Africa Books

Great Book! Highly recommended. I read it in once sitting. Great pics as well. Would I do it... no way!!! I agree with the author... he definitely has determination (and guts)!!!

Very interesting description of his adventures through the heart of Africa. It encourages me to strike out for the wilds.

I read this book in-flight on my way to Africa. It kept me entertained for much of the trip. The text is well written, informative with a touch of humour (as is evident from the title). There are many photos which bring life to the adventure. I highly recommend it.

Traveling by car through Europe to Africa is something that would be difficult to do today, but it is interesting to read what the author experienced and how the people lived. It encourages me to travel in challenging places.

I have always been interested in Africa, and I found the day-to-day journal account of the journey to be really interesting. I would recommend it highly.

Captain Macwhirr has a lack of imagination that both imperils the crew and may provide their salvation. He sails his ship the Nan-Shan directly into a typhoon because he is unable to envision weather worse than he has seen in the past. Macwhirr must find a way to hold his ship and crew together to weather the storm.

This book is so compelling because of the actions of the colorful and intelligent characters who swirl around Macwhirr. While critical of the captain when becalmed, they hold firmly to his unchanging, stolid figure when things look hopeless. In an uncertain situation, people will follow certainty -- even if its source is dubious. I think this nugget of truth and the reflections of it we see in real-life lend this novel its power. Macwhirr is certainty itself, more from mindlessness than steadfastness, and others follow.

Beyond the fascinating story and character-study is Conrad's stunning writing. He says so much with so little without the hard edges of Hemingway's prose. Conrad uses adjectives, but with a diamond cutter's precision.

Joseph Conrad was a master of language. In a brief but classic book, you will experience the incredible power of a typhoon while on a steamer as if you were there. Especially real is the scene in the chart room after the initial damage. It is very dark, and Captain MacWhirr lights matches to see his surroundings. Conrad's concise descriptions make you feel even the flame of the match as it burns down. If only this book were longer! I would have loved to know more about Captain MacWhirr's adventures. I HIGHLY recommend this book, as well as Conrad's "Heart of Darkness."

This novel is unforgettable. Conrad creates a sense of terror regarding the forces of nature that will stand up to any special effects that Hollywood can produce. The scene describing the panic below deck of the Chinese workers is one of the most powerful in literature. Not to be missed.

Taking maximum advantage from his long years at sea, and from his innate insight into the human soul, Conrad tells an outright and direct story about a huge typhoon in the midst of the Yellow Sea. But the book is not so much about the storm in itself, but about the human character and how it reacts to disaster.

Captain MacWhirr is famous for being an efficient, calm, dull and silent man, someone you would trust but not like. He seems to be rather unbrilliant, though, never understanding why people talk so much. The other characters are also interesting, especially Jukes, the "young Turk", vivid and dynamic; Solomon the head engineer, another wise man from the sea, and the disgusting and repugnant "second officer", the type of coward you don't want to be with in this kind of drama.

Human character, then, is revealed by limit-situations much more than at any other time, as war literature fans know, and this tale will leave you wondering how YOU would react if you had to make decisions in the midst of a horrible, and wonderfully depicted, typhoon.

Great narration on the audio book captures the British and Scottish dialects, but it's so smooth that it's easy to be lulled into dreamland. I had to go back to the excerpts on Amazon and replay parts of the tape to catch the true impact of Conrad's words.

Captain Mac Whirr, a short, fat, dull but dependable seaman, commands the Nan-Shan for a Siamese merchant firm. He writes twelve letter a year to his uncaring wife and has two children who barely know him. During typhoon season in the China Sea Jukes the first mate tells the Captain to change course to avoid the looming storm, but Mac Whirr will think of nothing but forging straight ahead. The Captain and Jukes as well as Solomon Rout the chief engineer (Long Sol, Old Sol or father Rout to his shipmates and Solomon Sez to his wife who quotes pearls of wisdom from his letters to anyone who'll listen) and the Bosun are at the center of the crisis that follows.

During a storm like no other the actions of everyman are almost predetermined by their biases, intrenched beliefs and in some cases ability to react. In six short chapters Conrad develops a great story of how different men behave in a fight for survival.

The tale of the last leg is told in pieces from letters home. The Captain's letter is barely read by his wife who has no idea what happened. Solomon's is sentimental and cherished by his beloved. Jukes reveals the most. Unsurprisingly we find that Captain Mac Whirr wasn't so dumb after all.

