Africa Books

The author's experience as an information officer with the United nations Mission in Somalia (UNOSOM) provides accurate information for the public on the achievement of the UN/US intervention in Somalia. Her narrative puts the record straight by correcting sensational and incomplete international media reports which helped create the impression that the intervention was a failure. With numerous examples such as the prevention of famine, the checking of cholera, the development of markets, the promotion of cattle and fruit exports and the non-retrogression into total anarchy when the UN pulled in March 1995, Fogarassy points out that these significant developments were ignored by the international media because they lacked commercial newsworthiness.

By introducing a Media Unit as part of its operation in Somalia, the UN was capable of more effective communication with the Somalis by radio and print. The services of the Media Unit were invaluable in assisting the Somali reconciliation meetings in Kismayo, Mogadishu and Nairobi. Additionally, the Media Unit complemented the operations of other UNOSOM departments (Justice, Political, Humanitarian and Disarmament, Demining and Demobilisation), as well as those of other international organisations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The UNOSOM operation highlighted a number of shortcomings in the UN's efficiency in managing field operations needing review, including in recruitment, management and control. Frequent changes in top management undercut mutual trust between Somalis and the international community while disruptive rivalries between the Media Unit chief and the spokesman led to dysfunction in processing and distribution of information, one reason for the international media not obtaining wider coverage of UNOSOM activities.

The UNOSOM compound facilitated the harmonious co-existence of people from diverse cultures, who realised that racial and cultural stereotyping masked much in common to all societies regardless of religion, race or culture. This awareness helped to appreciate that adversarial politics and political party organisations, the basis of democratic systems in western society, are not readily applicable to the Somali context where individualism and communalism are the norms, with decisions reached after extensive consultations among clans and factions. The international community found it convenient to look to Aidid and Ali Mahdi, the principle leaders of two main groups of clan and factional alliances, and they held these two responsible for agreements entered into on behalf of their allies. It was not appreciated that both leaders had very lax disciplinary power over their allies, unlike in a traditional developed country political party organisation. By the same token, the international community, especially the US, was impatient with the long Somali process of consultations and hence, the premature abandonment of the Mission when dividends from the intervention were yielding fruit.

One important lesson from the Somalia operation was that treating the host country with condescension prevented the international community from understanding the Somali psyche. It hindered a faster rate of progress in the restoration of peace and stability. Using utilitarian instruments of incentives and sanctions to achieve goals was counter-productive, yet when funds and facilities for reconciliation meetings were offered, a number of initiatives for reconciliations emerged. Reconciliation that could have led to the formation of a national government was slowed by the Somalis trying to settle historically outstanding clan differences that ranked higher in their priorities.

This book is a didactic source of information on what transpired in Somalia. It makes the case that the intervention was successful and it appeals for a tapping of the UN's extensive facilities for information the commercial media can use.

Mission Improbable gives a very accurate and comprehensive history of the UN operation in Somalia from the historical, political, operational, bureaucratic and personal levels. It describes the anguish of a people struggling to cope both with their own fragmented leadership and with an alien monolith, represented by UNOSOM, in their midst.

The book details the minutiae of a UN bureaucracy at its best and at its worst. On the one hand, it shows how a group of dedicated people representing virtually every culture from around the world can establish themselves in a particularly harsh and dangerous environment, risking their lives to help a desperately needy country get back on its feet and restore its social, economic and political infrastructure.

On the other hand, it demonstrates the ill-preparedness of the Organization, as a reflection of the ill-preparedness of its member state components, to truly understand and to effectively deal with the unique Somalian culture whose goals were essentially parallel to, if not identical with, the UNOSOM mission.

The book touches repeatedly upon the day-to-day frustrations of a transplanted UN bureaucracy, including the furiously circuitous paths that must be taken to get seemingly simple things accomplished, from procuring toilet paper for personal use to trying to explain the whereabouts of a suddenly missing $4 million in cash.

