Africa Books

I love all the Jonathan Scott Big Cat Series Books. This is an excellent book for anyone who loves big cats. Plenty of info on habitat, biology, and great pictures!

I was watching big cat diary from the TV last week, and found out this program is just exactly the book I hv ordered from Amazon in Oct. I am exciting when receive this book. It has many beautiful cheetahs pictures. It worths to be one of your collection.

Being my favourite big cat doco, I had to buy the books to compliment Big Cat Diary.
I was not disappointed. The photos in this Leopard book are entirely unique and often include extremely rare images.
The writers/film makers have experienced some amazing things over their years of filming but most of it isn't covered in the TV series. This book goes into a lot more detail of the lives of certain Leopards and you really become attached to them by name (can be sad when you discover one has died).

Spectacular photos and highly engaging stories make this a winner.

Love the book and the fast service. I love all of the books that Jonathan Scott has written. I just wish in the US that we could still see the Big Cat Diary Series.

I love this book! Leopards are my # 4 favorite animals of all time topped only by jaguars, tigers, and of course lions. I think they are both cool and beautiful. I loved all the ones in here, most definitely the female ones. They were the most cool and beautiful. The only bad part was any of them getting hurt or killed, but other than that this book rocked! The cubs were cute, also. And boy, did I ever learn a lot about lions and hyenas as well as leopards. Like I said, this is a terrific book. I own it at home and will own it until my dying day. I highly reccomend it to anyone over the age of 12. Man, oh man, Amazon.com, you keep up making books like this.

This books is very intense and up front. I spent a couple of months living in a travel trailer in the US and I thought that was quite a difficult adventure, until I read this book.
There's a good interview at www.firstvoicebooks.com/blonde.html with the author.
Ants, roads, shopping for meat, charming festivals, leg sores, it's one heck of an adventure.
Thank goodness I can stay home and just read about it.

Having just returned from Africa, I have to thank Laura Resnick for taking me back there again. Her book paints a perfect picture of an American's experiences in a country that couldn't be more different from ours. From albinos, bugs, strange illnesses, whizzing downhill, the joys of Listerine, showering in the rain, dehydration, communication challenges, etc. Laura shares her trip with us in a heartfelt, often hilarious novel.

Africa is one of the places I've always wanted to go. Resnick, who has gone, shares with the reader an eye-opening look at her experiences over eight months of overland trekking across the African continent. She pulls no punches with regard to her own reactions to the lands, the leaders, her fellow overlanders--and thus gives a brutally honest look at what rustic and challenging overlanding is all about. Wonderfully insightful comments on cultural expectations, and should be required reading for anyone contemplating an African journey. You won't think the same about yourself or Africa once you've finished this book.

If you've ever wanted to camp your way across Africa from north to south--or even if your adventuring is strictly of the armchair variety--you'll love this account by a 30 year old romance/science fiction author of her half a year spent traveling by camper/bus across Africa. Funny, thoughtful, and honest, I found it compelling (the night I started it I was exhausted, and couldn't put it down until Chapter 10, and only because I was about to keel over!) and thought-provoking.I recommend it highly

What a worthwhile book! Laura Resnick shares her adventures on an overland adventure in Africa. What is great about this book is that it is refreshingly honest. Laura is very upfront about everything. She tells it like it is from how and where to the bathroom to what she realy thinks about hiking. If you like reading travel journals you're going to like this book!

In this unforgettable African odyssey, the London Daily Telegraph's Tim Butcher takes the reader on a dangerous and disturbing 44-day trek along the path of the Congo River, from the heart of sub-Saharan Africa to the Atlantic Ocean. Butcher's trip, which he dubs "ordeal travel," proceeds through the heart of the Congo (formerly the Belgian Congo, later Zaire) by motorbike, barge and dugout canoe, guided at times by a pygmy human rights activist, a UN riverboat captain and a Congolese gangster, threatened by gunfire, shakedowns, killer ants, psychotic militiamen and whispers of cannibalism.

