Africa Books

Many times a good churchgoer approaches me in my ministry with doubts about organized religion. I always recommend this book, as it offers a practical and spiritual understanding of Christian faith and faith communities. It is a lively and inspiring account of new Christian communities in Africa. Although this book is written by a Catholic priest, it speaks to the heart of any Christian.

This book was required reading for my Master's in theology. The book opened my eyes in the aspect of the realization that to bring Christ to different cultures one must understand that culture. It does not matter if the culture is in Old Africa or modern day Chicago. I would rate the book high on my list of books to read.

This book is quite insightful concerning missionary work in East Africa. It also digs deeply to bring to the suface the core message of the Gospel. This book will challenge you to reconsider your beliefs and approach to evangelism. Highly readable and deeply insightsfull, this is a great work.

Vincent Donovan was a pioneer, and an apostolic voice. His book "Rediscovering Christianity" is a great illustration of the devout need to share the gospel in an effective way, and then to let the gospel have it affect/effect on individual and on the culture.This 25th annioversary version has some nice extras, especially a remembrance from his sister. Because he addresses the issue of culture and faith, more specifically, church, this book is again influential and causing discussion, especially with regards to emergent issues. Well written, inspiring, and worth the read!

A documentary of one man's experience as a missionary to the Masai of East Africa, but much more. Challenges long-held views on both the purpose and the method of missions while maintaining an unwavering committment to the gospel.

Quotation: "Dear Bishop, ...Suddenly I feel the urgent need to cast aside all theories and discussions, all efforts at strategy--and simply go to these people and do the work among them for which I came to Africa. ...just go and talk to them about God and the Christian message. Outside of this, I have no theory, no plan, no strategy, no gimmick, no idea of what will come. I feel rather naked. I will begin as soon as possible...."

Very useful if you want to go there and understand the real Morocco. Well written, too.

It is all very well, but the main vehicle of culture is the language. This book is helpful in highlighting cultural features but a good section on the language would also be a good idea.

In anticipation of accompanying my close Moroccon friend to his homeland on a business trip with another American, I read this book in one sitting and read it twice more before leaving for Morocco. It proved to be an invaluable tool to better understanding my Moroccan friend here in the states and it provided knowledge, information and tips that proved priceless during my recent stay in Morocco. I have no doubt that had I not read this book, I would have had a very different experience. This book enabled me to have the most incredible travel experience of my life despite the fact that I don't speak arabic or french. At the very least I had an understanding of this wonderfully rich culture steeped in tradition. I recommend this book to anyone interested in Morocco whether for travelling or simply interested in the country, their people and customs. While this book is ideal for someone relocating, I found it to be more useful than any of the other travel companions I purchased for my trip. Any future travel plans of mine will start with a purchase of "Culture Shock..." for that country.

I have spent 3 summers in Morocco and 5 years with my husband who is Moroccan and this book clarified a lot aspects of Moroccan life for me. No matter how objective one may be about cultural differences, it helps to have a neutral party explain what is happening in a given interaction. I didn't even realize how much I suffered from culture shock until I read "Culture Shock!" Particually helpful were the author's comments on the difference in Western and Eastern concepts of personal space, public space and privacy.

After reading this book, now I'm all the more excited to go to Morocco. Hargraves paints such a vivid picture of the people, the culture. It is a complicated society, very foreign to my understanding and experience. And yet, as I read through it, so many times, page after page, I realize that the culture is so familiar, so like my experience. Most of all, I now understand that it will take a lifetime to learn to adapt to Moroccan culture. I am eager to see how the words lift off the pages and into reality.

Almost every page has nuggets and key points to learn and understand, and my copy is mostly yellow from highlighting. One aspect that I wish were different, though- Hargraves appears too often to accept the stratification in Moroccan culture, and the mistreatment of the lower classes, as par the course, and something Moroccans accept, and therefore something that we should accept, and something culturally neutral. There is so much good in Moroccan society, but, just as in any society, some that is not as good as well.

But that's only one small detraction in an otherwise great text. Particularly interesting is the quiz at the end of the book, where you test one's knowledge gained through reading. I've never seen this in any other culture or travel book, and it should really be more common! Hargraves doesn't just repeat information here either- rather, he asks the reader to intuit the answers not yet given, from the information that he's previously provided- and then of course, he provides all the possible correct answers.