The author explains the conflicts between the age-old Somali clan system, the glue that holds the Somali people together, and the upstart international presence. Most importantly, she explains that this was the fundamental reason behind the inability of the two cultures to communicate meaningfully with one another and which led to the collapse of the international effort to resolve the problem. Nevertheless, as is repeatedly intimated, the Somali people represented by the opposing factions and left to their own devices, are making headway in the formation of a new government which will bring an end to their years of misery.

Overall, this book provides an absolutely unique insight into the UN operation in Somalia and serves to place in a remarkable light the peace that the Somalis are trying to achieve after an important jump-start from the United Nations.

Kourouma creates a narrative in "Monnew" as complex and compelling as Joyce's "Ulysses." The narrative is divided among an indeterminate number of voices (most likely two or three) and in doing so places the reader among the events in the text. The different narratives conflict, and tell different stories of the same event. The reader is thrown amongst this conflictual narrative equipped, with the sharp sarcasm Kourouma is known for, for a reason. The reader cannot truly rely on the narrative and therefore must interpret the situations much in the same way the griot interprets the situation previous to composing an epic or oral tale of it. This unique relationship that Kourouma allows the reader to establish is both engaging and incredibly unique.
Kourouma like many of the top African authors deals with not only the wrongs of colonialism but patriarchy as well. In the west we do not see such compassion for the oppressed gender, as most of our canon consists of European (or of European descent) males writing about men like themselves and not usually giving round characters to the women they portray. Kourouma portrays the strength of the African woman most notably in chapter ten and the ending of the novel with the wife, Moussokoro of the Keita king Djigui.
Kourouma is writing for a purpose in this novel. Like his contemporaries (Ayi Kwei Armah in "2000 Seasons") Kourouma has an incredible ability to deal with history in a way that is encompassing and exciting. By the end of the novel the protagonist who is close to anti-hero status is older than anyone is willing to count and the dawn of African independence is at hand and with it a plethora of new conflicts to confront. In this sense it is somewhat geographically associated prequel to his first novel "THE SUNS OF INDEPENDENCE," which deals with the problems found at the end of "Monnew," throughout its exposition.
This book is at the top of the African Literature reading list. In terms of literature as a whole it is an incredible masterpiece worthy of the world reading. "Monnew" creates such a vivid reading experience that I would recomend it to anyone interested in African Literature, African/World history, or contemporary literary classics that are sure to be enjoyed for a long time.

Kourouma creates a narrative in "Monnew" as complex and compelling as Joyce's "Ulysses." The narrative is divided among an indeterminate number of voices (most likely two or three) and in doing so places the reader among the events in the text. The different narratives conflict, and tell different stories of the same event. The reader is thrown amongst this conflictual narrative equipped, with the sharp sarcasm Kourouma is known for, for a reason. The reader cannot truly rely on the narrative and therefore must interpret the situations much in the same way the griot interprets the situation previous to composing an epic or oral tale of it. This unique relationship that Kourouma allows the reader to establish is both engaging and incredibly unique.
Kourouma like many of the top African authors deals with not only the wrongs of colonialism but patriarchy as well. In the west we do not see such compassion for the oppressed gender, as most of our canon consists of European (or of European descent) males writing about men like themselves and not usually giving round characters to the women they portray. Kourouma portrays the strength of the African woman most notably in chapter ten and the ending of the novel with the wife, Moussokoro of the Keita king Djigui.
Kourouma is writing for a purpose in this novel. Like his contemporaries (Ayi Kwei Armah in "2000 Seasons") Kourouma has an incredible ability to deal with history in a way that is encompassing and exciting. By the end of the novel the protagonist who is close to anti-hero status is older than anyone is willing to count and the dawn of African independence is at hand and with it a plethora of new conflicts to confront. In this sense it is somewhat geographically associated prequel to his first novel "THE SUNS OF INDEPENDENCE," which deals with the problems found at the end of "Monnew," throughout its exposition.
This book is at the top of the African Literature reading list. In terms of literature as a whole it is an incredible masterpiece worthy of the world reading. "Monnew" creates such a vivid reading experience that I would recomend it to anyone interested in African Literature, African/World history, or contemporary literary classics that are sure to be enjoyed for a long time.

