the ideals of honesty and equality in government that Turabi's variety of Islamists promised back in the 80's but have made such a mockery of in practice. The leaders of the JEM are often former national and regional officials under the current regime and provide the authors with stories probably containing at least some truth, illustrating their own virtue when they were in the service of the current regime, in the midst of grotesque brutality and corruption.

The authors mention the US and UK backed Naivasha accords that ended the civil war in Southern Sudan in 2005. In that accord the oil revenues are to be evenly divided between North and South, the SPLA has become the autonomous ruler of the South and army units in the capital are divided 50/50 in membership between the SPLA and the Sudanese army. SPLA leader John Garang was made first vice president of Sudan but he died in a mysterious plane crash shortly after the Naivasha accords. However the war criminals in both the Sudan government and the SPLA were granted amnesty from prosecution.....The authors note the desire for stability in south Sudan with its strategically important oil wealth by the US and UK, the Naivasha accord backers. Darfur in contrast has no important resources.

People professionally concerned with genocide prevention and Darfur recommended this short but outstanding book (there are quite a few others on the crisis) when I needed to supplement my knowledge quickly. Its 134 pages of condensed information are based on prolonged and detailed work in the region and with people who know it well. The complexity of Darfur and its crisis as well as its relationship to other regions of Sudan emerge with balance, but with a clear picture of the horrors being committed. It enlarged my knowledge greatly beyond what I had gleaned from the media and a few days spent with some refugees from Darfur. It discusses events up to early 2005, its publication year, so is not quite up to date. The experts recommended it despite pointing this out, and I'm glad they did.

I'm in the middle of second of this series. I was especially drawn in by the vivid descriptions of Africa and the independent and spunky lead character. Jazz Jasper is an expatriate American trying to launch a tour business in Africa. A friend helps her to land a tour for an advertising firm scouting locations for a commercial campaign. A cast of assorted characters set out on their journey. Murder ensues. There is a nice Law and Order type twist at the end.

Finding a new female mystery writer is always a treat for me. Karin McQuillan's novel, Deadly Safari has put me on to a new source of reading entertainment. Deadly Safari takes the reader to the wilds of the African Jungle where Jazz Jasper has thrown caution and common sense to the wind to run a Safari tour company. Her adventures paint a believable picture of that magnificent envirnoment with all the sights, sounds and smells completely intact. I particularly liked the action sequences and the interactions between the characters. The mystery is engaging and keeps the reader very much involved. What a great first novel. May there be many more.

i loved this book. loved it! the characters are alive, the backdrop is breathtaking, the plot is gripping. every detail is well-thought-out and the storyline rushes along, plausible and probable. Jazz Jasper is a small-time independent safari guide struggling to keep her fledgling operation afloat and her clients safe and happy. I love the irony of the background - the beautiful, brutal African wilderness, but the threat from civilized man is greater as a murderer threatens Jazz and her entire tour group.

Deadly Truth keeps the reader engrossed right from the beginning. The authors paint a vivid picture of life in South Africa covering the years 1960 through the Truth and Reconciliation trial. This is a suspenseful novel based on fact, and a must-read for anyone who wants to have a better understanding of South African life during the Apartheid years.

Kudos to the Hellers and Ms.Blumberg. A fast paced suspense novel based on a true incident, it kept me on the edge of my chair. It was also an education on apartheid South Africa which I couldn't help but compare to Nazi Germany. The authors' attention to detail about the physical beauty of the land provided a hypocritical contrast to the ugliness of the society it produced. A must read for those with a social conscience, and for those without,an opportunity to create one.

I probably would never have found this book had Amazon.com not recommended it - and I would have missed a hidden treasure. "Deadly Truth" is a gripping, "can't put it down," novel based in apartheid-era South Africa. David Bellon, the main character, is a liberal CEO of a food conglomerate in the Cape Province who tries, in his own way, to ameliorate the inequities of his society. Through a series of events which I won't describe here (I don't want to spoil the plot!), Bellon is forced to do more, and thus runs afoul of Police Captain Eichstadt, whose unique interrogation methods are described in gruesome detail.