I want to learn how to live and eat and talk and think, Moroccan. I want to see what it means to be a Moroccan who is so adept at adaptation to so many different cultural situations. I want to learn to engage in real Arab relationship, and to learn how to politely refuse a request, and how to be a good guest, and a good host. I want to learn how to serve the Moroccan peoples. If you're interested in this as well, then this is a book you need to get.

This was the first book I had read by this author, I found her style captivating.She has the ability of making the personality become real in one's world.I wanted the book to go on and on.

I've read this book several times over the last 10 years. This time, it had been packed away after a move and I hadn't seen it in quite a while. When I pulled it out of a box I was searching through for something else, I immediately sat down to read it again. I would love to pass it on to my daughter, who is 14, but I had forgotten about some of the more "romantic" scenes. Someday, though, I know she'll enjoy it as much as I have. This is just one of those books that you carry with you forever. Treat yourself to this one and you'll be glad you did.

I'm always looking for books about Africa. The fact that Ms. Bickmore has never been to Africa was an initial turn-off. It's strange to me that she didn't travel there before using it as a setting for her book. So I think that her descriptions of Africa was what a well-read American would expect. From my limited travel in African (five trips to East and South Africa), I'd say she did that part pretty well.

As to the story itself, it's all about indendent women and the price they pay for that independence. Her three women all married (or committed) too young!

What can I say, I absolutely loved this book. I hated for it to end. I was so drawn in right from the beginning and stayed that way through the entire book. The characters were well developed and believable. I have read three of Bickmores other books and loved all of them as well, but this one is my favorite.

This book is absolutely the best book I have ever read. I've read it about 5 times(both books)and I just love it. It's catching, you can't tear yourself from it until you're finished. You feel like your right there, living their lives and I cry everytime I read the sad parts. I recommend this book to everyone, read it, you won't be the same.

I thought this story was very intresting,It used a lot of adjectives,which would help children a lot with thier school work.I liked the part when the rich man was insulted and was shouting"How dare any-one in my village isult me!".But I didn't like the beging because it didn't catch my attention that much!

I thought this story was very intresting,It used a lot of adjectives,which would help children a lot with thier school work.I liked the part when the rich man was insulted and was shouting"How dare any-one in my village isult me!".But I didn't like the beging because it didn't catch my attention that much!

I think Mamo on the mountain was a good story because the rich man learned his lesson and there were lots of detail in it and finally it was a happy ending and I love happy endings. In school we have been doing some work on Mamo on the mountain and I have enjoyed it. We have been writing stories and been doing differences and similarities. Example in Ethiopia they have the same animals that we do like cows and sheep. Ethiopia is the place where they lived. Well anyway the story is brilliant.

I think Mamo on the mountain was a good story because the rich man learned his lesson and there were lots of detail in it and finally it was a happy ending and I love happy endings. In school we have been doing some work on Mamo on the mountain and I have enjoyed it. We have been writing stories and been doing differences and similarities. Example in Ethiopia they have the same animals that we do like cows and sheep. Ethiopia is the place where they lived. Well anyway the story is brilliant.

I think Mamo on the mountain was a good story because the rich man learned his lesson and there were lots of detail in it and finally it was a happy ending and I love happy endings. In school we have been doing some work on Mamo on the mountain and I have enjoyed it. We have been writing stories and been doing differences and similarities. Example in Ethiopia they have the same animals that we do like cows and sheep. Ethiopia is the place where they lived. Well anyway the story is brilliant.

I think that this book is very important because it preserves the legacy of the Lemba on paper, a legacy that for centuries, has relied mainly on oral traditions. The Lemba tribe, who presently reside in various parts of Southern Africa, have kept a tradition for hundreds of years that they are Jews, and Parfitt takes the journey to explore these claims.

The author, Tudor Parfitt, starts off in the northern parts of South Africa in Vendaland, where many Lemba reside today. From here he goes to the Zimbabwe ruins, then to Malawi, briefly to war-torn Mozambique, up to the east coast, and off to Yemen in search of "Sena," where the Lemba attest that they came from. In all these areas he finds interesting facts through his research about the Lemba and their history.

There is no doubt that the Lemba contributed to the building and livelihood of the Great Zimbabwe civilization that flourished in the 14th century, but the big question here is just how big was their role? With the history of the Lemba becoming more popular, I think this debate is going to resurface once again as to who built the ruins.

