Africa Books

Hardback, 12" x 10 ", 471 Pages, 557 objects presented in full-color in full-page format. All 557 items are repeated in color thumbnails with concise and informative descriptions.....I own over 200 books on Tribal Art, and this is quite simply one of the best books on African Art I have ever seen. The quality of the selected sculptures is matched by the quality of the photographs, presentation, format and paper. Burkina Faso boasts some of the very best West African art, and the collection of Thomas Wheelock, unlike some private collections, is of a consistently high standard. Superb and essential.

Although Burkina Faso lies between two nations, Mali and Cote d'Ivoire, whose art stands tall in the canons of African sculpture most sought after in the West, Burkina art has been given short shrift by museums, dealers and collectors, and in literature. As a result, long after important older objects had largely vanished from the lands of the Dogon, Bamana, Senufo and Baule, ancient masks, figures, and metalwork could still be
found in Burkina Faso. Author and collector Tom Wheelock had the good fortune to stumble upon this fact in the early 1970s. Persevering through chicanery and art market snobbery he assembled the largest collection of Burkina art in the world over the course of the next three decades. In this remarkable book, Land of Flying Masks, Tom Wheelock shares highlights from his collection in clean, bold images, with informative text and stunning field photography by Professor Christopher Roy, This is not a book of masterpieces- although there are more than a few- it is unique and long overdue survey of the traditional art of a single African nation lovingly rendered. Besides the flying masks one will find gorgeous baskets, stools, rings, hats, pots and musical instruments. A catalog with color thumbnail images and copious identifications takes up a substantial number of pages. For those of us who love African material culture in all its variety, particularly those passionate about the art of West Africa this book is an absolute must.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1IGFPZ0HY2ESV This book, while written as fiction, tells the real life saga of how iconic Hollywood legend, Tippi Hedren (aka Joan Tailor in the book) who starred in Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" teams with embattled conservationist Meryl Harrison (aka Charlene Tynsworth in the book) and ex Special Forces commandos to expose ongoing brutal atrocities against endangered big game by some of the wealthiest men on earth. Meryl, who is also known as The Mother Theresa of Animals, has been awarded by almost every wildlife group on earth for her bravery in facing death to save and safeguard the lives of hundreds of thousands of animals in Zimbabwe. In this video she is seen winning yet another award, this time from the BBC in the UK. It also shows some real life footage of some of her animal rescues in terror-ravaged Zimbabwe. Please also cross reference the YOU TUBE video "Land of the Free" that contains some of the real life covert footage and documentation this team obtained as evidence of these atrocities... and who is committing them. [...]

This book is dedicated to Meryl Harrison, and every sale goes towards helping an animal's life. Please buy your copy here: Land Of The Free

Everyone should read this book - to know what is happening to our precious endangered species - who is doing it - and what you can do to help. Buy it now!Land Of The Free

I wanted to get a book about African animals for my two year old neice- a simple story, with morals explained in a fun and engaging way. As soon as I saw LAZY LION by Mwenye Hadithi I knew I found my book!

The story is simple: The Lion, King of Animals, asks his subjects to find him a home. But he is very picky and lazy - this house is too big, that house is too small, this house is too wet...nothing pleases him.

When it rains, all the animals rush into their houses, leaving the LAZY LION wandering across the great African plains, which remains his home to this day.

The Moral? Don't be lazy and picky, either get what you need yourself or accept what is given to you with gratitude!

Accompanying this simple but great story are bright, colorful illustrations which really capture the essence, the beauty of the African Wilderness.

All of the books by this author are great, clever stories with
fun illustrations. How dare they go out of print. Republish,
PLEASE!

On the banks of a dam at the Havelock Trout Farm in spring 1991 a white man is LEARNING from a black man how to cast a line when suddenly the former cries out. A fishing hook has deeply embedded itself in the left hand of Roelf Meyer, South Africa's Deputy Minister of Constitutional Development who has been coaxed into this weekend with the secretary general of the African National Congress Cyril Ramaphosa by a mutual friend.