MR. VON CAMPE HAS THE BACKGROUND TO TELL US(U.S. CITIZENS)THAT WHICH WE MAY NOT WISH TO HEAR. THE TRUTH OF CHRIST IS IN THIS REMARKABLE PERSONAL HISTORY.

The author Hilmar von Campe has written and extraordinary book during this age of globalization. He claims to have such insight by witnessing the changes he grew up with in Germany under Hitler's regime. He also noted that Stalin freely used Hitler to weaken the West so Communism could reign in the end and that very plan is still in existence.

He has a very simply message, freedom is based on truth and when the truth is weaken or obscure then it will end up the victim of baffle by Apostles of Confusion and few freedoms for anyone. The writer said he came to this revelation when he had to confront his own nation's atrocities of discrimination and hate after the war. He gained great strength by learning and expressing the truth in all that he endeavors in his life. Especially being a victim as a POW after the war watching his friends die in vain.

The essayist's belief that freedom is a moral force that must confront and fight evil is everyone's responsibility and he cites seeing how many bystanders of the Holocaust were just as guilty as the perpetrators of it. He can see the same threat as moderate believers of Islam remain silent as extremists use the Koran to kill, maim and discriminate against the innocent.

The author feels America is the nation he fears the most because if America loses his way the world will be lost too. He sees the coming Globalization as threat if socialists and communists beliefs and forces are embraced and integrated into our world since they are not based on truthful philosophies.

He makes a very good argument that every Communist and Socialist nation ends up in totalitarian dictatorships eventually. The belief that everyone must walk the same path so all can share is simply ends in the slavery of untruths. The world has been enlighten by those who lead by following their own conscience and fundamental honesty of respecting everyone's individual right to be free. Consequently, every person must seek and practice the truth to follow their moral compass of compassion as they choose not as dictated by others.

Aristotle once argued that the fundamental values of individual choice could lift an entire nation or group to prosperity as opposed to his teacher Plato who justified that sometimes the ends do justify the means. There can be no question that socialism and communism are abysmal failures for any society. Yet, globalization embracing such policies will do exactly that if it is permitted to flourish using such a false premise.

I found this book a compelling indictment and words of warning that the world should walk carefully and thoughtfully to the ends of globalization. In the end, if our leadership is vacant of moral truths, then like anyone, our leaders will fall victim to anything if they do not stand for something.

This is an exceptional book on the history of Queen Nanny. This book provides a great account of Queen Nanny in Jamaica from the perspective of the Maroons, Jamaicans, and British. There are plenty of historical references sprinkled throughout the literature so that the reader can do their own research. I have a sense that she was the original "Wonder Woman" as she lived on a true "Paradise Island" and could not just stop bullets but also "catch" them. The book goes into detail about the metaphysical importance of an Obeah woman and how her power kept the strong African spirit alive within the Jamaican Maroons. It is empowering to read how such few people were able to defeat the British in so many battles. The book is brief but packed with informative information on this little known person. As a man descended from the Akan, I felt proud how the African rituals were continued in Jamaica for those that escaped human bondage. This is a great read for both men and women.

This is a small book, 119 pages, that cuts a big swath. It is about an interesting period and a lively woman of the early 18th Century, someone who never made it into any of my history books. I certainly know about her now. Gottlieb pulls together threads from many sources into one rich fabric. This is a progressive book about colonialism, racism, feminism, about military srategy, about the West-African-rooted religious traditions and the use of supernatural powers that made their way into the Maroon Culture. Gottlieb obviously has great respect for her subject -- this remarkable woman, Nanny, part historical figure, part legend -- who represents a courageous struggle against oppression. The book is well-researched, illustrated, and spirited reading. Some of the historical documents can be bypassed if not interested. One is impressed with its relevance to the very same "isms" that continue to torment us in the 21st century.

God sent the O'keefes into the poorest nation in the world, torn with strife and political corruption. In spite of all the adversity, they established 53 churches. A moving, touching true story of how God used these unselfish missionaries for twenty-four years in Sierra Leone, West Africa.

