Africa Books

Superb pictures, illustrating the reality of desert life, and the people of the desert in their many ways of life. Great book!

This is a very beautiful coffee-table-style book containing almost 200 pages of pictures taken by photographer Basil Pao. It is large format (31 x 25 cm) and hardcover and printed on glossy paper. A pleasure for anyone with an eye for beautiful pictures and/or an interest in the Sahara area of northern Africa.

This book should not be confused with the book "Sahara" by Michael Palin. That book also contains a lot of pictures by Basil Pao, but in that book the pictures are secondary to the text written by Michael Palin.

"Inside Sahara", on the other hand, is exclusively Basil Pao's book. Michael Palin's name is featured on the cover, but his contribution consists only of a 2-page introduction.

Both books are, of course, based on the trip that Michael Palin and a film crew did, traveling around the Sahara Desert in 2001 making a television program for the BBC.

Most of the pictures in "Inside Sahara" feature people in one way or another. This may seem surprising - I had expected more pictures of landscapes and edifices and statues, etc. But on reflection aren't people what we people really find the most interesting, wherever we go?

The best pictures are featured as stunning two-page spreads. All of the pictures have captions explaining what is happening in the picture and where it was taken.

My only criticism is that there are 12 pages that feature 75 "behind the scenes" photos of the filming crew that accompanied Michael Palin on the trip. These pictures are so small (6 x 4 cm) that it's difficult to see what they are supposed to show. These 12 pages could have been omitted, or used for better purposes.

Highly recommended for anyone who loves beautiful photographs, especially photographs of interesting people in a largely unknown part of the world.

Rennie Petersen

PS. For those who might be interested, I've written an Amazon "So You'd Like To" guide about Basil Pao and his participation in the Michael Palin trips and the books that have been produced by Basil Pao and Michael Palin. You can find it by clicking on my name and then finding the link to my "So You'd Like To" guides a little ways down on the left of my profile page.

I ordered 3 different books for my trip to Cape Town and this was by far the best, and the one I constantly came back to.

I got this guide as a gift. My friends have the Lonely Planet one and I have seen other brands for Cape Town. The Insight guide is 10 million times better than most of the competition. More detailed and useful photographs, all in color, at least one on each page. Short text but crammed with information for those who would rather spend time on adventures than reading a guide book. It was very entertaining to read as well. If you're going to Cape Town, get this book and you will know what I mean. Their warning about Long Street is hilarious. Their description of the people who hang out at the Clifton Beaches is unbelievable coming from a guide book. There are little interesting stories/facts throughout the book such as the one about the first female doctor to perform a C-section. She was pretending to be a man in order to be a doctor and the truth was only discovered when she died. Again, this book is such a great deal for the price and beats almost all other guidebooks out there at under $10.

Title: South Africa / edited by Johannes Haape.
Edition: New ed. / updated by Eberhard Gennrich.
Publisher: [Hong Kong] : APA Publications ; Boston, Mass. : Distributed in the U.S. by Houghton Mifflin Co., 1995.
Edition Date: 1995
Language: English
Notes: "Created and directed by Hans HoÌÆfer."
Includes index.
Physical Details: 371 p. : ill. (some col.), col. maps ; 23 cm.
Series: Insight guides ; 257
Other Authors: Haape, Johannes.
Gennrich, Eberhard.
Subjects: South Africa--Guidebooks.

Insight guides offer a rich history, political analysis and cultural insight to the countries they cover. By using locally based writers they get the insiders view of what the various camps believe in. For a discerning traveller who wants to know about the country, the people, geography, food, industry etc and for those who wish to travel independently, this is the book to read. It is not tourist guide which says stay here, eat this menu, see this statue. All that is left to the standard tourist guide writers. If you never travel to a country, you can know it through the insight guide. The South African book is no exception and is full of well written and accessible articles, giving you information that you will find invaluable if you travel to the country.

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

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

It is most praised and most wonderfull book that ever man has written about somalia.if you want the truth of somali socio-religious culture read this book.It can satisfy you.But the book is incomlete because of Ali jimale forget to mention in his Book the owners of somalia.THE MIDGAANS,or BOON thier origins,culture, status,and their Genealogies. are they somalian or not ? ! this is only his limitation. No body can prove the reality,but this book is closest.I agree with author most of his ideas. I called " this book."CLAN IN SOMALIA IS SOMETHING JOINED TOGETHER"

The president of Somali United Minorities

It is most praised and most wonderfull book that ever man has written about somalia.if you want the truth of somali socio-religious culture read this book.It can satisfy you.But the book is incomlete because of Ali jimale forget to mention in his Book the owners of somalia.THE MIDGAANS,or BOON thier origins,culture, status,and their Genealogies. are they somalian or not ? ! this is only his limitation. No body can prove the reality,but this book is closest.I agree with author most of his ideas. I called " this book."CLAN IN SOMALIA IS SOMETHING JOINED TOGETHER"

The president of Somali United Minorities

This is a wonderful songbook and is very easy to follow. I would recommend this for anyone.

Piano parts and vocals for the Alive In South Africa concert. Piano parts are fairly advanced. Includes 'Take the Limits Off,' 'You've Been a Friend,' 'He Knows My Name,' 'Alpha and Omega,' and 'Your Latter Will Be Greater.' The book also stays open very easily (nice binding for pianists.)

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

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

In Jesus of Africa, Diane Stinton seeks to capture images of Jesus in Africa according to images and words used by Africans. In doing so, she hopes to use the voices of Africans to support and critique the images brought forth and to evaluate their appropriateness for deepening the Christian faith in the African context. One important note is that in her research, Stinton focuses on the missional churches as opposed to indigenous-founded churches. Stinton carries out her research through literature review and extensive field research (interviews and focus groups) in Kenya, Ghana and Uganda in the years 1998 and 1999. Stinton's presentation of her findings is academic, appropriate for theologians, professors, students or missionaries.

Jesus Of Africa: Voices Of Contemproary African Christology reviews both the theologies of French and English-speaking African scholars and clergy, and also relates how African lay people regard Jesus Christ. Thoughtfully written for scholars, students, and mission professionals especially, Jesus Of Africa is a unique theological work covering the origins and modern-day revelance of Christian teachings in Africa, as well as models of contemporary African Christologies including Jesus as Life-Giver, Mediator, Loved One, and Leader. An in-depth evaluation that draws directly upon the testimony, faith, and experiences of people living in Africa today.

In this excellent book you find courfol and spectacular photographics from a varied country with a great amount of natural beauty.
Combined with the insightful text reading this book really inspire you tonce visit the magic country of Ethiopia

This is a fantastic book...great pictures, informative cultural and historical information and very readable--a delight for the armchair traveler as well as the serious scholar who may be planning a trip to that region or has an interest in learning more about the region for whatever reason.

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

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