Why risk it? The project is variously driven by the journalist's hunger to understand the most lawless and physically impenetrable country on his beat (which, mindbogglingly, encompasses much of the African continent), to indulge a personal obsession with the Congo that began after his first reporting trip in 2001, and to carry off the seemingly impossible feat of doing the whole trip overland, following in the footsteps of the British explorer --- and fellow Telegraph employee --- Henry Morton Stanley, the first outsider to chart the Congo River in 1877. (Stanley is also remembered for tracking down the Scottish explorer Dr. David Livingstone, who had been missing in the Congo for several years, leaving the phrase "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" to eclipse Livingstone's rightful legacy.)

Outside one or two cities, conditions in the Congo are so ferociously violent and anarchic that every official and unofficial source Butcher approached in three years of planning told him the trip was suicidal. As recently as the 1960s, the Congo had an elaborate network of functioning roads, railways, buses and even luxury ocean-going liners, built (using with near-slave labor) by Belgian colonialists who controlled the Congo from 1884 to 1960. But since independence, a series of deeply corrupt rulers and the bloodiest civil war on the planet have left rival militias to terrorize the country. Some 1,500 Congolese still die every day from war-related causes and thousands of miles of road, airports and enormous stretches of previously navigable Congo river have been abandoned so that almost no one travels anywhere except by air. Butcher despairingly finds towns on his route where a Belgian traveler could once have bought a commercial ferry ticket, but which are now among the few spots on earth to fail what he calls the "Can you buy a Coke?" test. (You could, he writes, sooner fly to the moon.)

One of Butcher's most crushing discoveries is that, because anti-government militias and government soldiers alike regularly brutalize cities and villages, millions of defenseless Congolese now view the bush as the only place they can really be safe. In a perverse reversal of progress, over and over again Butcher is told that he is the only white man some of these remote villages have seen in decades. He speaks with old men who can remember visiting cities, seeing cars, greeting trains and receiving mail, but whose grandchildren have never done any of these things.

It's all the more tragic because the Congo's enormous natural resources --- ivory, rubber, timber, diamond, gold, copper and cobalt deposits --- should make it the richest country in Africa. But with no functioning rule of law or infrastructure, Butcher instead finds mines that are nothing but raw pits where desperate miners claw at minerals with their bare hands, collapses are routine, and, because of corruption, theft, bribery and the inability to provide anything but grunt labor, the local people receive almost nothing.

Describing a new kind of Heart of Darkness, Butcher asserts that the real history of the Congo is one of theft, specifically theft of its sovereignty --- first by the Belgians and later by its own vicious and selfish African elites, who, since the late dictator Mobutu took power in 1965, have continued to live in luxury in the Congo's one functioning city, Kinshasa, running it as what he terms "a perfect kleptocracy." In a sign of real despair, some Congolese he met who were trapped by geography and circumstance in increasingly cut-off towns in the jungle "were so desperate they actually pined for the old and brutal order of Belgian colonial life." Only the restoration of law and order and a real justice system has any chance of turning this violent free-for-all back into a country worthy of the name, Butcher is told again and again.

Not surprisingly, a current of anger flows through this river journey, surging forth in Butcher's account of the most heartbreaking encounter of the trip. In the town of Kisangani he seeks the help of a local fisherman and guide, Oggi Saidi, while trying to hitch a ride on a boat headed out of town. Two weeks later, his berth on a UN river patrol secured, he has one last beer with Oggi but is powerless to help when Oggi asks him, a near-stranger, to smuggle his 14-year-old son onto the ship with him, to take him to South Africa, to save him from the Congo. This must be Africa's broken heart.

--- Reviewed by Elliott Walker

Blood River
Africa has been in the US news during the recent Presidential campaign and water cooler discussions about what we should or should not be doing prompted my British co worker to suggest Blood River. The book is a recollection of a great adventure. An incredible journey retracing Stanley's journey in the Congo. The discriptions of this demanding and dangerous journey are both revealing and sad. This feat was so incredible that locals questioned his honesty when he told them he had travelled overland. Commenting on the decline of the area, the author asks why the Africans are so inept at governing themselves. It is not for the lack of foreign aid or natural resources. The answer is a lack of solvent African leadership and the a resulting breakdown from an infant civilization to a condition where the safest place to be in the bush. "City bad, bush good".