This book relies on earlier descriptions of the Lemba by mostly European and Arab explores. Parfitt really makes good use of these. The book also highlights the indelible influence that colonialism has had not just on the Lemba, but on all African societies. It also underscores the prevailing attitudes that many "white Africans" today have on black Africans.

The genetic evidence presented in the afterword makes for a good ending to strengthen the core theme in the book. I highly recommend Journey to The Vanished City and I think it's an excellent, scholarly work.

This has been one of the most fascinating books I have ever read. Parfitt traces the origin of the Lemba, a self-described Jewish tribe in South Africa. Although its oral tradition is vague some elements recur persistently: "Our forefathers came from Sena... They came from the North... they built Great Zimbabwe...". Tracing backwards the journey that the Lemba took over the course of many generations, Parfitt travels North from South Africa to Zimbabwe, Malawi and, ultimately all the way to Yemen. Along the way, he encounters proof of the Lemba's passage and demonstrates that their oral tradition is, indeed, correct and they originated in Yemen.

Subsequent genetic testing brought further support to Parfitt's conclusion. This is detective work at its best, without the crime.

It should probably be no surprise that the two most peripatetic peoples in the ancient world, Jews and Africans, should sooner or later have encountered one another.

Tudor Parfitt, a British academic, traces the origins of a Southern African tribe known as the Lemba, whose history both recorded and unrecorded embraces a claim to Jewish ancestry and identity.

Relying on scant written data and on the Lemba's own oral traditions and reports by contemporaries, the author traces backward the journey that the Lemba took over the course of many generations. Parfitt travels North from South Africa to Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique and, ultimately to Yemen.

Along the way, he confronts evidence of the Lemba's passage and demonstrates that their oral tradition is, indeed, correct that they originated in Yemen where they embraced Judaism. Subsequent genetic testing brought further support to the Lemba's claims indicating not only a high proportion of Jewish genetic markers but specifically those markers associated with the Cohanim, the Levitical priestly caste of ancient Israel.

Starting off from Lemba villages in Vendaland, South Africa where he encounters Lemba customs such a circumcision, food taboos and a devotional life that to all appearances seem Jewish, the author retraces the quasi-legendary path of the Lemba's forbears through Southern, central and Eastern Africa and the Arabian peninsula, along the way embracing the lore and romance of King Solomon's mines and the building of the walled city of Great Zimbabwe.

This is a delightful story, delightfully told. The author's writing style is lively, mixing the styles of the travel essayist, the novelist and the scholar and gives rise to a rarely-encountered kind of work that is so compelling that once begun it simply cannot be put down.

The author's quest for the origins of the Lemba, a Southern Africa tribe with certain Semitic customs and a folk memory of Jewish origins, took him from Johannesburg via the Limpopo province of South Africa, through Zimbabwe and Malawi to Tanzania and ultimately to the Hadramaut in South Arabia.

In Johannesburg's Soweto township he encounters his first Lemba people and researches the tribe in Wits University library. Then he takes the train to Pietersburg where he visits Lemba scholar Professor Mathiva at the University of the North and makes excursions into the surrounding areas of the Venda and Lobedu tribes where he encounters Mojaji, the famous Rain Queen. The known history of the area, including the colorful figure of Joao Albasini, spices up the narrative.

In Zimbabwe his journeys take him to Bulawayo, the Matopo Hills, Mberengwe and Dumghe Mountains, Masvingo and the ruins of Great Zimbabwe. On the way he takes part in a Lemba tribal assembly. The next stage takes him to Malawi and a short way into Mozambique where he sees the town of Sena from afar. In Tanzania he visits Dar es Salaam, Bagamoyo and Tumbatu, concluding the African leg of his journey.

His research finally leads him to Yemen where he visits Sanaa, Aden and the Hadramaut towns of Habban, Terim, and ultimately, the town of Sena on the Wadi Masila, where he discovers that the Lemba clan names are familiar to the area.

Along the way he has funny ecounters with a wide variety of interesting people. The travelogue is interspersed with relevant quotes from an impressive array of explorers, missionaries, scholars and ethnographers, including Joao de Barros, Livingstone, Junod, Mauch, Schlomann, Schapera, Van Warmelo, Jacques, Von Sicard and Roger Summers. Their observations - including the legend of Monomotapa - are engagingly woven into his always arresting travelogue.

