Africa Books

297 Pages Hardback, 12" x 10.25", Hundreds of items from all over Africa illustrated in full colour. A remarkable book focusing on African Design in the following categories : Furniture, Containers, Musical Instruments, Weapons, Adornment, Textiles and Devotion. Ginzberg makes his case for the beauty of African Forms in mediums other than masks and figures, and he has chosen the items very well. Very well photographed and nicely proportioned objects on good quality paper in a very fine volume. Highly recommended.

This book is one of best African Art books so far published. Beautiful pictures, beautiful objects, carefully selected and printed on high quality paper.
If you're interested in more than African masks and fetishes. This is the one.

This is a gorgeous book. As a filmmaker who makes films about rituals, celebrations, and ethnic traditions, I was delighted to see how the soul and culture of the people comes accross through their objects. And these objects are beautiful - textural and detailed to the point where one can almost touch them. The photographer did a great job using lighting that gives the work a three-dimensional look. But this is more than just a great photo book. The careful explanations that accompany each one demonstrate the sophistication and refined aesthetic of people who were once easily dismissed as "primitive". I found it interesting to note how vast their use of materials was - wood, metals, beads, ceramics, etc. Although not a collector in any way, I would have been glad to own any of these objects. Better yet, I now own the book, and would definately recommend it.

As a Woman of Color, I'm not sure what to make of this affluent and educationally priviledged white woman's 'journey' to South Africa and its healing tradition. Self-congratulation at the expense of discerning the structuring of Difference seems to be the keynote here. But I suppose the 'Heart of Darkness' fantasy/nightmare lives on in a contemporary hypocrisy; yet it is not usually so grotesque as it appears here. The tremendous courage and intelligence of other theorists, especially of course African American writers but also a few white writers, who write on Africa and its glorious tradition, remains a great Spiritual resource for me. This book most certainly does not number among the books which I would recommend to the young African Americans that I teach. I would have wished that this white author had examined the incredibly insightful bell hooks and other important writers' books for an *intelligent* perspective on contemporary African discourse.

Thank you so much for writing this book. Thank you for revealing your personal journey so tenderly, so honestly, honoring your western influence and yet opening to the mysteries of the unknown and yet familiar. Thank you for reminding me of the Great Web, the weaver and the thread. Thank you for this book that sits in my lap urging me to continue following my own path of healing.

I started browsing this book and couldn't put it down until I read every word. What a brave and fascinating adventure story. What a insightful and honest look into the sacred Sangoma tradition. An absolute "must read" for anyone interested in indigenous spirituality and culture. I loved it!

This book is an excellent starting point to learn about the battles in North Africa in 1941-1942. The book covers the battles in North Africa during the time that Rommel commanded German and Italian forces in that theatre in World War II. The book begins with Rommel's acceptance of a command in Africa in February 1941 and ends in November 1942 when Rommel's armies are outnumbered and overwhelmed near El Alamein.

The story is primarily told from the divisional level, interspersed with interesting facts about the major figures involved, of whom the focus is on Rommel. (E.g., Rommel, by August 1942, had survived longer (over 18 months by then) than any other field officer over age 40 in Africa in the Wehrmacht, despite his constant, and dangerous, trips to the front; and during the campaigns in Africa became in June 1942, at age 50, the youngest German Field Marshal ever.) The strategy and tactics of the commanders on both sides is well covered, as well as the hardships endured by the Germans and Italians, whose supply lines were subject to frequent disruption by the Allies.

The photos are extremely well selected, including a couple of rare shots of Rommel in field shorts. There are even a few full-color photos, including an amazing overhead shot of a Me 109 fighter in full camouflage that blends in perfectly with the landscape below. The maps are in color, numerous, and also well done.

The book even includes an interesting section on the 88-mm Flak batteries effectively used by Rommel, with clear descriptions on how these weapons operated and were used in desert conditions as an extremely effective anti-tank weapon.

I am a big fan of anything Time Life puts out on World War 2. I found this whole series of books very interesting for the amount of detail, the layout and the overall look of the books. This is the best place to start if you want to learn about World War 2. They are very easy to read with a great deal of corresponding diagrams, maps and photos and really bring the words alive. I think if you are a real die hard World War 2 buff you need to get a copy of these books.