Back in the lodge all attempts TO carefully remove the painful metal fail. There is only one way left. Cyril Ramaphosa fetches a pair of pliers and offers Roelf Meyer a glass full of whiskey before he takes a firm grip on the hook. Roelf, he tells the deputy minister, if you've never TRUSTed an ANC person before, you'd better get ready to do so now. He presses the hook down to make space for the barb and pulls it out with a powerful wrench. As his wife staunches the flow of blood Roelf Meyer mutters to the trout fisherman who like him will be one of the key figures in bringing about the new South African DEMOCRACY: Well, Cyril, don't say I didn't trust you.

The individual and social learning processes and the resulting transition from the racist apartheid regime to the democracy of the rainbow nation are the subject of this publication. The summit of this road is the date of the first free and fair elections open to all South Africans: April 27th 1994. The sociological microscope is focused on this single day: the day from which to look back and from which to look forward.

The outcome of an exemplary peace and democratisation process in South Africa was dependent on the success or failure of its founding Election Day. In the end, the new democracy emerged clearly victorious, which was seen by many observers to be a 'miracle'. But this miracle can be explained against the backdrop of media involvement in a large-scale pedagogical undertaking that was probably the most massive national educational communications campaign of all time.

This book shows how African, coloured and Indian voters learned the fundamental concepts of democracy and the role of the state in the new South Africa, as well as the purely technical procedures of voting. But the interpretation also elucidates another successful learning process that was as important to make that miracle happen: their LEARNING TO TRUST DEMOCRACY.

On the banks of a dam at the Havelock Trout Farm in spring 1991 a white man is LEARNING from a black man how to cast a line when suddenly the former cries out. A fishing hook has deeply embedded itself in the left hand of Roelf Meyer, South Africa's Deputy Minister of Constitutional Development who has been coaxed into this weekend with the secretary general of the African National Congress Cyril Ramaphosa by a mutual friend.

Back in the lodge all attempts TO carefully remove the painful metal fail. There is only one way left. Cyril Ramaphosa fetches a pair of pliers and offers Roelf Meyer a glass full of whiskey before he takes a firm grip on the hook. Roelf, he tells the deputy minister, if you've never TRUSTed an ANC person before, you'd better get ready to do so now. He presses the hook down to make space for the barb and pulls it out with a powerful wrench. As his wife staunches the flow of blood Roelf Meyer mutters to the trout fisherman who like him will be one of the key figures in bringing about the new South African DEMOCRACY: Well, Cyril, don't say I didn't trust you.

The individual and social learning processes and the resulting transition from the racist apartheid regime to the democracy of the rainbow nation are the subject of this publication. The summit of this road is the date of the first free and fair elections open to all South Africans: April 27th 1994. The sociological microscope is focused on this single day: the day from which to look back and from which to look forward.

The outcome of an exemplary peace and democratisation process in South Africa was dependent on the success or failure of its founding Election Day. In the end, the new democracy emerged clearly victorious, which was seen by many observers to be a 'miracle'. But this miracle can be explained against the backdrop of media involvement in a large-scale pedagogical undertaking that was probably the most massive national educational communications campaign of all time.

This book shows how African, coloured and Indian voters learned the fundamental concepts of democracy and the role of the state in the new South Africa, as well as the purely technical procedures of voting. But the interpretation also elucidates another successful learning process that was as important to make that miracle happen: their LEARNING TO TRUST DEMOCRACY.

Let's Talk Africa is an excellent and thought provoking plunge into the realities and effects of culture. It is an honest exposition of how developed countries have effectively stymied the culture and by implication, the economic growth of this continent.

This book is also a great read for any meaningful study of education and it's effects on people of colour -- a vehicle for cultural upliftment, that is the culture of the dominant class.

Joshua Spencer has written his first book. I look forward to reading many more.

Glendon Lawrence

This book is excellent for the reason that it adequately attends to all its topics and even though it is geared toward an educated populace, it is easily understood by the average person. The writer sets out to teach and clarify points as he presents the various intriguing arguments that relate to Africa and the usefulness of its cultural base, Affirmative Action, one's right to sexual choices, the origin of formal education in the West, among other relevant topics.

I have no regret in purchasing the text and would recommend it to others. Fluctuating Life Quest for a Dream: A Life Committed to Progress

Stuart Van Slyke has led an amazing life - born at the end of the First World War, he lived through the Depression and served in some of the most interesting theaters of the Second World War. He leaves out no detail, no matter how painful or seemingly small, which has the effect of building a very rich story - at the end of which you feel you know the author and his times quite well. I highly recommend it.