It would probably be better read than listened to and deserves at least four stars for the classic it is.

I loved this book. It opens our eyes to the world at large and the needs in it. The pictures were beautiful and very informative.

You would be hard pressed to find somebody who has ever heard David speak and still is not doing anything to support his efforts or the efforts of others involved in the fight for Sudan. Those of us who are lucky enough to know him and hear him on a regular basis know of his passion and heart, but those who are not lucky enough to have seen him, buy this book and gain understanding about the situation in Sudan.

Please know that the cheaper you buy this book, however, the less money actually goes back to helping the people of Sudan. Do your research to find out how you can do more to support Silent Images or other causes dedicated to Sudan.

Really enjoyed this book, it's photographs and stories, but most of all knowing that 100% of the proceeds go to the charity!

I went to college with David and this book shows all the passion for life and warmth he shared with all of us. It is hard to find a book that can move my students as much as it moved me, but this one did. His pictures tell a story and it is one worth telling.

I found this book in the photography section of our local bookstore. It was hard to sit and look at the photos, read the stories and not cry. I really enjoyed how he ended the book with the children having fun. What an eye opener to what's going on in Sudan. Thank you!

Precisely detailed and imminently readable; the authors do an excellent job of injecting personal and fascinating stories into what might otherwise be a droll recitation of tactics in the desert. A fine read.

Well, maybe not THE BEST but a damn fine read. I've been reading about the Desert War since 1962 when i bought Donald Crisp's classic "Brazen Chariots" so if i like this book its worth reading. Even the maps are OK, better certainly than most "real" histories. The chosen anecdotes and award citations all move the action in a comphrensible account. They even have the possible origin of the Monty Python Classic: "I'm not dead yet!"
--"Turner had been touring his perimeter, helping a short-handed gun crew or tending the wounded when he could, exhorting when he could not. Bird sometimes wished he could find a happier choice of words. 'Come on, you're not dead yet,' he growled at the shaken occupants of a slit-trench who had been almost buried alive by a near-miss." pp. 304-305.
And the title seems to come from Rommel's prospective but never written book on the war: War without Hate.
pete saussy

War Without Hate tells the tale of the war in North Africa from the opening days in 1940 between the British and Italian soldiers, till it's conclusion in Tunis. In this book, the authors look at the soldiers from all levels (particularly the generals, but good attention is paid to the officers and other ranks) and describes what they did for their side. Most of the attention is paid to German and British soldiers who fought (the Italians are talked about lightly, while French and American soldiers get only a passing nod), their heroic actions, and the sense of camaraderie between the two of them. About half of the book deals with the pre-Alamein battles (from the Italian push past the wire, thru the first battle for Alamein) while the other half deal with Monty taking over thru the 8th Army's march to Tunis. This book does bring out many different interesting facts, including the cracking of the Americans Black Code (this was the American Diplomatic code) and it's contribution to the Germans, the LRDG (also known as the Libyan Desert Taxi Service), and the story of the English Patient. The photographs are excellent and there are a number of good area maps of the strategic battlefields.

Having written all of this I'll say that this book is a solid 4.5 stars on the Amazon scale of 1-5. However, since I can't rate in half stars on Amazon, I'm giving the book the nod to 5 stars because the authors did a very good job of presenting the material and that made reading the book a pleasure. I will say though that I did prefer the first half of the book to the back half, partially because I feel that An Army at Dawn did a much better job of wrapping up the end in Tunis.

Interesting and well written book with a fair description of men and events of those days

Ive always been interested in the Africa War of World War II and this was a great book on ihe German Side and the British side of the war, from Rommels and Monty's HQs all the way down to the squad level where the the action is. It starts out with the British just beating the heck out of the Italians, and then Rommel coming and being the greatest Genearl ever. But it shows how Monty made great decisions to lead to the British victory and the German evacutation. If you like World War II books, this is one for u.

Wow, what a story! This light little book packs quite a punch. Carol's account is uplifting, exhilarating and sprinkled with enough humor that this serious story does not weigh you down.

Reading about Carol's journey from The Big Apple to rural South Africa is almost like being on the voyage yourself. The sights and smells and sounds described are vivid, yet the detail is never overbearing.