Once again Time-Life has presented a very good condensed book, this time on the life-and-death of the Afrika Korps. It goes into the story from the beginning ,from where it started, what was initially a simple mission to shore up the flagging Italian position in Africa turned into a fierce battle to the death. Had Rommel succeeded in Egypt, then the British would have been dealt a crippling blow strategically. Most books ignore this man's role in the German success, but I was very pleased that this book dedicated a few pages to him. This man was Hauptmann(Captain) Hans-Joachim Marseille, the "Star of Afrika", who was probably the best and deadliest gunner in the skies of World War II. His phenomenal 158 kills against British air forces was the highest for any German, and his 17 kills in a single day remains a record to this day. He earned an immortal place in the pantheon of great fighter aces of WWII. No one talks of great aces like Molders or Hartmann without mentioning Marseille. All in all this book is very accurate, it describes the harsh desert war with objectivity. In the end it gives a good account as to why the Germans lost in the end. As far as condensed books on the Afrika Korps go, I would say this is definitely a book worth reading.

Molefi Asante's groundbreaking text The Afrocentric Idea offers an honest critique of the power structures behind the rhetorical foundation of how Americans view race and ethnic tradition. Truly Asante is worthy of being the top contemporary writer in Afrocentricity

This is a great and excellent book by the creator of Afrocentricity; Pr Asante. It helps us see the world from another and true perspective. It is insightful and soundly reasoned. Go get it!

This book (along with Theory for Social Change) saved my spirit and will save the spirit of any Black person that reads it. It is incredible and the Elder covers just about every aspect pertaining to the Black experience. This book is a precursor to Pan Africanism. Buy it!!!

Yes, that Keith Douglas, the famous "Oxford" poet wrote this slim and lyrical volume on the British army experience in North Africa. It's a shame that this book is out of print now and used copies are commanding a high price.

Warning spoilers - This is a rare eyewitness account of fighting in a rare theatre written by a rare person; a poet. Keith Douglas is bored of recovering behind lines and disobeys orders in order to return to the front.
The highly interesting scenes that follow describe in economical spare, yet highly descriptive prose the tank battles in the various desert theatre's that seem so familar from the movies. The terrain and climate become characters as they should. Certain Brits really took to the desert in a way none of the Germans ever did. Terrific stuff and incredible details of something I thought was confined to WW1 when commonwealth troops get fed into a meatgrinder in classic tory cannon fodder fashion. This was a shock for me as an Aussie raised on the Gallipoli myth. It's poetic justice that the ' colonel Blimp' type responsible gets blown away as the desert fox becomes the hunted instead of the hunter.
It's not so neat what happens to poor keith but he does get a little cocky and you cant really blame him for thinking he's leading a charmed life. The Germans or Italians certainly mastered booby traps if not the back wadi's. They say that such a thin sliver killed Keith Douglas during the D-day landings that he looked completely unmarked. Made me wonder how close we came to not having the dynamite, ' Homage to Catalonia'.
There are several way's Hitler could have won the whole war and this was the famous ' end of the begining' of, perhaps the most fascinating one these.' A bloody close run thing.'

This book used to be extremely hard to find, so it's nice to see this edition and know that it's been reprinted since i read it in '82.

Here's what makes this book so interesting: Douglas was a student of literature, British, so his perspective on being a tanker in WWII reflects an insightful sensibility. He fought in numerous campaigns in Africa (Alamein and on) before dying in Normandy shortly after being called back to active duty. Douglas is considered one of the finest war poets of WWII, but it's his descriptions of tank battles and the hot, concussive nature of it that is most memorable to me.

This is the kind of war memoir that is often overlooked but rare in it's depth and scope.

Collaboratively written by Laura Hurwitz and Amanda Lumry, Alistair On Safari is an engaging and informative children's picturebook that alternates simple, cartoon-like pictures by Sarah McIntyre of young Alistair and her friends, and superb color photography by Amanda Lumry of wildlife from baboons to lions and hyenas. Filled with facts about these amazing creatures, Alistair On Safari is a great book for introducing young readers to the exciting wonders of exotic wildlife.