What makes this book so compelling is its honesty -- it is clearly based on a true story. "Ceresdal," the fictitious town in which events take place, sounds like the real town of Stellenbosch, and one of the authors was the CEO of an agribusiness in South Africa. What goes on in the Ceresdal police station is in accord with non-fiction reports about the South African Bureau of State Security (BOSS). Thus, there is more than a ring of truth here - you get the feeling that these events actually occurred, and only the names have been changed to protect the innocent (and guilty.)

I have strong interests in South African history and in Jewish history, and hence was drawn to a story featuring Jews in South Africa. Those who share these interests, or those who just want a picture of apartheid-era South Africa, will enjoy this book. But you needn't care one way or the other about South Africa to enjoy "Deadly Truth." The book stands on its own as a compelling, fast-paced novel of danger and escape.

This book provides an excellent introduction to post-colonial West Africa. It is probably not detailed enough for a specialist, but for the average person looking to learn what happened in West Africa right after decolonization, this is an ideal book. The chapters are short and to-the-point, and the book reads quickly.

Schwab argues that the horrific problems plaguing West Africa today stem from the decisions that the first generation of post-colonial, indigenous leaders made. In particular, he laments that they failed to unite behind a common policy or ideology for independent West Africa (or at least failed to agree to live in peaceful coexistence). West Africa got caught up in Cold War politics and "conservative," francophile states refused to cooperate with "radical," socialist, Pan-Africanist states. And an opportunity for concerted effort was lost, opening the door for selfish pursuit of particularism, made worse by Cold War/superpower-motivated civil wars and assassinations.

Okay, that's Schwab's big picture. For those people not interested in Schwab's theory of West African decline, the book is still very much worth reading. The book provides a nice introduction to what happened in Senegal, Ivory Caost, Nigeria, Liberia, Guinea, and Ghana in the years after achieving independence. Schwab then ties the past to the present. It is an easy read and will familiarize you with the historical and present situation in western Africa.

Understanding the history and politics of Africa since the 1960s can be an overwhelming undertaking for readers who have never focused on this area of the world or those of us who somehow allowed Africa to slip to the far edge of our radar screens in more recent years. Peter Schwab's most recent book provides a well-organized account of six West African leaders from the time of independence of their respective nations to the end of their periods of leadership, along with an analysis of how each failed to fulfill the promise of those exciting days when African independence was bursting out on the world stage. Dr. Schwab presents an eloquent, well-balanced reading experience that sheds light on the personal strengths and weaknesses of each leader against the backdrop of the Cold War and the remnants of colonialism.

The introduction serves as an excellent overview of the rest of the book and provides valuable background knowledge on the subject. The occasional inclusion of Dr. Schwab's own direct experiences and observations personalizes the historical accounts for the benefit of the reader, as do quotations from other scholars and prominent African authors. The conclusion presents the author's beliefs as to who is to blame for the debacle that affects most of West Africa today as well as what he believes needs to be done to address the problems of this region.

Again, Peter Schwab has provided readers with a clear and well-written book on an important topic.

Professor Schwab has long provided us with sound analysis of African politics. While many have begged to differ with his conclusions, all have been charmed by his pithy prose as well as impressed by his solid scholarship and evident love for Africa and her peoples.

The present book follows in the worthy footsteps of its predecessor, AFRICA: A CONTINENT SELF-DESTRUCTS, by shining light on a the formative post-colonial period of the 1960s - a time little known in America - and presenting a "fair and balanced" assessment of the six most significant West African political figures of the period - William V.S. Tubman (Liberia), Felix Houphouet-Boigny (Cote d'Ivoire), Leopold Sedar Senghor (Senegal), Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (Nigeria), Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana), and Sekou Toure (Guinea) - and their influence, for good and for ill, on subsequent history in the subregion. While rightly criticizing the great powers for their Cold War-era conduct, Professor Schwab also courageously critiques the African leaders themselves for their sins of omission and commission. This book is an excellent introduction to West African political history.

The consequences of the malaise whose birth Professor Schwab chronicles can be seen by reference to the more detailed case studies, such those by Professor Amos Sawyer (THE EMERGENCE OF AUTOCRACY IN LIBERIA), Professor Adekeye Adebajo (LIBERIA'S CIVIL WAR), and Professor John Peter Pham (LIBERIA: PORTRAIT OF A FAILED STATE). The first, incidentally, was a former student of Professor's Schwab's.