Self-reflection. Seizing the moment. Challenging yourself to the farthest reaches of imagination. Being outside your comfort zone. Achievement. Sadness. Happiness. Fear and overcoming it. Seeing people without prejudice. - - - All of that and more will be found in these pages.

South Africa was far removed from everything businesswoman executive Carol Batrus knew: so what led her to move from her high-powered, successful job on Wall Street to the heart of Zululand to help the tribe's economic development? WHEN ELEPHANTS FLY: ONE WOMAN'S JOURNEY FROM WALL STREET TO ZULULAND is a moving memoir of her journey, which was to help the tribe economically without destroying the environment. Her decision and journey is inspiring and provides plenty of insights into South African and local environmental issues.

This book is an inspiration! I am an inveterate reader of travel literature. When I saw this book in my local independent book dealer I was intrigued by the subtitle--One womans journey from Wall street to Zululand!~ Once I picked it up I couldn't put it down. Carol is a marvelous story teller and her honesty and transparency are thoroughly disarming. She lets the reader into her life and into daily life in Zululand.
I learned so much that I decided to adopt it as a supplementary text in my University level class in the business school. Students need to learn that they can do well by doing good and that they can, as Carol Batrus does so graciously, overcome life's challenges. When I came the end of the book, I did not want it to end--so I read the acknowledgements page. There I discovered the name of a former student and colleague--who I immediately wrote and asked her to put me in touch with the author.
A few month's later Carol Batrus came and spoke with my class at the University and I discovered that she is as charming in life as in her book!

Carol Batrus captures the flavor of finding oneself in the oft difficult world of 20th and 21st Century America through living in Africa. By way of her travails she discovers,in no particular order, life, herself, a whole new culture, and a myriad of friends that make life as fulfilling as could be for one who persues it. Uplifting and inspriational. A terrific read.

This book will be of interest to anyone going to a Third World Country. Whether one is a casual traveler or an NGO professional, Carol Batrus' experiences become lessons that will make the journey more effective. She shows that the steps needed to accomplish organizational priorities remain similar in large companies, family life, or in the bush. If her entertaining prose is motivational, you will be glad that she went first.

This book is a perfect summary of the dark side of humanitarian work. Unequipped, unprepared contract workers who are unprotected and essentially thrown to the wolves.

The author answers an fax looking for boat drivers and the only preparation he's given is a night at a bar and told to watch out for displaced wildlife. From the moment he steps off the plane it goes downhill. Even a good deed ends in tragedy because he doesn't understand the population he's trying to help.

Mostly though this is an indictment of the conditions the relief workers have to deal with because different UN agencies and Non governmental organizations all want to show how much they are "helping". The individuals may do good things but the organizations use it to play politics.

Burnett provides a vivid picture of the logistics and politics surrounding relief work as well as the dangers and difficulties of doing this work in a war zone. What I liked best about this book is he didn't enter into this job with any particular altruistic or political agenda. As a result Burnett is able to paint a rather honest and impartial picture of NGOs, the UN, the people of Somalia and his fellow aid workers. The book is written in a way that lets you experience what he experienced. It is a personal account that keeps you turning the pages.

This is a well-written, fast-paced book that sheds an important light on relief work, its benefits and its risks. I knew very little about the floods in Somalia, and this was a great lesson as to what I missed.
Great read. You won't be disappointed.

This book reads like a bullet train from New York to Mogadishu, from heaven to hell, a pageturner if ever there was one. You get a privileged insight into the life of a reliefworker, a first hand account of the absurd madness of a godforsaken place where anarchy rules and where lives have no value.

Speedboats donated by western governments to distribute relief supplies quickly turn into perfect terror tools for local warlords, who find them to be ideal to impose their will on the population, specially when mounted with a machine gun...

John Burnett completely repaints the picture that I had in my mind of a relief worker. Only guts, ingenuity and a whole lotta luck will help you to get out alive of a place like this.

From the comfort of your home to the nightmare of Somalia is just a book away...

Superbly written and very hard to put down, this book throws quite a few surprises. Burnett provides first-hand insight into the adventurous and dangerous world of those on the field who distribute humanitarian aid.

Relief workers, like those they are trying to help, survive crocodiles, snakes and hippos, feuding warlords, and child soldiers. At the same time they are dealing with competing aid organisations and governments' political and military agendas. Through tears, anger and frustration, he reveals what it is like trying to save lives in a war zone.