This book provides more information and insight on the daily life and culture of the people of Sierra Leone than anything else in print. Its descriptions of the terrain, climate, economy, and politics give such a life to the narrative that the reader is absorbed to the degree that it is hard to put the book down until the last page has been read. I was left wishing that the author had written more. It reads like a historical novel. It is both entertaining and educational. It is exciting and it is tragic, but most of all it is inspirational. It speaks of sacrifice and faith that result in an amazing story in which thousands of lives are changed for the better as they come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

My 2nd graders are in love with this book. Most of the pictures are drawings...so not too scary for even younger kids. But there is one real picture of a mummy, which is, of course, my kids' favorite page! Take a fascinating topic and well-done pictures with interesting text and you've got yourself a great book!

About 2 years ago, my 2nd graders became fascinated with mummies. This led me to create an impromtu unit and gather several books on the subject. MUMMIES is a great resource in my collection as it takes the reader step by step through the mummification process. To highlight that, there are wonderful illustrations.

Ra Un Nefer Amen (author of the Metu Neter Vol 1 & 2) recommened this book and now I can see why. A stunning discourse on the unity of african life. A must read.

This was a text book for a class I took at Antioch College in about 1972. I was studying African American music, poetry and dance from the avant garde jazz pianist Cecil Taylor. At that time he was at the college for one year. He assembled a jazz ensemble and taught a "black panther" of jazz philosopy. This book is a highly academic examination comparing and contrasting European and African culture.Chapters include the and the underpinnings of belief and experience that directly leads to the understandings and misunderstanding of black culture in within the white society. Recently, I took on the management of an African American singer songwriter, Gwen Avery, she was thrilled to read and understand the source of her work. During an interview for an African American magazine,"Arise". I mentioned the book and the memory caused me to order it and give it as a gift to the editors. Cecil Taylor is one of the worlds greatest minds and talents, and his gift at understanding the innovative power of the African culture lead me to a deeper understanding and appreciation of this most vibrant light of our century. The intensity of black culture, particulary in America, can be seen in the full light of the philosophy that drives the spearhead of our culture. Any one who was glued to the set during the PBS Jazz series, should read and study this text.

Fidel Castro remains one of the dominant political figures of all time, certainly the most controversial and impactful political leader Latin America produced in the 20th century. The Cuban Revolution was an important moment in the history of the Americas, one can easily see it's influence in later movements such as the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, Salvador Allende in Chile and in our own time Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and Evo Morales in Bolivia. "Fidel: My Early Years" is a great collection of material where Castro himself discusses his youth from his childhood in Cuba to his student years up to the time right before the revolution. Political and history students must read this volume which gives a clear insight into the vast intellect and powerful speaking skills of Castro. Colombian Nobel-Prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez opens the book with a wonderful essay where he describes his long-time friend and his eccentricities, sleepless working hours, voracious reading habits, passions, angers and hopes. Marquez with true eloquence captures a giant of revolutionary movements. Excerpts from major works such as "Fidel & Religion" are featured where Castro discusses his religious upbringing (mostly from his mother) and the poverty and suffering Cuba's campesinos and blacks suffered under U.S. imperialism. He also makes a point of supporting Haiti, which has also been ravaged by colonial abuse. There are fascinating moments such as Castro's discussions of his time in Colombia where he witnessed the political upheaval resulting from the assasination of the reformist Gaitan who Castro (and many others) suspect was assassinated in a plot hatched by Colombia's elites. The beauty of "Fidel My Early Years" is that we get a true human portrait of a man reduced to the level of slogans, cartoons and demonization by the American press, here we get his actual words and ideas. What we see is a man with an amazing capacity for recording facts, figures, thoughts, philosophies and a brilliant sense of calculation and observation and an appreciation for history. Fidel Castro has already left his imprint on Latin American and world history, but for many in the U.S. he remains a distant, threatening figure, here you get a chance at listening to the actual words because listening is a habit we really lack and very much need in the current world state.