This book is a good reminder of how the bottom of the bottom billion survive, and the importance of a minimal level of governance. Nonetheless, the author overdoes the comparisons with pre-independence Congo. Although the colonial masters undoubtedly lived well, life was far from a bed or roses for the masses--the fact that Belgium invested so little in basic services for the Congolese, is one reason the country is still a mess, even as many African countries are now rapidly advancing.

When Tim Butcher describes a city in the modern Democratic Republic of Congo as "a sad collection of ruins," he could well have been describing the entire country, whose endless struggle over control of its rich resources during the past 100-plus years has left it mostly in shambles. This highly readable account of Butcher's attempt to follow the path of Henry Stanley's 1784 expedition to map the Congo River gives ample testimony to the difficulties of not just travel but of daily life in this sadly exploited nation.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds: A Novel of Scandal, Love and Death in the Congo

Tim Butcher's book BLOOD RIVER was recommended by Amazon last summer and I bought it because I am fascinated by the Congo. Having read King Leopold's Ghost,In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz, Heart of Darkness as well as The Poisonwood Bible, I was intrigued by an update on the Congo, especially by someone adventurous (I did think crazy)enough to try to follow Stanley's journey across Africa from east to west in the current political/savage climate.
Mr. Butcher is a journalist, so he knows how to use words to convey a mood, or a place or a person. And in this book, he is at his best. You are tugged along almost reluctantly on his trip,knowing that he obviously survived, but wondering how he could have possibly made it all the way. Everyone told him not to try it, but somehow there were also very helpful people along the way.
The one man who begged him to take his four year old with him, the guys on the motorbikes, the pirogue pole guys and the captain of the boat are all unforgettable. I especially liked that Mr. Butcher would bring in historical asides, liked the making of the African Queen and Katherine Hepburn in the hotel that is no longer there, or the travel guide that his mother had. He brings in all the hard historical stuff also, like the Belgians and the hand cutting, as well as the slavery trade.
If you want a book that has it all, plus pictures, get this book and hop on behind Mr. Butcher as he pursues a dream/nightmare journey through Africa.

This is a great book-exciting, exotic and fascinating as Bass profiles different scientific and social scientific researchers' projects in Africa. One gets a feel for the different cultures and ecosystems viewed through the lens of his portraits.

I was talking with a friend today who is bound for Uganda and as I rummaged around the attic of my mind, remembered what a pleasure this book was when I read it over ten years ago. I highly recommend it. Perhaps I shall read it again.

This is a book for people that think scientists walk around in white coats spouting equations at each other and relating dysfunctionaly to the rest of the world. Learn about science as a way of life, a way of seeing the world and accepting its challenges. Yes, Africa is somewhat of a mess, but as Africa goes, so may go the planet. Tom Bass brings you beautifully into this chaos and gives you the flavor of life with scientists who have let it all hang out, put it all on the line, in their fascination with and commitment to an important way of looking at the world. It's a new genre: Guerilla Science.

Camping With the Prince, a 1990 book by the science journalist Thomas Bass, is a rare find and highly recommended. Most books on contemporary Africa are gloomy and angry. Some are hostile towards Africans, some towards Westerners, some towards both. Camping With the Prince is neither. Instead it is a fascinating look at things which are going right. Bass deserves praise for that alone. But his topics are fascinating in their own right. In seven chapters, Bass investigates seven areas of scientific research in various parts of sub-Saharan Africa. They range from sustainable forestry in Mali, to the response of nomad communities in Kenya to food shortages, Nigerian research on insect pests and virology, and on to paleoanthropology and the mating habits of the multicolored cichlid fish of Lake Malawi. To the extent there are villains in this book, they are international specialists in foreign aid, who have spent forty years delivering bad advice on agricultural policy and building dams that spread the guinea worm. But in fact the villains are very few. Much more common are people like Thomas Risley Odhiambo, a Kenyan entomologist who founded the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology in Nairobi, which carries out world-class research on low-impact pest controls. Bass asks Dr. Odhiambo how Kenya -- and by extension Africa generally -- can afford such a program when many Kenyans have no potable drinking water. Odhiambo makes an equally obvious reply: '"My own feeling is that we have to run on twin tracks," he says. "We have the longer-range problems that depend on science and technology. We must solve them. At the same time we must tackle these problems arising from urbanization and dislocation from the land. If we take only one track and not the other, we will be in worse trouble, because we will have no future in terms of strategies for the long run." Odhiambo's realistic but hopeful attitude -- a recognition of contemporary problems, coupled with the faith that Africa can overcome and transcend them -- is typical of the people Bass meets. They are Africans like Odhiambo and the Nigerian virologist Oyewale Tomori, Westerners like Jeremy Swift, an Englishman who has spent fifteen years living among nomads in the dry savannas, and even East Asians like Odhiambo's Chinese colleague Lu Qing Guang, who conducts research on insects like the trichogramma wasp which prey on common pests. The book has one minor flaw, in that it presents readers with seven more or less independent chapters rather than a coherent narrative. Bass also demands some effort from the reader, as his book addresses complex scientific issues without condescension. Those who will be put off by discussions of nematodes, Lorenzian biological aggression theory or the life cycle of the tsetse fly will find parts of the book pretty dense. But most readers who take up a book like this will view technical detail a strength rather than a weakness. And altogether, Camping With the Prince is a well-written, welcome respite from the bleak tone of most writing on modern Africa. Bass has done a fine job and deserves readers.