The Afterword contains the results of genetic research conducted in 1996/97 that shows a significant similarity in DNA between Jewish groups, the Lemba and the Hadrami of Terim and Sena. For more detailed and up-to-date information, please consult DNA and Tradition by Rabbi Yaakov Kleiman. The Buba clan of the Lemba has a high frequency of the Y-Chromosome type called the "Cohen Modal Haplotype" which is known to be characteristic of the paternally inherited Jewish priesthood.

For a very thorough ethnographic study of the Lemba, I recommend The Lemba: A Lost Tribe of Israel in Southern Africa by Magdel le Roux. It is a selective comparison between the social and religious practices of early Israel and the Lemba of today.

Journey To The Vanished City contains plates with black & white photographs, maps of Africa and Yemen, 18 pages of notes arranged by chapter and an index. The book is a most engaging read on account of the author's humour, wit and flowing narrative style. There is not one boring moment in this fascinating account of a journey in search of lost origins.

I had this book for about a year when I was going book crazy in preparation for co-writing a book about the Jewish communities in Nigeria. I finally got around to reading this book, while being delayed on a flight. I found the book to be one of those that is hard to put down. I like the fact that the book is told from the perspective if someone searching for the answer to a question and giving details of fortunes and misfortunes along the way. I normally am not good at reading books all the way through because of my hectic schedule.

The information in this book is both enlightning and tragic in another. Of course the research points out that the Lemba have DNA that is of the Kohen Model type, and at the same time to see how much they have lost in terms of this heritage is the sad part. Yet, the book is truly a must and another one that I think should be a part of every Jewish library and Yeshivah.

Single and independent, with a small allowance after the death of her parents, Mary Kingsley decides to explore Africa. She sets off to the Congo, with no entourage nor special clothing and with no knowledge of the local lingo, knowing that this area was renowned for cannibals. Considering that Richard Burton set off to find the centre of Africa with an entourage of 600 bearers puts Ms.Kingsley's trip into perspective.
This is not just a wishful fantasy, she has an agenda to research the fetish cults of the natives and collect animal specimens, as well as fulfil the wanderlust that she had bottled up while looking after her parents.
She takes everything in her stride, beating off crocodiles - 'he was only a pushing young creature', wading through fetid swamps, falling into a staked animal trap and attributing her salvation to the benefits of a good thick woollen skirt!
She has a wonderful way with words; that dry, laconic humour that starts one into fits of giggling; the page-long description of 'Hubbards' sent out by well-meaning, misguided women in Europe for the use of the natives is absolutely wonderful.
She has excellent communication skills, getting what she wants from any native by offering him exactly what he wants - tobacco (reminding us of Xabicheh in 'Dead Man') - and if he doesn't want that, then he must need a hairpin to clean out his pipe!
I am awed by the determination, bravery, guts and chutzpah of this young woman; even more awed by her writing skills - which are definitely not in the Victorian mold, would that there were more of her books than the two she wrote (the other is 'West African Studies'), sadly this was not to be, as she died of typhoid in Capetown in 1900.
A book to savour - highly recommended! *****

In 1893 Mary Kingsley, a single Victorian woman, traveled alone to Africa. The sources of her interest in Africa are obscure. Possibly the tales her father brought back to England of his extensive travels lie at the root of her own interest. In any case her account of her travels in west and west-central Africa are a remarkable addition to our knowledge of the region during the early years of the colonial period. Kingsley wrote with a very outward focus. We hear little of her inner feelings, her comfort or lack thereof. Rather, she is consumed with a desire to know the land and its human and natural inhabitants.

We begin to taste the real flavor of Kingsley's experience in Chapter 2 in her account of the island of Fernando Po and its prominent people group, the Bubis. She then voyages down the coast, describing the lonely beauty of the great mangrove swamps that border the Bight of Benin.

Kingsley developed great respect, admiration, and even affection for the traders, black and white, whom she met in her journey. She traveled in their company and relied on them in what would otherwise have been impossible circumstances. Her views of other white colonials were less sanguine. She expressed mixed feelings about white missionaries, acknowledging the uplifting effects of their moral teaching while disdaining their confusion of cultural with spiritual messages.

One of Kingsley's central adventures was her trip from the Ogowe River to the Rembwe River. On this journey, she visited a series of villages each of which was reputed to be more dangerous and depraved than the one before. Her accounts of her lodging in these places are priceless. The difficulties of traveling through swamps and jungles, and across the great rivers of this region, were daunting. Kingsley's accounts of her determination to master the piloting of the native canoes are both funny and insightful. It took a lot for anyone to travel overland, and her perseverance marked her grit, her commitment to finish what she started.