When it came to dealing with people, Dian Fossey was sometimes her own worst enemy, but her dedication to saving the African mountain gorilla and its habitat in Rwanda is indisputable. Describing himself as an "editorial collaborator," rather than as a biographer, Farley Mowat assembles Fossey's story from her never-before-printed journals and private papers, inserting them directly into the book in boldface so she can tell her own story. From her founding of the Karisoke Research Center in Rwanda in 1967, until her murder there in December, 1985, Fossey battled to save "those she loved" from poaching, abduction, and dismemberment.

Throughout her eighteen years at Karisoke, Fossey studied organized groups of gorillas to whom she became so familiar that they would even touch her. As fierce and protective of her own "turf" as a silverback, however, she refused to bend to the exigencies of the political climate and funding requirements and made innumerable enemies. When local herdsmen exerted their age-old rights to graze cattle on "her" mountain, Fossey shot the cattle. When poachers hurt her gorillas, she pursued them, even kidnapping the four-year-old son of one of them to force his surrender. When students at her own Center disagreed with her, she could be brutal.

Fossey also fought local officials, park guards, and conservators who took bribes and staged events in order to protect their payoffs. She battled conservation organizations which wanted to get her funds, rival researchers who wanted to take over her project, and governmental officials who saw tourism in the park as a source of wealth and graft. Always fighting with ferocity, she made no effort to see another point of view or compromise. Her unsolved murder in 1985, by someone who knew the layout of her cabin, could have been by someone from any of these alienated groups.

Mowat presents Fossey as a lonely warrior who never found personal peace, a woman who was instrumental in drawing pubic attention to the plight of the mountain gorilla but who was less sucessful than she had hoped. As he points out in his Epilogue, her cause has been continued by some of the researchers who studied with her. Two of those, Amy Vedder and Bill Weber, continue the story of the gorillas from the death of Fossey through 1993's disastrous Rwandan Civil War. Their book, In the Kingdom of Gorillas: Fragile Species in a Dangerous Land, reflects a more conciliatory viewpoint than that of Fossey. Mary Whipple

This Book contains the interisting life of Dian Fossey from her bith to her dearh

Another engrossing and fascinating Mowat title, another Mowat "must read", "Woman in the Mists" is the sympathetic biography of a woman whose work gave us a window into the world of the mountain gorilla, a species to whose protection and conservation she was devoted. By alternating excerpts from her diary entries and personal letters with his own descriptive text, Mowat brings Dian Fossey, a powerfully willed and often abrasive woman, to life. Her youthful years, young adulthood, her fateful meeting with Louis Leakey, her romantic involvements and disappointments, her first contacts with the gorillas and the years of her work and struggle are portrayed with humanity and affection. The tale is enormously enriched by her own words. She struggled indomitably against self-serving African bureaucrats, indigenous herdsmen and hunter-gatherers, antagonistic forces that gained strength against her in the fields of primatology and philanthropy, and her own gradually deteriorating health largely the result of a powerful smoking addiction.

But her work and her happiness were plagued by male academics and agents of philanthropic organizations who got caught up in a web of calumny and distrust motivated by primatologists who were seriously bent out of shape by her abrasiveness and who felt they could avenge themselves by vilifying her, possibly abetted by society's undercurrent of misogyny. Had there been no vilification, she may never have been killed, as her fatal enemy, probably an African, no doubt took strength from knowing how much she was hated by, for example, the American and European agents of the Mountain Gorilla Project. Mowat provides the reader a chilling view of Fossey's victimization, but never identifies the sexist element which seems apparent to this male reviewer.

Fossey survived all the victimization because of her extraordinary strength and a powerfully motivating love for the gorillas and the entire eden-like natural world in which she lived. She had serious blind spots: her obliviousness to her abrasiveness, her hatred for the National Park's Tutsi herders and pygmy hunter-gatherers, even before the latter began killing her beloved gorillas (whole gorilla family groups, in order to capture a single infant for the zoo trade and skulls for the tourist souvenir trade), and her (and Mowat's) use of the racist epithet "wog" with impunity toward Africans who she hated, though she shared genuine bonds of love with the Africans who worked with her as trackers and poaching patrollers, and evidenced no other racist feeling. Mowat's record of Fossey's life is a powerful, shocking, revealing and loving account.