This book consists of one lengthy speech that El Commandante favored students with at his alma matter, the University of Havanna law school in 1995, and a few long interviews, including his famous 1985 interview with the Brazilian priest, Frei Betto. Gabriel Garcia Marquez has a very good introductory essay, with some personal reflection on his buddy Fidel.

If you are a good right thinking American, you probably consider Fidel Castro an evil dictator, even though most Americans the polls show, favor a lifting of the embargo. Well whether you consider him a monster, a somewhat brutal benign dictator (as I do) or as a holy saint (as Fidel hints he thinks himself at some points in this collection), this book is a fine piece of literature. Fidel is a first rate storyteller, he evokes the images of his life in a simple and clear style and is able to impart to the reader the rather inspiring gusto and confidence with which he went about life in his early years.

Cuba pre-1959 was a very wealthy country and put up some good numbers but most of the wealth was concentrated in the hands of an indiginous elite, significantly tied to American investors. Once the United States grabbed Cuba after 1898, much of the land was handed off cheaply to U.S. investors. Castro describes how his father was an extremely poor Spanish immigrant who arrived in Cuba in the late 1890's as a soldier in the Spanish army that was barbarically trying to repress the Cuban independence movement. His father, Angel, over the years managed by his own enterprize to eventually become a pretty successful landowner out in the sticks of Oriente Province. His mother, a native Cuban, also was extremely poor growing up. His father eventually came to employ a large number of workers in his sugar fields, including some Hatians. He grew up playing with the children of these workers and never was aware of any class distinctions between him and his mates, or so he says. The Haitians, Fidel says, he used socialise with in their mud and thatch dwellings. The workers lived an extremely hard and impoverished life, but these Hatians had the hardest lot of all.

In the 1933 revolution against the dictator Machado, Hatian migrant workers were expelled on the ground that they were taking jobs away from Cubans. Included in this expulsion was the Hatian Consul General at Santiago De Cuba, a mulatto who became Fidel's godfather. As a four, five or six year old Fidel spent some time during the Great Depression in Santiago, as a student in the home of an impoverished teacher and got his first taste of real poverty. The Great Depression years in Cuba made the same period in the U.S. look rather mild by comparison. Many people starved to death. When it set up its neocolonial rule over Cuba in 1902, the U.S. also set up a military contigent called the Rural Guards, which terrorized the peasants. Fidel reminisces how in the elections of 1940, when he was back home, he was assigned the task of visiting the homes of the illiterate workers around Angel's estate and others in the area, explaining to them how to vote for his step-brother as a parliamentary canidate for the Autentico party. The workers on estates ussually voted for whoever their boss told them to vote for. Fidel says he remembers the Rural Gurads terrorizing the peasant voters at the voting booth, making sure that the peasants understood that they had to vote in that election for Bautista and his associates.

He spent his school years in various private Catholic institutions and had a few notable bouts with the authorities after he recieved physical punishment. He remarks that at one point he felt compelled to ask at of curiousity why there were no students of color at these institutions. People of color, of course, in Cuba before 1959, suffered Jim Crow style discrimination. At Jesuit schools in Santiago and Havanna, he, with no false modesty, describes that the priests were deeply impressed with his extraordinary gifts in intellectual fields as well as in sports. Just about everyone of these Jesuits had been a supporter of Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War, but nonetheless, he says, he grew close to many of them and deeply admired their austere spirit, their willingness to sacrafice for their students even though they didn't recieve any salary.