The engaging illustrations, beginning with the cover and end pages, set the scene and move the readers, children and adults, immediately into the African adventure, Alistair on Safari.The intense color and outlining of the whimsical illustrations project well to a classroom of children gathered around the reader. Children grades K - 6 have been eager to look closely at the featured wildlife photography and follow the story line enhanced by the illustrations. They have been keenly interested in the "tid-bit" fact boxes. They have been delighted to find the interactive website at alistairadventures.com, fill in their own passports, compare their animal footprint recognition scores, then go back and reread the book. They have been challenged to photograph their own vacations (single-use box cameras are great!)and write their own travel adventures. Alistair's intense focus on photographing a leopard as requested by his mom is a gentle warning to the adult reader about setting up possible unreal expectations and creating stress for children. The children I have shared this African Game Reserve Adventure with are looking forward to Alistair's next adventure. We would love to go with him. A Bellevue teacher

Alistair is a terrific book that is interesting, refreshing, educational and FUN! The story line was great because it was easy to follow. My kids enjoyed the "factoid" boxes which are unique and educational.

Photographs combined with the cartoon images really seem to hold the kid's attention and interest. The photos were magnificent! I would recommend this book to anyone with children!

There are not many books on the market that have as much to offer as this book does. To sum up this children's book I would use one word: Refreshing!

This is a wonderful children's story. Amadi wants to grow up and become a business man. It's something he is already familiar with. He knows the market place. He doesn't need to learn to read. Until the day when a photo catches his eye and peaks his curiousity. What is it? If he could read, maybe the book would tell him. The story will show children how the joy of reading can take them to new worlds and places that they've never been to before. The illustrations are fun and delightful. The warm colors of the African village are inviting. Children will love this book. Buy it!

For those of us who read in the same way that we breathe, sometimes it's easy to take that activity for granted. We forget the inherent magic that comes from the printed word floating from the page into an imagination and the excitement that comes when that flow first occurs.

When a book reminds us of how special it was to learn to read, and how much we once yearned to know how to do that, that book is special. Amadi's Snowman by Katia Novet Saint-Lot and illustrated by Dimitrea Tokunbo is one of those books that gives us back the hunger and eagerness that we once had for learning to read. A short story in the form of a picture book--and a beautiful one at that!--this book gave me chills as I read it, and when I finished the last jubilant page, I immediately went back to the beginning and read it again.

This is one of those remarkable books that is meant for all ages, where the pictures and the text come together seamlessly in a glowing, perfectly blended, and wonderful world of its own. I love this book and can't wait to share it with (and give it to) other people who will love it just as much as I do. Thank you, Katia, Dimitrea, and Amadi!

The subject matter of literacy - of wanting to read - is heavy. Saint-Lot writes beautifully, her Amadi is genuine, and the little readers ends up cheering Amadi on to feel the same zing as they do, that "yes, books are amazing" feeling. He is so much like every child; sometimes silly, sometimes thoughtful. Children connect to Amadi, immediately. Little readers love to follow him through his day. He falls in love with a book, as children have since forever. They feel powerful that reading is something they are learning (or have learned) to do, they want to see how Amadi feels about learning to read. I bought this for all the children in my life, and gift them out as birthdays and holidays come around. They uniformly give "thumbs up" to Amadi's Snowman.

Katia Novet Saint-Lot's beautiful picture book tells the story of a proud, young Igbo man, Amadi, who plans to grow up and be a businessman. His mother wants him to learn to read, but Amadi sees no need for reading. He's already good with numbers - what would he need reading for? Until he catches sight of something in a book that needs to be explained. Something that forces his imagination to stretch to new limits.

Katia's effortless prose, along with the colorful illustrations of Dimitrea Tokunbo, create beautiful imagery of hot Nigeria where Amadi lives and at the same time convincingly protrays the engima of snow. Amadi's Snowman is a delightful trip to another part of the world yet rings with familiarity as we fondly remember the magic and power of learning to read.