This is a book for people that think scientists walk around in white coats spouting equations at each other and relating dysfunctionaly to the rest of the world. Learn about science as a way of life, a way of seeing the world and accepting its challenges. Yes, Africa is somewhat of a mess, but as Africa goes, so may go the planet. Tom Bass brings you beautifully into this chaos and gives you the flavor of life with scientists who have let it all hang out, put it all on the line, in their fascination with and commitment to an important way of looking at the world. It's a new genre: Guerilla Science.

This was the first, but it won't be the last, travel guide I'll buy from the Bradt series.

It contains an outstanding overview of the Islands' geology, political history and economy along with great suggestions for active sports tourism and passive sightseeing.

I was so impressed I bought the Bradt guide to the Canary Islands too.

Both will come in handy on a trans-Atlantic cruise we've booked for this Fall.

I first visited the Cape Verdes in 1987 while researching the ATLANTIC ISLANDS, a sailing guide covering the Azores, Madeira group, Canaries and Cape Verdes, now in its third edition. Getting information on the Cape Verdes in the English language was difficult in the extreme -- if only Aisling and Colum's excellent book had been available then! These days no sane person should visit the islands without reading it first. The Cape Verdes come as something of a culture shock after the Canaries -- this book will explain why, and help you get the most from the experience. Buy it!

This was just the sort of thing a hardened backpacker needed. It had all the useful nooks and crannies of info you need - plus the fact that it filled in a lot of the extra info you like to get about a place you're seeing. They gave a great account of the islands' history - it was really moving.

Irwin and Wilson's guide gives you all the factual information you need, and in addition succeeds in capturing the spirit of Cape Verde, with boxes on cultural and historical issues linked to each island. There is no doubt about it: This is the best guide available. If you read German, Rolf Osang's "Kapverdische Inseln" from Dumont is nearly as good and a useful supplement (especially when it comes to photos). The chapters on Cape Verde in Rough Guides' and Lonely Planet's books on West Africa are neither up-to-date nor in-depth enough if you plan to spend more than a few days in Cape Verde (which you should!).

The appendix on Crioulo language in Irwin and Wilson's book is brief but good. Don't be put off by the nasty details on horrible diseases in the section on health!

If you plan on visiting the Islands of Cape Verde, this travel guide is essential. I have not found a better or more thorough guide. I currently live here but I am American and I knew nothing of the islands when I arrived. But after living here a while, I discovered that this book is as accurate as I initially thought. There are few things misspelled but that is to be overlooked by the amount of truely uselful and thorough the information is. I also liked the little touches of background and history on each island. It is very well done.

This book was very nice: lovely pictures, gentle storyline that was also informative. I enjoyed it very much.

This is a great way for young and old to lean about sweet grass basket making! Perfect for late elementary school students.

The book's illustrations were very interesting and creative. The story line was an accurate dipiction of slavery and the history behind it. It connected strong family ties from generation to generation with the beautiful basket weaves and family customs. Those who are associated with the geography of the book can make a strong personal connection to the atmosphere of the book. For teaching purposes, it relates the importance of family history and bonds throught the generations. It also shows how far we've developed as a society. It would be part of our text set for slavery in our classroom.