Farley Mowat performed an excellent service when he wrote this book. Dian Fossey was a woman of great character, confidence, courage, determination, and conviction. Her life was lived for what she found to be a greater cause and the world is that much worse off without her. This book did an excellent job of showing the reader who Dian Fossey really was and what she really went through. I recommend it to anyone. It is well worth reading.

Read this book, and you will feel like you know the real Dian Fossey. Personal letters, journal entries all give insight to her life as a living, breathing human being who had many friends (human and non-human). Her passion for life is inspirational! This is a must read, and also an excellent book to read for school projects!

Gerald Durrell has written quite a few books and this is one of the funniest. He travels to Africa to find rare and exotic animals and has laugh out loud funny adventures. He also has a serious message about preserving animals and their natural habitat.

This would be a good book for middle school type readers.

I could not recommend any book more wholeheartedly than I do "A Zoo in my Luggage", along with all books by Gerald Durrell. Young and old will find the information of great interest, the writing style hilarious and entertaining, and the geographic descriptions factual and vivid with local color. I have read all of his books when I was a young mother living in West Africa, and I have ordered these books now for my grandchildren to enjoy.

Gerald Durrell spent most of his life collecting interesting animal specimens and Durrell is an interesting human specimen himself. His well chronicled life (mostly chronicled by Durrell) begins with the hilarious, and very succesfull, "My family and Other Animals". It is ably followed up with the equally hilarious "Birds, Beasts and Relatives". Both books are full of tales from the Durrell family's years on the Greek Island of Corfu, pre WWII. Little Gerry dives right into the flora and fauna of the island, including its human fauna. I own very few nonfiction books with such a plethora of memorable characters. Now, of course, we get to the volume in question. It is plenty good, and worth multiple readings over years, as is "The Overloaded Ark" and several other books detailing trips to collect animals. A word of warning, don't go nuts and buy all the zillion Durrell titles. Some of them are out of print for a reason and were most likely dashed off by Durrell to finance a collecting trip or two...

Naturalist/writer Gerald Durrell, with a writer's eye for unusual detail, a great sense of humor and absurdity, and an unquenchable enthusiasm for finding unique animals, recounts his third animal-collecting trip to the Cameroons in this classic 1960 memoir, recently reprinted. Supplying other people's zoos for many years, Durrell, on this trip, intends to collect specimens for his own zoo, one which will be open to the public and which will become a "self-supporting laboratory" with a captive breeding program to prevent the extinction of these species.

Arriving on the west coast of Cameroon, Durrell uses pidgin to converse with the Africans and refers to all animals as "beef," but he soon acquires many rare animals from the local population. A frightening canoe ride through hippo-infested waters, an attempt to capture a fifteen-foot python, a search for the blue-scalped, bald-headed Picanthartes bird, and the experience of smoking out a hollow tree keep Durrell and his staff energized and excited before they head to the highlands. There, Durrell stays with the charming Fon of Bafut, a elderly king with many wives, and he and Durrell enjoy many long evenings of talk, dance, and whisky. Soon the Fon's compound fills up with hundreds more captive reptiles, birds, and animals, including a half-grown baboon, a five-year-old chimp, and a baby chimp, all of which provide innumerable, often hilarious adventures.

Durrell provides details about the care and feeding of these animals, and he and his staff prove to be very "hands-on" caretakers, often having animals creep into their beds. The logistics of building cages and, eventually, packing them for the trip home, reveal the level of detail necessary to keep these animals healthy and calm so they can survive the trip to England. Upon his return, Durrell then begins the daunting task of trying to find a place to house these rare specimens, a task he neglected ahead of time.

A lively writer with a commitment to conservation and a tremendous sense of fun, Durrell gives the flavor of the whole trip, not just the academic details, providing realism at the same time that he reveals irrepressible humor, much of it directed at himself. His sensitivity to his surroundings, which he conveys through vibrant descriptions, makes the countryside come alive, while his anecdotes about the animals and the people he meets show his interest in expanding his knowledge while fully participating in events around him. Though there is no epilogue to bring the reader up to date on the success of Durrell's zoo or its captive breeding program, this information is readily available at: http://www.durrellwildlife.org/index.cfm?a=11 Mary Whipple

Gerald Durrell's books have touched the hearts of naturalists for decades and I admit that I have only become a fan of his in the recent years. I was introduced to his books through my local used bookstore, where I was looking for copies of James Herriot's books that were not offered at my local bookstore, and decided to pick up a few and try them out.