Osagie's book fills a lacunae in the Amsitad historiographic record, but not only for providing details of the Amistad survivors' African return. She provided us with some insights into historical recollections and how they really only exist for present day agendas. She describes the appropriation of the Amistad story by Sierra Leoneans today in order to provide some morale for a society that has lurched from colonial exploitation to home grown exploitation and finally vicious civil war. Quite correctly she has departed from the American-centric purview and focused on the ramifications for African Americans and especially Africans.

i would like to tell u that this is one of the best books ever wrote i wanted to thank you for this strong experence for me so i decide to write a poem i will get back to u on it because i have to get it copyrighted first thanks again

Osagie's book covers all the things that have been glossed over in the traditional telling of the Amistad story: the stories of the Amistad Africans once they returned home, the generalized context of revolt and resistance to slavery at the time, and what the story has meant in Sierra Leone. She also has excellent critiques of plays, novels, and monuments about the Amistad incident, including Steven Spielberg's movie. It is a timely look at a popular story that takes the point of view of the Africans and Africans-American involved with it, instead of focussing on the white abolitionists and the court batttles. I very much enjoyed reading it.

Amistad shows what happended in the 1800's based on slavery with Africans who were kidnaped by white people who did not spoke thier language, how the fed them almost like dogs, how the crew treated the African women, how they decided who died and who lived and the people who died throw them of the boat, it was awful, how people bought slaves under the table around the world.

Eventhough I only saw the movie it made me understand that Africans and colored people at that time where treated like animals, they didn't have rights as human beings and white people were the "Kings or Gods" who rule the world, they decided they where the superior race or something like that.

In my opinion this movie or book would be helpful for future generations so that humanity doesn't repeat this errors that where commited in the past to make them understand that that is not right, eventhough some people doesn't care about religion to teach them that God doesn't care about race he cares about us human beings, on what we do and whom we love, and even with technology we don't rule the world because we don't really have the power. Just because a contry has the money of the world doesen't mean we rule other contries or make a club whom their objective is beating other people just because they are not the same as them the only one who judge us is God and God alone.

This book was turned into a movie, but like most books, it's better than the movie. It's hard to imagine that such things happened, but they really did. I'd liek to learn more about the people on the ship and thier lives once they got home and to freedom

Myers, Walter Dean (1998) Amistad: A Long Road to Freedom. New York: Dutton Children's Books and DreamWorks. 99pgs. ISBN: 0-525-45970-7. Chapter and Picture Book. Primary Topics: Slavery, Abolitionism, US Political, Legal History; Ethnicity, Morality, Diversity. Young Adult -- Grade 5-9.

This book is a marvelously drawn narrative history of the Amistad saga that begins with a contextual portrait of the Atlantic slave trade which was by 1808 illegal, though still widely practiced as this case shows. Myers traces the dramatic journey of Sengbe, a rice farmer in Mani and the future leader of the ship-board revolt from his capture by other Africans and sale to a Spanish slave-trader to the horrible Middle Passage to Cuba and the eventual landing on Long Island and capture by US Navy personal. It is in New London and New Haven, Connecticut that this case begins a near three-year legal, moral, and political conflict that touched the United States profoundly at the time and for years afterwards. Myers describes and analyzes in minute yet engrossing detail the legal battle waged between the forces of slavery and the forces of abolition in this country while never losing sight of the fascinating personalities involved. Using historic maps, engravings, and photographs, and displaying some painstaking research into primary sources (without source notes), Myers makes the case come alive and provides an engaging companion work to Spielberg's motion picture (DreamWorks owns part of the copyright), going beyond the time scope of the movie to follow many of the characters after their victorious Supreme Court case to an abolitionist community in Connecticut and eventually home to Africa. One of Africans even returned again to America to attend college!

I have no reservation using this book in a middle school or high school history class. It discusses the specific historical context in clear language that would serve as either a good introduction to the issues of slavery and abolitionism for middle school students or as a refresher and supplement for high school students of US history. It is written in a narrative style that is compelling and engaging for teens (and adults), but does not disengage when it pauses for analytical treatment of complex political or legal issues. Rather, Myers discusses many of these complex issues (especially the legal ones) in ways that simplify but do not reduce the contradictory moral issues at the heart of the story. Thus the built in tension of the story is preserved. I was compelled to read on even though I knew the ending.