If I were making a very short list of books to remember Charleston by, this would be on it. The language is lyrical and wonderful to read aloud. The illustrations are gorgeous. Both Raven and Lewis do a superb job of sharing the meaning of family ties across generations, as well as sharing the Gullah culture. I'm a newcomer to the Low Country, and I don't have any African heritage, but still, something in this story really resonated with me. Highly recommended!

We love the South Carolina Low Country, and are proud to own a number of sweetgrass baskets, most made by the same lady. This book was a wonderful find to share with my daughter, who is almost 4. The pictures are lovely, and the history is honest without being too brutal for younger listeners. Older readers will certainly get the depth of the slave history, while it serves as a good introduction for the younger. I found it to be a poetic and lyrical read, and a good explanation of how the art of Low Country coil basket weaving (also known as Charleston sweetgrass basket weaving) has been passed down.

I purchased this book for my class on Conflict and Conflict Resolution at San Diego State.
This book is very detailed giving all the background on Sudan the country, its different tribes and groups as well as all of the individuals who have held or are seeking power in Sudan.

The book also highlights the regional players and their modivations such as Libya, Chad, Eriteria who are seeking to keep Sudan destablized for their own personal gain.

The authors do an excellent job of also bring to light the international aspects as well as the local and national issues the helped to create the circumstances of the first civil war/ conflict of north vs south Sudan and then Darfur. Not to mention the problems that stem from the international communties poor foresight when it came to resolving the North vs. South Sudan issues and the treaty that has made it impossible to truly resolve the Darfur conflict. Also how the international community and aid agencies shot themselves in the foot by labeling Darfur a genocide - spending more time documenting the genocide than helping people get food and water in that barren land.

However the one criticism I have of this book is the amount of shifting between different eras in history, players (wait till you get to the part about SLA vs SPLA vs SLA W vs SLA M) essentially you need a felt board like they use in military strategies to keep track of the players and their movements around Sudan.

I however despite my critisims highly recommend this book as a primer for anyone interested in Sudan and the root issues of Darfur.

The 2008 edition of Darfur: A New History of a Long War, by Julie Flint and Alex de Waal, is an essential reading about the current conflict in Darfur. The book gives a short overview of the history of Darfur and its people - from independent sultanate, annexation by the Anglo-Egyptian condominium, colonial times, to Sudan's independence.

Authors blame the British colonialists and Sudanese governments after independence for the lack of development in Darfur. They assert that Arab supremacy and racism, preached from Libya and the Sudanese capital, have caused divisions and animosity between "Arabs" and "Africans" in Darfur in the 1980s and 1990s, culminating with the conflict that began in 2003.

Flint and de Waal closely look at the links between the Sudanese government and "Arab" militias, called Janjaweed, claiming that there is enough evidence that proves that the government of Sudan is using the militias as a proxy in the Darfur conflict. They write about the Darfur rebel movements and their leaders, noting tribal divisions among the rebels and the crimes committed by the "African" rebels against "Arab" civilians.

Authors examine the international community's reaction to the conflict and the Abuja peace talks that culminated in 2006 with the Darfur Peace Agreement that was signed by the Sudanese government and only one rebel faction, but did not bring peace. They end the book with a chapter titled Endless Chaos, having little hope that the Darfur conflict could be ended any time soon.

It is important to note that the authors, for whatever reason, have not mentioned China once in the entire book. As a major world player that has oil interests in Sudan and is preventing any sanctions or condemnation of the Khartoum regime, China must be mentioned in a book about the current conflict in Darfur.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I got this book from my grandmother in high school. Truth be told, I "borrowed" it and never gave it back! I loved it because it traces early African female writings as well as contemporary excerpts. You can actually read the writing of the Queen of Sheba and the Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut. I think this is so important for black women, especially.

As a writer, I have seen speeches and writings of famous European Queens like Elizabeth I, but you don't often find books containing the writings of African queens like these. As a young black girl, it was empowering to me to see what came before me and what I might acheive because of the women in this book. Their determination and courage created a place for me and other minority women to express ourselves publicly, to give a voice to our culture and to our gender.