This is a very interesting book and a poignant reminder of how Zimbabwe could have been a success story. The author is familiar with the history through her life as a radical and supporter of black rule in Rhodesia when she, and her husband a surgeon, lived in Ian Smith's outlaw colony. She interviews people who knew Mugabe well and then corrects their misrepresentations from her own knowledge. This is a very valuable technique and, with a man as private as Mugabe has always been, is as close as we will get to the inside story.

Robert Mugabe was a studious child, educated by Jesuits and abandoned by his father at an early age. His mother, something of a mystic, was always convinced that he had a special destiny. The author describes Mugabe's mother, Bona, as "a cold, stern nun of a mother."(page 7) He has been emotionally crippled all his life although, with his first wife Sally, a flamboyant and colorful Ghanaian teacher, he had a loving and loyal marriage. She is described by some of the interviewees as warm but by others as imperious and corrupt.

There is a very interesting interview with Mary Churchill Soames, Winston Churchill's younger daughter and wife of the last colonial governor of Rhodesia. Lord Soames became very close to Mugabe who, in a moment of truth just before the election of 1980, which put him in power, asked Soames to stay on for a lengthy transition period to help rule the country. "And Mugabe then said, 'I want you to stay because I need to be able to talk to somebody. I don't know anything about governing a country and none of my people do either.'" Soames told him that it would be impossible and Mugabe was on his own. When Lord Soames died, Mugabe and his wife arrived at Lady Soames' home uninvited to attend his funeral. This was an example of the rare personal empathy that Mugabe could establish with certain people.

There is also a chapter on Denis Norman, a wealthy white farmer who had no interest in politics but who was prevailed upon by Mugabe to take several ministries to solve problems created by incompetent members of his cabinet. Here was another white man trusted by Mugabe, who insisted on European dress by all his ministers and who emulated English manners and education. In fact, the author comments that his education policies (similar to those in India, in my opinion) left the country with too many white collar workers clamoring for government jobs and not enough auto mechanics and other technical trades.

Unfortunately, in another of the disastrous mistakes made by almost everyone in Zimbabwe, the white voters supported former dictator Ian Smith's party in the legislature, enraging Mugabe who had actually treated them quite fairly, even allowing Smith, who had imprisoned him, to live freely in the country and to seek office and serve in parliament. This was a serious mistake, compounded by Mugabe who then dismissed Denis Norman from his post as Agriculture Minister. He told Norman that the whites had chosen to treat him as a black and he would reciprocate, although he later called on Norman again and again to solve problems.

The story continues to 2000, when Mugabe was losing his power to a new generation and was besieged by "war veterans" while he watched white farmers donate checks to his political opponent on television. The result was the disastrous occupation of the commercial farms and the descent of Zimbabwe to ruin. It seems to me, after reading this book, that Mugabe is no more in control of his country than is Assad of Syria. Both are basically run by warlords and secret police.

The book is excellent and the lesson to me is that there were many opportunities for a happy, or at least happier, ending. Mugabe is an educated man, if emotionally stunted, and he did reach out to some of his white opponents for help early on. Some helped him and became friends. Many of the white residents foolishly voted for his enemies and fed his paranoia. I don't know what the chances for success in Zimbabwe were originally, but it seems that everything that could go wrong, did so. This is a very well written account of what happened. He is a monster now, but he wasn't always.

"Dinner with Mugabe: The untold story of a freedom fighter who became a tyrant", is a wonderful read that describes acurately why Mugabe is so angry and pushed into his current situation. My complaint is the subtitle of the book that Amazon advertises, " the man behind the monster". The real subtitle is on the front of the book. This other thing is a heading for an inside flap note. The average American has no idea about how England and the United States have colluded to destabalize The Zimbabwe nation state primarily because of Land Reform differences. Heidi Holland is trying to teach us how Mugabe got to this point in time, and Amazon's mangling of the subtitle of her book does not help people approach this book in a positive way. Please use the real subtitle which is plainly written on the front of the dust jacket.
Marion W. Sykes

Although Heidi Holland met Mugabe only a couple of times, she still provides some good interviews and insights into Mugabe. He has unfortunately proved to be one of the worst leaders of the past couple of decades. Look at the results of his presidency--100,000% inflation, massive food shortages and an 80% unemployment rate. Zimbabwe is an embarrassment to Africa and it didn't have to be that way. Here's a detailed critique of what went wrong, where it went wrong and who is responsible. Mugabe is an intriguing figure because he began his career largely heralded by everyone as a freedom fighter like Nelson Mandela. To see how tragically it turned out, leaves many questions; it's a void Holland is clearly trying to fill.