Myers begins with a brief overview of the importation of slaves into the United States, describing the contradictions of the American Revolution regarding slaves and the Constitutional restriction of importing slaves into the US after 1808 as well as the international restrictions in place by that time. Britain outlawed slavery in 1787 and subsequently made treaties with other countries over the issue including one with Spain in 1817 that made exportation of slaves from Africa illegal. But because slavery itself was legal in both the US and the Spanish colonies, Myers makes clear that there was still a great deal of illegal slave trading going on. He even allows for the possibility that the slave cargo of the Amistad that revolted three days out of Havana (ostensibly bound for Puerto Principe in south-east Cuba) was in fact destined for the Carolinas to provide the rice plantations with skilled agricultural workers.

In a section discussing the economic costs and prices of boats, slaves, and provisions, Myers shows that the economic incentives were high enough to interest certain types of businessmen into risking defiance of international law by continuing the brutal enslavement of West Africans and their forced transportation to the Americas. He says, in fact, that the highest prices for young, strong laborers were being paid in the United States. These facts alone provide much fodder for classroom discussions into the nature of slavery as an economic system and lend support for critical examination of this still controversial topic and its legacies.

Myers' book has a cast of dozens of interesting historical personalities, major and minor, famous and infamous. Among the famous and infamous were John Quincy Adams (who argued on behalf of the Africans to the Supreme Court) and Roger Tawney (sitting on that Court) who would later author the Dred Scott decision. The roles and positions of many abolitionists involved in the case are described from Robert Purvis and Rev. James W.C. Pennington to William Lloyd Garrison and Lewis Tappan. In examining the abolitionist movement as it publicized and championed the Amistad captives from the moment of their capture to their eventual return to Africa, Myers depicts a diverse movement of reformers and radicals, some of whom were not opposed to using the Africans for political ends beyond their own personal fates, whether it was proselytizing Christianity or attempting to set legal precedents in their quest to reform slavery out of existence. Again to Myers credit, he shows them as they were historically in all their contradictions.

As Myers writes towards the end of the book, "Perhaps the most important aspect of the efforts of Lewis Tappan, Austin F. Williams, Joshua Leavitt, the other abolitionists, as well as the attorneys involved was that they allowed the world to see the Africans as human beings." Likewise, he describes in personalizing, humanizing detail, the principle protagonists of this historic drama: Sengbe, Kali, Kague, Margru, Foone, Burna, and others, who by their words, actions, and prayers demanded and pleaded and fought to be "given free."

This is a fantastic story about a lazy, messy spider whose home is the eye sore of an animal neighborhood. Anansi envies Hyena, who appears to do no work at all, and yet all his house work is completed. His yard is always beautiful; everything seems in perfect order. The mischievous spider shadows Hyena to discover his secret: a magic stick that does its owner's bidding when a special chant is uttered. Greedy Anansi schemes to obtain the magic stick and its power for himself. However, with great power comes great responsibility--as the sneaky spider soon discovers.

This beautifully illustrated book captures the fun of the Anansi tale while also teaching the importance of one's personal and social responsibilities. What is very nice in this story is the character of Anansi actually looks like a spider whereas in some children's books, he is shown in a more human-like form.

The tale is fun to read out-loud. It echoes the same universal themes as The Sorcerer's Apprentice, and some intriguing lessons might come from comparison / contrasts activities.

This book is as great as jumping in a pool on a hot summer day!! It is about a spider who likes playing tricks on animals. It takes place in Africa. This book is super silly and funny. I think anyone who likes adventures should read it!
By, Tucker

I remember Anansi the Spider when I was a child, now I read about the spider with my son! Sheesh!
The little spider has dealings with all the animals in his neighborhood about his messy house. While everyone else cleans and works he sleeps. Finally he decides to do something about it, but with someone else's tool, not thinking of the result.
This book made us crack up. At the same time, it taught us a lesson about not being greedy, and doing your own work.
I recommend it highly.