One of the interesting things about this book is to see the writings of freed and escaped slaves. We have the assumption that slaves were uneducated, especially female slaves, and yet here is evidence that there were learned black women speaking out about slavery and its effects. Some, such as Harriet Jacobs (aka Linda Brent), were writing before slavery had been abolished in order to encourage the emancipation of black people.

Because this book also features writings from women in different countries, it has a richness that wouldn't be there if it only focused on American women. It speaks of what it means to be a black woman no matter what time or place you live in.

Margaret Busby's *Daughters of Africa* has become one of my favorite anthologies in my personal collection. The depth and breadth of her selections is inspiring, and I find myself revisiting its contents time and time again. It's a poet's dream and is excellent as any writer's reference. I have encountered new, engaging voices to explore as well as ancient ones whose lives were unknown me. Pick up a copy and dive in.

I have had this book for a while and it is so breath taking and awesome. It is a magnificient chronological timeline of the Nubian woman back in ancient times to the present. It reveals the spirit, intelligence, political involvement, and nature of the black woman. Despite time and the unforgiveable tragedies that occurred to her and her nation of people she has a regal inner strength that refuses and will not die but only continues to gain strength more with experience and wisdom. This book is a good indicator to the understanding of a black woman and her legacy.

This is one of the most extraordinary compilations I have ever had the pleasure of reading. The writing is extremely rich with information on the insights of women, and their various cultures and lifestyles; the reader even gets a glimpse of the various dialects of countries as she goes from piece to piece. As I was reading the book, I realized that although I am an avid reader, I was not familiar with the writing of many of the authors (nor were the majority of my friends). I find it unfortunate that there are so many women authors who never gain proper recognition for their literary talents simply because many people have never been exposed to their writing. Although Margaret Busby admits that many authors were omitted due to necessity, this book is definitely a step in the right direction. I would love to see a "Sons of Africa" anthology.

A well researched anthology which I found compelling and educational. A book I discovered several years ago and have recommended to many. An avid reader and writer (contributor to Go Girl: The Black Woman's Book to Travel and Adventure) I found this book to be first rate focusing on universal themes and many that were enlightening related to the plights (emotional, spiritual and psychological), and achievements of women from different cultures. Many of the stories were uplifting, provocative, heartwarming and humorous which gave me deeper insight into certain cultures and fired my curiosity and interest related to social and political aspects of certain countries. In addition, I learned a bit of history and was challenged to expand my literary and cultural horizons. A book everyone should have.

Monica Hannan has written the story of one man who has seen the faces of the least of God's children and is doing something. It is a story that takes us behind the headlines and the predigested propaganda that we receive about the poorer nations of our world. It is a story of bitter poverty, horrible misuse of power as well as a story of the power of love and compassion and the changed lives that sometimes result from that care. It is not a rosy picture she gives us, but it is a real story of a man empowered by God to do something about the sorry state of the world in places where most of us would fear to tread. Even as I think about the title of Monica's book, the haunting lament of the man from La Mancha moves through my mind:

To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go

Most of us hunger to make a difference in our world. Patrick Atkinson is facing that hunger by placing his life on the line to meet the "unbearable sorrow" of the children who have no one else.

Read it and weep. And then stand up and join those who are dreaming the dream of a better life for those who have no hope.

After I was done reading this book I had to ask myself what has God called me to do? Why have I not heard it? Why would God call on Patrick to do so much and so many other people so little?
Patrick Atkinson, is able to do the work he is called to do because he does not fear death. Fear will stop us from doing the most simple things but not Patrick. A moving story about a man who only cares about the poorest of the poor. A story that brings faith and hope to those who doubt that there is pure love for those in our world who have nothing. This book is a definite read. Highly recommended for teens and adults. A wonderful book to read for book clubs.

Monica Hannan does a wonderful job with a truly inspiring story about a man who genuinely cares for our world's poor and abandoned children. Patrick Atkinson is a man who doesn't just talk about these children, he has done something we all wish we would have done. This story is well written and is most deserving of your time. If you want to feel that there is hope in this world, read this book now. You'll never regret it.