Holland writes well--the words are fluid and vivid and so it's easy to see how her years of reporting for the BBC, the Guardian and many other reputable news organizations has helped. The book is broken into 15 chapters with an index and bibliography for further reading. I do have one complaint, that I wish this were written by someone who had spent more time with Mugabe instead of relying mostly on interviews and a couple of brief encounters with him.

However, I am glad this book was written and even more glad that it was published in America! I heard Heidi interviewed on the BBC and was dismayed that the book was available for sale only in South Africa. (Note: The book was rushed into production here so the British grammar remains. IE: magnetised instead of magnetized.) Yes, we are interested in the subject here too and are horrified by the still unfolding tragedy of Zimbabwe. If only there was something more we could do to help, but what?

Dogs of Africa documents the different breeds of dogs indigenous to Africa and the Middle East in an exhaustive and comprehensive study, where each breed is described in detail, from it's the history of breeding and it's physical and behavioural attributes in a way that only a dog lover could describe.

Illustrated with many beautiful black and white photographs.
Includes Pariah dogs, the Basenji, , the Israeli Canaan Dog, the Zulu Sicha, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, the Pharaoh Hound, the Boerboel, the Azawakh and Sloughi.
The history behind the breeds and the history of their breeding and origins are fascinating and describe much history of different parts of Africa and remarkable peoples such as the Zulu, Khoisan, Afrikaner and Israeli Jews, of which some of these breeds have been tied up with.
Learn of the loyal, gentle and protective nature of Boerboels, bred by the Trekboers in the 19th century, how when the Jews returned to the Land of Israel after two thousand years, their faithful old friend the Canaan Dog was waiting for them, and the ancient history of the Pharaoh Hound.
Find out about the good care taken by the San of their dogs and how on the other hand Muslims regard dogs as little better than filth, and for whom cruelty to animals is a way of life, and how this Islamic influence led to a drop in regard for dogs and a culture of cruelty in Southern Africa.

I really enjoyed this book. It is very interesting and well written. Lots of pictures.

Dogs Of Africa is an in-depth, 366-page encyclopedic study of those canine breeds that originated on the African continent. From pariahs, hounds, and southern African dogs, to sighthounds, mastiffs, and small pet dogs such as the Maltese Poodle, exhaustive and extensive descriptions are combined with black-and-white photographs, histories of the breed origins and their uses, and a wealth of information both practical and trivial, distinguish this unique and specialized guide which is especially recommended for dedicated dog breeders in general, and African canine enthusiasts in particular.

Julio T. Leitao founded an African dance troupe for children, and Patricia A. Keeler observed African dancers for weeks; together they wrote Drumbeat in our Feet, a picturebook meant to convey the richness of African dance culture to young readers. Drumbeat in our Feet is not a storybook per se, but rather an informational survey of the history of African dance tradition. From costumes and body painting associated with dance, to dances that honor spirits and ancestors, to types of musical instruments used, call-and-response songs, and much more, Drumbeat in our Feet surveys all aspects of African dance. Keeler's exuberant color illustrations bring to life the excitement of African dance in this wonderful, informative, and highly recommended picturebook.

An infectious energy fills the pages of this book from cover to cover. Even the endpapers make me want to get up and dance around the room! Ms. Keeler and Mr. Leitao have created a fun and fascinating book on African Dance, beautifully written and so visually energetic that you can feel the drumbeats on each page. Sepia-toned African scenes blend into colorful urban settings, building to a grand finale final spread, brilliant with color and movement. "Once you learn how to do African dance," says one young dancer, "you'll never stop dancing!" What a nice thought to end this book... I, for one, am convinced!

Jump up and dance with this powerful book about children's African dance! In Keeler's magical African world, children leap and spin across the pages representing wind, water, and fire! Their arms spreading and backbones curving, dancers represent elephants, monkeys and antelopes!