The last third of the book consists of three long chapters on fetish customs. Although she lacks a systematic view of the role of fetishes and other spiritual tokens in the cultures she met, her depiction of their impact on everyday life and on funeral customs is enlightening. She delves into the afterlife beliefs of the peoples she encountered; in many of these cultures today, the beliefs she relates are still expressed in a form of syncretistic Christianity.

This edition of Kingsley's travel accounts is an abridgement of a much longer, multi-volume original that does not seem to be in print today. Since Kingsley herself prepared the abridgement, we can read it with confidence that it expresses both the details as she recorded them and the priority events or images that best characterize her travel experiences.

Gabon, Cameroon, and the areas around them continue today to rank among the wildest, best preserved areas of Africa, both naturally and anthropologically. Whether you visit these regions or not, there is no better introduction to them than these accounts by a Victorian original.

Mary Kingsley's "Travels in West Africa" has become a classic, and deservedly so. Her story is remarkable. In the 1890s, unmarried and no longer having to care for her parents, Kingsley decides she should travel in "the tropics" and sets off for "West Africa" (i.e., the West coast of Central Africa). She travels as a scientist, collecting fish specimens, and finances her travels by trading along the way--but mostly she travels for the love of adventure and to satisfy an appetite for the unknown.

Kingsley's book is a treasure trove of information about Atlantic-coast Central Africa in the late 1800s. But beyond its historic and sociological value, the book is just wonderful. Her descriptions are vivid, her insights interesting, and her understated humor is a joy. Anyone with a love of exploration and a good story would enjoy this book. Unabridged versions are highly recommended.

Readers with a particular interest in Gabon should also see the works of Robert Nassau, an American missionary who was in Gabon when Kingsley traveled there. Evidently they met and discussed all things African at length, though Kingsley makes little mention of him. Nassau wrote "Fetichism in West Africa", "In an Elephant Corral" and "My Ogowe", but doesn't get the credit he deserves. Also of interest is "One Dry Season: In the Footsteps of Mary Kingsley" by Caroline Alexander. Alexander visited Gabon in the 1980s and compared what she saw then to what Kingsley had seen a century earlier.

I bought this book because it was supposed to be one of the 100 greatest adventure books of all time. While it does have narrow escapes and Mary Kingsley was very brave, there is too much discussion of "the African mind". I found the constant reference to the superiority of the European colonists very offputting. Of course it was written in the 1890's!

This is a wonderful book. Mary Kingley was a typical Victorian woman in many ways, but what makes this book great is the way her character was not typical. She formed a relationship with the British Museum and collected fresh water fish to bring back to them, but the real point of her trip was to see things and feel things she could not experience in her drawing room. Her account of a meeting with a crocodile that nearly capsized her canoe (she merely remarks that the croc was "a pushing young creature") is worth the price of the book all by itself. She traveled with cannibals, climbed Mount Cameroon, and enjoyed herself, referring to any brush with fatality as "a knockabout farce with King Death". Her writing is lovely and straightforward. Watching an African sunset she says, "Providence saw that we had everything but beauty, and so gave us some." The tragedy is that she died at the age of 30, and that there were not many more books like this one.

Ms. Cannon will probably always be remembered for her first book, Stellaluna, but she has had a series of wonderful children's books that all deserve attention. Pinduli is the latest and one of the best and I have purchased it for multiple kids as gifts and they all have loved it. I highly recommend this book!

Another wonderful book by Jean Cannon. We have all her books and they are just wonderful. The animals are not your backyard animals or pets and children expand their vocabulary and knowledge about them. The illustrations are astonishing. The story is also so beautiful and as any other story by her, there is a lesson to be learned. Great addition to any child's library.

I bought Stellaluna even before I had a child! I absolutely fell in love not only with the story and message the book conveyed, but also the wonderful and endearing artwork. I have since had a child and purchased all of her books, the latest one being Pinduli. It is the perfect follow-up to her other books.

My son absolutly loves these books as well! As I read these to him, he is just captivated!

Do yourself and your child(ren) a favor and buy these books...you will not be disappointed!!