His stories have a incorporated a vivid energy and hilarity into his passionate memoirs of unique nature experiences that will entertain any nature-lover. While some of his scientific practices may now be considered obsolete, we are given a rare glimpse into the love and respect for all things living that has been a core aspect of any naturalist throughout the ages.

I have since bought as many of Durrell's books that I have been able to find, and treasure each and every one of them.

A fascinating story, told with brilliant photos and a pleasant CD of music. Makes a good gift, and a sure pick-me-up for your own coffeetable.

I was thrilled to read Richard Sobel's powerful story of the Abayudaya. I had the opportunity to visit this community in May of 2002 on behalf of Heifer International. At the time I did not know of Sobel's book. It has made my visit all the more meaningful. Now I want to return.

The Abayudaya Women's Heifer Project is located in the Mbale district of Eastern Uganda and Heifer work with them was started in 1997. A group of seven women became the governing council. Twenty heifers were originally distributed and to date there have been 5 pass-ons. There are now 22 persons ready to receive Heifers.

This group is one of the poorest groups that Heifer works with in Uganda. However, it should be noted that the assistance of the Abayudaya Women's Heifer Project extends to those who are Christian and Muslim as well as Jewish.

We visited many of the farms and then visited the people gathered at the synagogue. They shared their story and we felt the power of their faith. The cows are helping the move toward self-reliance, but it is their own strength that is so empowering.

This book is the fascinating and bizarre true story of a small group of rural Ugandans who got the idea to convert to Judaism about 75 years ago. The prose part of the book is actually quite brief, but the pictures are beautiful, and the CD that accompanies the book (their prayer music) is a musical treat.

I first heard about the Abayudaya in 1996, through the work of "Kulanu," an organization working in support of isolated and marginalized Jewish community around the world. In September 2003, Rachel Namudosi Keki, a 21-year-old Abayudaya woman visited our community. It was a remarkable event.

Rachel highly recommends this book (which includes many pictures of her father, J.J. Keki, and a few of Rachel as well, although she is not identified by name) as the best available resource for understanding the history, reality, and day-to-day life of the Abayudaya.

The audio CD is a vital part of that understanding. (More Abayudaya music is available on the Kulanu-produced CD, "Shalom Everybody Everywhere;" Rachel is the soloist on these recordings, mostly recorded when she was around ten years old.)

Among the many unexpected revelations in this visually stunning book is the fact that J.J. Keki was visiting America in the late summer of 2001, and witnessed the first plane striking the World Trade Centers on September 11th. If you review film footage from that day, you can catch a glimpse of a tall black man wearing a kippah among those running from the scene.