A well written, inspiring story. This follows the story of a man who gives his life to helping others, along with the story of one of the little ones that he aids. Atkinson recognizes that he can not change the world, yet he does manage to change the world of the children of the streets in Guatemala. He has found a way to make it possible for these children to dream of what they want to accomplish in life, and to work towards that goal through eduction.

Atkinson's belief is that most people want to help the disadvantaged children of the world. He provides a way for us to do that.

Starting with helping just a few children, Atkinson has seen his work expand to help and encourage thousands. The reader goes along on the journey and realizes that small acts can be like a pebble thrown in a pond. The resulting circle from the pebble can expand and expand.

I loved this book for the hope and inspiration it gives to the reader.

Why does it take a near death experience for one man, Patrick Atkinson, what takes a lifetime for others to realize? Knowing why we exist and what our path is. Follow a modern day spiritual journey, from continent to continent in search of one mission, serving children of the poor.

A sometimes wrenchingly vivid depiction by Monica Hannan of contemporary service to the least of our brothers, The Dream Maker is a heroic read for today's young people. Patrick's life journey challenges the definition of success we hold in the U.S. for our status oriented, college prepped youth. This is a great read for a freshman English class, youth groups prior to service trips, or high school seniors contemplating college. As the book notes, Patrick is now an international speaker. Imagine a speaking engagement (before demand makes it impossible) following a class/group read.

As an educator and parent of four young adults, The Dream Maker offers a real life paradigm shifting account. The book is a rare educational opportunity and couldn't happen in a more compelling and contemporary fashion.

i don't have this book yet. i have already told hubby that he's getting it for me for valentines. everytime i go into the bookstore, i take it off the shelf and spend about a half hour just leafing through it and looking at the pictures. if you are not sure whether you want to put out the money to buy this book, do yourself a favor and see if they have a copy at the bookstore and look through it. i know you'll be convinced that it's worth the price. i plan on ordering my book rather than buying it off the shelf. there are several fold out sections in the book and i want to make sure they are in good shape. the pictures of the temples and tombs in the book are great. also lots of maps. i admit, i'm an egyptology geek, but i think anyone who is interested in egypt will enjoy this book. if egypt is a hobby/passion, this book is a must have. i know it's a bit pricey, but you're payig for a book full of fantastic color photographs and you defintiely get what you are playing for. you get your money's worth with this book. my only regret is that i have to wait 6 weeks til i can have my copy in my hot lil' hands. :)

I will not add too much to what the other reviewers have opined on this magnificent book. It is gorgeously illustrated with superior photographs and interesting drawings and geographical overviews.

It is the perfect book to get anyone interested in the never-ending treasures to be found in Egypt. The large-format size and the several fold-outs only add to the many and varied pleasures to be found in this book.

Also, it is somewhat scholarly and has some very useful timelines and genealogies.

Highly recommended to all Egyptophiles and lovers of antiquity alike.

Tim Wingate, CANADA

I recieved this book for Christmas, and even though I haven't read it all the way through, I'm very happy with it. It has very brilliant pictures, and beautiful maps. I also like the foldouts.

I first saw this book after a four-week trip to Egypt, where our travels included as much as we could see between the relocated monument Ramses II built in honor of himself at Abu Simbel to the vicinity of El-Qahira (Cairo) and its monuments and museums. This book is the one I have chosen to "keep my memories fresh" and share them with others- it is that good, and more. The illustrations are brilliant; the informative text is thorough and illuminating without being pedantic or burying the photos and drawings. I only wish the Cairo Museum had books as good as this one! If you love Egypt, this book will live an active life on your coffee table.

The book contains over 300 magnificent photographs and illustrations of Egypt's monuments, treasures, archaeological discoveries and travelers. The reader will see the pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx, the Faiyum, the Sinai, the Strait of Tiran, Nubia, Tanis, Esna, Luxor, Karnak, Philae, Dendera, Abu Simbel, Deir el-Bahri, the Valley of the Queens, Edfu, Kom Ombo and the Valley of the Kings, and will identify Ernesto Schiaparelli, Auguste Mariette, Jean-François Champollion and Howard Carter, among many famous discoverers. A history of this fascinating civilization, from ancient to modern Egypt, is included, as well as reconstructions of tombs, a bibliography and a glossary. For everyone to own.