A great book to read that sends a much needed message to our youth. Janell Cannon has written another wonderful book to add to her long list. I felt that this book had a great message and displayed it in a colorful and imaginative way. Little Pinduli was getting picked on by all the animals and come to find out, the animals that were picking on Pinduli were also picking on one another. In the end, all the animals realized that they were different and that they shouldn't make fun of someone for being different. This message was apparent when Dog said "Who am I to be talking about ears?" Overall it was a great book with vivid and bright illustrations that really captivated the eyes. I will definitely be reading Ms. Cannon's next book.

What a cute puppy! Just look at those soft brown eyes, that little tongue, its smile. How adorable! Let's get this book for our grand. What's that you say? A hyena! No way! No animal this cute could be a hyena! Why, those critters are known for scavaging and tearing chunks of meat from an animal. A hyena! Why, I declare, at least, let's look through the book.

And another Janell Cannon illustrated children's book hits the bestseller list. Hyena or not, this is a cute puppy. But I mis-speak. From the back of the book I learn that there are four kinds of hyenas, which do resemble dogs but belong to their own Hyaenidae family. Our Pinduli belongs to the striped species which has the fartherest habitat range and eats anything from bugs to fruit to small animals. All the facts about striped hyenas, as well as the other animals, can be found disguised in the story. Clever.

The story of Pinduli takes her adrift from Mother. When the wild dogs laugh at her ears, she plip-plops them and finds her hearing diminished. The lion laughs at her bristly fur and shames her into the water to hide it. Then her weak stripes are made fun of. Finally, Pinduli rolls in dust, making her a ghastly white. When she begins her return trip home, she passes the water hole where the animals are gathered. They scream and run from "the ghost." Pinduli also runs. Once she realizes the mistaken identity, she assumes the character of the Great Spirit and demands each bad deed must be erased and the Great Spirit appeased.

There is food aplenty for Penduli and her mother from then on. The mother exclaims that Pinduli is not only beautiful but smart. As a children's librarian, I try not to emphasize the lessons of the stories but let children make their own conclusions which they do. Through experience, I have learned that this is a beautiful book for children. And there are no cute puppies in it!

Excellent book, it gives a good account of one of the British irregular army units in action in Italy and Germany during the later states of WWII.

Peniakoff tells a interesting tale of WWII, but I was struck by his continually contradictory behaviour.

In one sentence he'll say that the purpose of a mission was reconnaissance only, and his unit was not to engage the enemy unless escape was not possible and they were attacked. In the next paragraph, he'll tell how they attacked a convoy of enemy vehicles simply because they felt the need for some action before heading back to base.

He complains about the Italian gentry exploiting the peasantry and the next minute, he's eating a seven course meal with them.
That's just a couple of examples; the book is loaded with similar incidents.

Still, it's a good read, and shows how intelligence is gathered during wartime (sometimes you just get on the phone and call ahead!).

There are books on your shelf you should never loan out if you ever hope to see them again. This is one of those books. The WW2 British unit known as Popski's Private Army (PPA) operated in North Africa and Italy. Written by its founder, Vladimir Peniakoff (Popski), the book covers the units contributuion to the war effort. Using machinegun armed Jeeps like the later fictional TV Rat Patrol, this small united operated behind the German and Italian lines. The PPA did not beat Nazi Germany by itself, but its contribution far exceeded its small size. If the grand sweep of armies leaves you hungering for the individual courage found in small units, then this is the book for you. I also recommend "Fighting with Popski's Private Army" by fellow PPA member Park Yunnie.

This book is hard to find but well worth the effort. Peniakoff led a facinating life and this book is a must for anybody interested in World War II special operations.

On the 6th of May 1945 men in wheeled vehicles crossed the mosaic floor of the Piazza San Marco in Venice for the very first time in history. They drove around the square seven times in the small, heavily armoured vehicles in which they'd fought their way across North Africa, Italy, and were to travel on to Austria. At the head of this curious band was a man who sported a hook for a hand, and a nom de guerre which was similarly incongruous for a 48 year old Major in the British army. Vladimir Peniakoff, or "Popski" as he became known, was the enigmatic Belgian born son of White Russian emigres, who had until recent years "pursued the ordinary activities of industry" as a discontented sugar refiner in Egypt. Having tutored himself, alone in the Sand Sea but for the navigational instruments of antiquity, he emerged from the wilderness to train the men who accompanied him through the years of turmoil to this long dreamt of moment of victory. "Private Army" is one of the finest military memoirs I have read, and ranks alongside Fitzroy McLean's "Eastern Approaches" and TE Lawrence's "The Mint". This is the authoritative work on Popski's Private Army, but is much more than a Regimental history. This is a superb piece of literature which you will not quickly forget. Read also "With Popski's Private Army" by Ben Owen, a superb companion book to the above.