Richard Sobol has just come out with Abayudaya: The Jews of Uganda, an exquisite volume of photographs with text about this remarkable group, and a CD of Abayudaya music is included in a pocket attached to the back cover. The music was recorded and annotated by Rabbi Jeffrey Summit, an ethnomusicologist at Tufts University.
Those of us who have lived and traveled in sub-Saharan Africa universally bemoan the fact that our pictures cannot capture the color and contrast, the rhythm, the unique beauty that is Africa. Richard Sobol, a seasoned pro, has captured the essence of these African scenes as few others can (Carol Beckwith comes to mind). Views of the Ugandan countryside and towns, of Abayudaya prayer and study and feasting, of women washing dishes and carrying water and preparing food, of elders in contemplation, of adults and children at play, of vendors of colorful housewares, of stunning posed portraits - it's all there, and each photo is a masterpiece.
And Sobol's 18-page essay about Abayudaya history and life and Jewish practice is a fine summary for those who have not been introduced to this unique community before.
Summit has written a five-page text to introduce the CD, which is entitled Abayudaya Music of Worship and Celebration. This essay is both informative and poignant. It reviews the various influences on Abayudaya music - Zulu music, church and Salvation Army music, Bantu folk music, Western visitors, and Nairobi (Kenya) synagogue melodies - often learned from recordings or the radio.
Summit recorded this wonderful sampling of Abayudaya music in informal sessions in Uganda in 2000 and 2002. The first half of the CD includes unaccompanied traditional hymns and psalms, some dating back 20 or 30 years, one composed by the community's founder, Semei Kakungulu, in the 1920s. The annotations themselves make fascinating reading. One note explains that Psalm 136, heard on the recording as a responsive "reading" with soloist and chorus, reminds the community of the downfall of Idi Amin since it recounts God's deliverance with the splitting of the Red Sea. A particularly precious rendition is Rena bat Esther's solo in Psalm 121, used by the Abayudaya to provide strength and comfort when a person is ill. This is one of the few compositions on the CD by a female composer. Another woman's composition is the melody to Psalm 130, which is sung repeatedly during a burial while shoveling earth and filling up the grave. Women seem to specialize in consolation.
Twagala Torah ("We Love the Torah") is a charming children's song composed by one of the youth leaders of the community, Moses Sebagabo. The text, in Luganda, English and Hebrew, is sung by Abayudaya children who attend public school.
The more upbeat second half of the CD features guitar accompaniment by Gershom Sizomu and electric keyboard by John Mark Nkoola, musical director of the Abayudaya high school. In an interesting contrast, Summit placed the a capella rendition of Psalm 136 in the first half and the electric version of the same psalm in the latter half. J.J. Keki's song "Ali Omu Yekka" ("My Only One") sounds like a standard love song: "I have one chosen one. I only have one love. I'm warning those others, don't come near me, she's enough...." But Summit points out that the Torah is the object of the songwriter's love, and the song is a veiled warning to Christian and Muslim proselytes in Uganda!
John Mark Nkoola wrote a modern song about the feeling he has when somebody has died. The words are particularly poignant in this place where deaths from AIDS and malaria are not uncommon: "The time has come. We must be going back where we have come from, to dust... When I think about death, I become afraid. I wish I had somebody to explain why this happens. Perhaps I may settle my mind. Let us enjoy life... Enjoy life in the right time, place and with the right people before you disappear like a shadow."
A few of the selections were heard on the community's first recording, "Shalom Everybody Everywhere!" produced by Kulanu with the Abayudaya in 1997. It is particularly satisfying to hear the beautiful, mature voice of Rachel Namudosi, in "Adonai Mukulu" ("God Is Great"). We heard her lovely child's voice on earlier recording. Happily, more recordings are in the works.

Asterix and friends battle Romans and go to different places. They also encounter new foreigners and always share wild boar with them. I rate it 5 stars because this book is better than the other books I have read.

I rate this book 5 stars because it was the best collection of Asterix comics I ever read. I was surprised when I found these sort of books at amazon.com. I am sure that from now on this is going to be my online book shop. have fun reading a lot more wonderful books at AMAZON.COM!!!!

Asterix should be read by all kids and adults. The jokes in it will make you laugh and give you a good feeling all over. Asterix is about a group of Gauls trying to defend themselves against the Romans and all the misadventures they have. All the stories take place in the year 50 B.C. the time of Julius Caesar and his conquests. These Gauls are the only people who are able to defend themselves against Caesar and his Romans. They contain such lovable characters as Asterix (a little midget that is clever and lovable) Obelix (a big fat stupid man who eats wild boars and beats up Roman soldiers) and Getafix (the druid who brews the magic potion that gives superhuman strenght) This is a good way for people who don't know who Asterix is to start. It contains five classics. It contains Asterix and Cleopatra, Asterix and the Big Fight, Asterix and the Cauldron, Asterix and the Chieftans Shield, and the Twelve Tasks of Asterix (based on the film) Each them are highly enjoyable. Not only that but Rene Goscinny does a wonderful story each time. One of the best things about it is the art work done by Albert Uderzo. The illistrations in it are beautifully done and contain much detail. To sum it all up, read it!

These tales are of great interest to adults. Cuttin the age at 12 is a great diservice to older folk who may think that they are *kiddies* books. Far from it. There are many references that only an adult or high teen would get, but they are still fun for the younger set. I would suggest that Amazon change the reading age to 9 to (whatever). Aloha

Asterix remains arguably the best comic book series ever written. It will delight to follow the french/belgian hero together with his fat friend Obelix (and his diminutive pet dog) throughout their adventures in the ancient world. Humor is always very subtle and entertaining and never falls into vulgarity. You will also find that the plot is coherent from beginning to end and every statement has a reason to be. By now you know I am one of those "till death" Asterix supporters - but for a good reason.