Did you know each white dot on a child's arm stands for a dancer that came before her? And the zig-zag design painted on the children's bellies represents crocodile teeth? Many African secrets are revealed!

Feel the rhythm, African rhythm. Feel the beat, African beat! Don't miss this one!"

As a professional Wildlife Artist, my field includes painting, sculpture, and taxidermy.

This makes all of the "East African Mammals" series of books by Jonathan Kingdon an absolute necessity. The text gives a wonderful insight into the natural history as well as the historical ancestry of the majority of East Africa's wild children.

But even more, it is Mr. Kingdon's exquisite pencil renderings of the individual species as well as the structure of their musculature, that make these books so special.

These musulature drawings, in turn, are further enhanced by deeper dissection-like illustrations revealing the deeper muscle structures responsible for much of the movement and support for the mammal in question.

This volume takes us through the largest of the antelope on the African continent - the Eland, both Giant and Common, the Sable antelope, and both Kudu, Greater and Lesser - as well as the vast selection of East Africas' smallest antelope species. The Duikers, and Klipspringer, among others, are handled in all their delicate detail. Besides photos of these little antelope, these illustrations are absolutely needed in order to produce accurate renderings. I cannot stress enough, the importance of the anatomy that is revealed within these pages.

The books in this series are therefore especially indispensable to the Wildlife Restorer (taxidermist) as a guide to anatomy that we rarely get to see "in-the-flesh" as it were.

I can, therefore, wholeheartedly recommend this series of books to anyone who cares enough about their chosen field of art, to pursue all ends to collect as much reference material as possible.

These books are an excellent addition to the wildlife artists' library.

This is an excellent resource tool for anyone with a serious interest in African insectivores and or bats. The author provides detailed information, not found in most texts. The drawings are wonderful.

As a professional Wildlife Artist, my field includes painting, sculpture, and taxidermy.

This makes all of the "East African Mammals" series of books by Jonathan Kingdon an absolute necessity. The text gives a wonderful insight into the natural history as well as the historical ancestry of the majority of East Africa's wild children.

But even more, it is Mr. Kingdon's exquisite pencil renderings of the individual species as well as the structure of their musculature, that make these books so special.

These, in turn, are further enhanced by deeper dissection-like illustrations revealing deeper muscle structures responsible for much of the movement and support for the mammal in question. These types of drawings are especially fascinating in the Large Mammals volume, wherein the trunk of the elephant and the mouth structure of the hippopotamus are visually dissected to provide a greater insight into these structures, and their performance in the animal.

The books in this series are therefore especially indispensable to the Wildlife Restorer (taxidermist) as a guide to anatomy that we rarely get to see "in-the-flesh" as it were.

I can, therefore, wholeheartedly recommend this series of books to anyone who cares enough about their chosen field of art, to pursue all ends to collect as much reference material as possible.

These books are an excellent addition to the wildlife artists' library.

This beautiful volume of elegant photography can be viewed on several levels; a book of art, a fresh exploration into a society that continues to amaze, or - importantly - a tribute to perhaps the cornerstone to the cradle of civilization. A fantastic book which will need a coffee table of its own for years to come.

BEAUTIFULL , Simple , Fine work.

Thank You your works Herve Champollion

I, being an avid Egyptophile, own dozens of illustrated volumes on the subject of Egyptian art and architecture. But this book, Egypt, Stones of Light, is truly the best among them. Never before has the sublime and elegant stone of Egypt been displayed in such a gorgeous format, in their natural light. Diane Sarofim Harle's scholarly captions are very insightful and accurate, and compliment the images greatly. Everything about this book, the captions, the elegant photography, the accompanying text and descriptions, even the index, is done with great care and perfection. I cannot think of one negative comment that could possibly made about this wonderful volume. I particularly like how the photographer, Herve Champollion, tends to zoom in to charming and breathtaking details of the statues and reliefs, rather than taking generic photos of the whole work of art as most photographers do. Also the photographs showing the symbology of the columns and statues are quite exquisite. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys beautiful ancient art and astounding architecture. Bravo! Flipping through the dark, glossy pages of this volume, one can easily get lost, dreaming of Egypt.