Excellent book steeped in history and written with great style. One can almost feel Africa and how Safaris changed people as well as a country.

This book, Safari, is one of the best books I have ever read. The
chapters can be read individually yet read perfectly as a whole.
I bought a number of the books as gifts. They were VERY well received.
Thank you for this excellent product.

Safari: A Chronicle Of Adventure details the history of the African safari from its first expedition of 1836 to modern times. Bull is an environmentalist, so his survey Safari isn't your typical gun-hunter's celebration of good old days, but a survey of conflicts between hunting and conservation, weapons and transport, game control and more. From economics and financers of the safari to mishaps, adventures, and famous personalities involved in safaris, vintage black and white photos pair with wide-ranging personal and political stories for maximum effect.

A wonderful book covering the beginnings of the African Safari to the present. Many current authors use this book as reference for their own books such as Peter Beard, Bibi Jordan, Kuki Gallman, and Mirella Ricciardi. If all of these authors use this book as a reference and quote it throughout their own books it has just got be good. I recommend it highly for any African Safari book collection!

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

James Hall made me feel that I was an African. The view was from thse eyes.
Americans can really feel and see the people of that community.

A fine read to get a total world view and not the myopic view that we Americans have of the world and others.

Please let me know where I could find him now and get caught up on his life. His kids would be about 14 1nd 20 now. let me know bob huff
bob_huff@comcast.net thanks

From the back flap of the book we learn that James Hall has written a candid and dramatically personal account of his unique journey from a comfortable, predictable life in Los Angeles to a harsh and uncharted one in the tiny kingdom of Swaziland. His story shows how the pieces of life can fit together to balance people and nature, the mortal and the immortal, the physical and the spiritual. Sangoma weaves together the excitement of an adventure story and the wisdom of a deeply felt memoir from a man who has b1ended his roles as modern American and as diviner and healer of timeless provenance.

James Hall takes us on his personal journey as a midwestern America who slowly gets drawn into the world of African healers. The story is personal, poignant, and very detailed. It lets us look into several windowns we don't ordinarily get to look through - everyday living in rural Africa and the world of the african healer.

From 1977 to 1980 I taught at a major university in Africa and spent 2+ years working closely with sangomas. Most of my acquaintances were Zulu or Sotho, but there are not very many differences to the Swazi that Hall talks about. What does differ considerable is whether or not the spirits are from the river or from the land, but that's another issue.

Hall gives a precious insight into the role of the sangoma and the personal issues that sangoma must face. My own work was in the urban areas, and it's very different from Hall's rural adventures.

Anyone interested in africa, african healers, and stories of personal growth will find this book very interesting and informative. It is suitable for young adults as well as adults.

Another interesting book on indigenous cultures, this book tells the story of a westerner who underwent the rituals to become a Sangoma, a Zulu medicine man. What makes this excellent is that it is easy to understand the religion of the Zulu because it is filtered through a western view yet still understood. If you enjoyed this book, I also suggest that you check out Malidoma Patrice Some's "Of Water and the Spirit" as well.

This book depicts another white man's life journey in Africa. Miriam Makeba, the famous singer, suggested to James Hall (the author of "Sangoma") that there may be more than meets the eye in his fascination with Africa and African-American women. Hall followed her advice and consulted a Swazi witch doctor ("sangoma") who declared, to surprise of all, that Hall was destined to become a sangoma himself. This book depicts his travails leading to his initiation into the circle of Swazi healers.

It was a bittersweet path, filled with encounters with supernatural (Hall turned out to possess access to many different spirits, including those of a Native American, a NY advertising executive and - wait for this - a fetus). In addition to description of his training, Hall provides valuable accounts of his interactions with ordinary Swazis (some good, some bad; there seem to be as many racially intolerant people in Africa as everywhere else) and, especially, with women. Hall shows that relationships between men and women in Swaziland are pragmatic, based on exchange of material goods and services rather than sentimental.

Throughout the book we participate in Hall's inner life, his decisions and his torments as well as in his decision to adopt a parentless child and marry the woman he fell in love with. Hall now lives and practices in Swaziland and I think Swazis are lucky to have such a courageous, dedicated, life-affirming and generous sangoma.