His life took a dramatic turn when he entered the University of Havanna Law School in 1945 at the age of 19. In 1944, Ramon Grau San Martin, was elected President. Grau had been a leader in the short lived government of 1933 that tried to enact social democratic measures but was overthrown with U.S. backing by Bautista. Grau and his Autentico party had forgotten their revolutionary roots by this time and devoted the next eight years mainly to murdering their opponents and each other, and embezzling government money at a really astounding level. The Autenticos controlled the administration of the University of Havanna and used gang violence against their opposition. Fidel threw himself into this mess, gradualling setting himself up as the leading student opponent of the Autenticos. He describes one instance, when apparently his struggle with the Autentico gangsters had reached such a point that they were going to kill him if he kept opposing them, he went to the beach and cried. He resolved while he was thus wiping away the tears that he would go back to campus life and face whatever came his way. Actually I think that he probably used the connection of his father-in- law, the United Fruit company lawyer, Rafael Diaz Bilart, to fly to the United States, after there was a bounty on his head by some Autentico gangs for allegedly planning to kill one of their leaders. I'm not sure. Ann Louise Bardach's book "Cuba Confidential" is a really fine book that explores these matters about CAstro's life. Maybe this incident after the killing of the gang leader took place later, I can't remember. Certainly, the people who told such a story to Bardach had a motive to strech the truth.

In any case, Fidel aligned himself with the most progressive forces in Cuban society. He joined the Orthodox party under the leadership of Eddie Chibas, and became the leader of that party's left wing. The Orthodox party wanted to eliminate the extreme corruption that had been an endemic part of Cuban life since 1902 and create a government that respected civil liberties, but it was in favor of keeping the capitalist system. Castro explains that he was really worried about the party because it was being co-opted by big landowners and being dilluted of its principles.

Castro was a leader of the Havanna University organization in solidarity with opponents of the barbaric U.S. backed dictator of the Dominican Republic, Rafael Trujillo. He joined a boat expedition in 1947 that aimed to land in the DR and start a guerilla war but the boat was stopped by the Cuban military as it went out to sea and its occupants were arrested but Castro jumped out the boat and swam to safety before they could get their hands on him. This expedition had been originally funded by the most corrupt minister in the Grau government, Julian Aleman, but some of the latter's rivals in the military called off the expedition after a couple of Autentico gangs massacred each other.

Castro's description of his involvement in the mass uprising in Bogota, Colombia after the assasination of Jorge Gaitan in April 1948 is really extraordinary. He is a first rate story teller as I've said. What is probably most remarkable about this section is how Castro explains, with no false modesty, repeatedly that it was his own extraordary courage and selflessnes that got him through that difficult period, as he tried to organize the people. He led a detachment of revoltees and tried to encourage a mutinous police station, to go on the offensive. No doubt the murder of Gaitan played a role in convincing Castro as did the U.S. backed coup in Guatemala in 1954 for Che Cuevara, that one cannot affect social change for the poor without having the oligarchy or the CIA kill you. Castro had been in Bogota as the leader of a Pan Latin American conference which was supposed to serve as a forum for Latin American students to unite to oppose the British occupation of the Falklands, U.S. control of the Panamma Canal and Puerto Rico and other such banal nationalist issues.

The idea that there is anything admirable whatsoever in Fidel Castro is likey incomprehensible to the average American, who rarely hears any notion in the corporate media that U.S. policy and U.S. foreign investors have served as a deciding factor in keeping the masses of Latin America in extreme poverty and misery. Few Americans, except those in Florida in a mostly positive way, have ever heard of Luis Posada Carilles or Orlando Bosch.

This is a fine piece of literature.

An excellent read. Very interesting with lots of information on gorillas as well as the struggles the husband and wife team went through setting up the gorilla orphanage.

My Gorilla Journey is an awesome book. The detail made you feel like Helen Attwater was telling you about her adventure one-on-one. This book was great for people who are interested in nature, consevation or anything like that.

The young boy in this story shows exceptional selflessness and a touching concern for his mother's well-being when his dream is to get a bicycle so that he can help her carry their load of goods to market. Truly a wonderful storyline.

The illustrations are superb; not only do they accurately depict village life, but they are simply beautiful in their own right, and convey the emotion of the text, for example, the look on the father's face as the boy falls off the bicycle.

The familial love in this story is extraordinary, without being the least bit saccharine. A gem.

This book is so beautifully illustrated and written. The story line of saving money for a desired purchase (a red and blue bike), took me back to my own childhood. Readers can feel the child's disappointment over not having enough money. As a wonderful addition, the child wants to save for a bike in order to help his mother carry her heavy loads. This was a truly enjoyable read.