This book is one of those rare finds for which historians are always looking. Mr. Van Slyke managed to keep all of his old correspondance and notes from a lifetime of over 80 years, and has compiled them into a gripping story of one person's experiences through the Great Depression and WW II. Although not interested in the "big picture", this book conveys a ground's eye perspective of some under-developed areas of WW II history. The portion about the author's challenges in the military government in Korea at the end of WW II, provided this Iraq War veteran an eerie sense of deja vu, as well as highlighting several key lessons that are still valid today.
The writing style is very simple and flows naturally. The reader feels like they are sitting in a living room, while their grandfather relates his stories to them. The addition of actual copies of orders, pictures and other documents throughout the book serve to further enhance the experience.
In sum, this book is a must have for any serious student of American life from the 1920s to the end of WW II. Future books may include a continuation from WW II until the present day.

***Truth in Lending***
The author is the Maternal Grandfather of the writer of this review. However, the reviewer has been trained in history at the United States Military Academy, and conducted research on WW II history.

Of all of the books of 19th century South African History that I have read this provides the most fair and balanced account of the Zulu Wars. In spite of almost a century and 1/2 of ethnocentric historical research the author manages to lay out the facts in a fairly convincing manner. Both sides came from a culture with a long military tradition and both fought as best they could for reasons we can understand today.

The Zulus were about protecting the homeland and keeping what they had and gaining a little more if they were lucky the British were about expanding their borders and gaining access to new resources. The Zulu were not black savages and the Redcoats were not all stand-ins for Rudyard Kipling. The truth as is often the case with history lies somewhere in the middle of the two extremes.

This is one of those rare books which attempts not only to explain the causes underlying a conflict, but also explores the psychology and culture of the participants. This book is well illustrated and easy to read. A good introduction to the topic, to be followed by Morrison's Washing of the Spears and all of Ian Knight's books.

THE LION OF JUDAH HATH PREVAILED WAS WRITTEN BY CHRISTINE STANFORD IN 1955...IT WAS PUBLISHED TO COMMEMORATE THE SILVER JUBILEE OF EMPEROR HAILE SELLASSIE'S CORONATION...MS STANDFORD WRITES WITH A SMOOTH STYLE THAT UNLEASHES ELEGANT VERSE FLAVOURED WITH ROYAL REIGN...A GREAT FIND FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN THE LAST OF THE SOLOMANIC LINE OF KINGS...HOW HE WAS RAISED...HIS POWER AND HIS PRESENCE...EARNING THE CALL AS THE ELECT OF GOD JAH RASTAFARI...PRIZGAR

Whether You may be black or whether you may be white, open up your eyes so you can see the light. RASTAFARI liveth and ruleth upon this Earth!

Livingston's Tribe is a superbly written, armchair travel guide of a journey from Zanzibar to the Cape recounts the experiences of an anti-apartheid liberal who flees the old South Africa and welcomes independence for Zimbabwe. His experiences and encounters with tribes and individuals makes for an involving and revealing travel diary which any with an affection for Africa will relish.

This book seemed a little pessimistic about the whites living in Zimbabwe and Kenya, however that is understandable given that he was there right before the violent seizure of white land in Zimbabwe and under the rather oppressive rule of President Daniel Arap Moi of Kenya, and so things would have looked a bit bleak at that time. He should go back and write one about the same communities now, although the going to Zimbabwe would be difficult. This book was a very fun read, and I would guess that it will be a primary document for the historians and sociologists of future generations. It was a very compelling read.

The most consise, clear account of what you need, and what you need to do to get ready for Africa. I loved the book. Even though it is entitled " Read this first" it is the only guide book I am taking in it's entirety , to Africa.

First off, let's set out what this book isn't. It's not an exhaustive destination guide. It's not going to tell you where to stay in Accra or what days the market is open in Abeokuta. The chapters on each country are only a couple of pages long.

That being said, there's some great information here. I particularly like the suggested iteneraries. They give you suggestions on what you can do if you have one week, two weeks, or a month in each country, with a map and brief information on sites to see and travel methods. That's the second half of the book. The first half of the book is general travel information for developing countries that's definitely required reading for first time travelers to Africa.

This book (only a few dollars used - it's out of print now) and a full-featured travel guide (Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, Bradt, etc) will be very useful in planning your trip to Africa.