Africa Books

This account of the South African healers is as accurate as you can get! Susan was "chosen" by the traditional healers to share their story with the world and she has done an incredible job. Her interviews and personal stories of Africa make the reader feel like they are in Africa experiencing the adventures with Susan.

The African healers are gifted shamans who serve both rural and city people, working in partnership with Western-trained doctors. I trained with PH Mntshali in Swaziland and met Maseko and others. They all speak highly of Susan and are very proud her. This is a must read!

This book was like taking a trip into Africa and meeting people along the way who although from a compeletly different world than me taught me the amazing truths of my own ancestry.

If you're fortunate enough to read this book, you'll begin to know the author. Her writing style is easy to read because it is so much like her. I read this book in it's first printing from South Africa some years after visiting the author and her family. I was able to visit a healer featured in this book and have a greater appreciation for a healer's art now that I understand more of their journey.

If ever you wondered what the life of a traditional healer REALLY is like, this book will surely give you a looking-glass to see through. The author has an impecible ability to "draw" the reader into learning about sacred ceremonies and traditional healing practices that few westerners would ever have a remote idea of, let alone the close and up-front personal encounters that are made available through these pages. Containing about a dozen or so personal stories of highly gifted healers who were "plucked" out of ordinary lives and pushed by the forces that guided them into being traditional healers, this book presents the reader with incredible real-life stories of being "called to heal."

Definately a one-sitting read, this book has a spirit of its own and truly cannot be put down once it is picked up. The author has an almost hypnotic ability to keep you reading through her highly entertaining story-telling style that makes you feel as though you're sitting 'round the campfire listening to old stories, wishing for "just one more." Not only are the healers' stories sometimes astonishing, but the amazing tale of how this author came to obtain these stories, plus the incredibly realistic view into the world of traditional African healing, is truly worth the read. In the end, one is left to ponder the gifts Africa has been holding for the rest of the world, as ancient tradition is brought to life through this modern glimpse into long held beliefs and practices.

Being a person myself who went through a drastic life change to answer a call right here in modern American life, the stories of these healers gave me an incredible reassurance that my path was not farfetched, while also revealing to me a deep inner connection to a world little known, and far away in Africa. This book was a confirmation that told me, answering a calling is an ancient practice that our souls have known long before the modern world existed.

Not only will this book change you, but surely it will effect the way you see "the call" in your own life. It is a must read, for sure!

this 56 page book is filled with lots of info. it is great for all ages. it is filled with great illustrated pictures by Laszlo Kubinyi. it's one of the best books i'v ever bought.

What an amazing find! We came across this book while looking for Ancient Egypt textbooks and we love it. The author has done an outstanding job and is obviously well researched. The fascination the Egyptians had with cats is very interesting and this book draws you straight into it. Highly recommended and the illustrations are the perfect accompaniment. Just lovely!

Short and Sweet are the only words that can describe this book. With beautiful color illustrations on every page, you can really begin to understand what these people and their surroundings looked like and what they believed in. Even though I rated this book 5 stars, because of the wonderful artwork and descriptive words, this book was very short. I'm in the 7th Grade, and it only took me 10 minutes to finish, so I recommend just reading it in your library or bookstore rather than buying it outright. All in all, 'Cat Mummies' was very informative, though it could have been just a bit longer.

This is a good book because it provides a different side to mummies. It has beautiful color drawings of some mummies. It can be helpful when doing a report ,or making a model of one as I did. This book also provides other sources to look at. If you are interested look in your local library or bookstore. (Great for young readers and Egypt book worms)

A stunningly beautiful and fascinating book, Cats of Africa describes the continent's lions, leopards, cheetahs, and small wild cats. The text is accompanied by numerous gorgeous drawings and paintings. The book is both informative and gripping, with excellent desriptions of the behaviours and characteristics of the animals in the wild, as well as discussions of their futures. I strongly recommend it!

This book is proliferated with Paul Bosman's art. The art includes Paul Bosman's paintings and drawings capturing the moments in the life of the cats. We see the lioness facing it's pray, a leopard resting, a family of cheetahs, a male lion walking through the bush and so on. The illustrations cover lions, leopards, cheetahs, as well as smaller wild cats. I recommend this book for any nature lover, wild cat enthusiast or a person interested in African wildlife.

A stunningly beautiful and fascinating book, Cats of Africa describes the continent's lions, leopards, cheetahs, and small wild cats. The text is accompanied by numerous gorgeous drawings and paintings. The book is both informative and gripping, with excellent desriptions of the behaviours and characteristics of the animals in the wild, as well as discussions of their futures. I strongly recommend it!

Even if there were no text in this book, I would recommend it. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful. The descriptions and information of each family of cats is also well written and overall the book is a must have.

Galvez fought with Che during the Cuban Revolution and here he takes Che's Congo diary and expands upon it to offer a comprehensive overview of a historical event whose details remained elusive for more than three decades. The story begins in 1961 when Patrice Lumumba, one of the great African leaders of independence, was assassinated at the behest of foreign and native oligarchies and with the complicity of the United Nations. Che had visited Africa as a representative of the Cuban government and realized that the winds of change sweeping away colonial governments in Africa had made that continent a flashpoint of struggle between the forces of liberation and those of exploitation. By 1963-64, Che was planning a guerilla movement in his native Argentina, but the nascent insurrection was crushed before he was able to join it. With that avenue closed off, Che looked to Africa instead. Vowing to avenge Lumumba's death, he arrived in the Congo in early 1965 with a group of Cubans intent on joining forces with those fighting against the Belgian mercenaries and their native army. Almost from the beginning Che sensed a lack of revolutionary character among many of the leaders of the opposition, as well as poor training, superstition, and lack of military bearing among the rebel army. Believing that this could be overcome through training and an awakening of revolutionary spirit among the troops, Che launched a program of instruction and leading by example that was ultimately unsuccessful, despite great effort by him and his Cuban compatriots. After several months of largely inconclusive skirmishing, Che and the Cubans withdrew at the request of a group of African independence leaders.

Perhaps the most enlightening part of the book is reading Che's self-critique along with his analysis of what was wrong with the conditions of the struggle and other things that contributed to its failure. These same elements, including Che's intense and unyielding sense of mission, would reappear in his Bolivian diary. The interviews with Che's contemporaries that served in the Congo are fascinating and historically invaluable. Anyone interested in Che Guevara or African nationalism will find this an indispensible reference.

adress:av. getulio vargas, 1351/607 - porto alegre-rs-brasil - cep; 90150-005

Filled with excerpts from Che's own Congo diary and replete with insights into the failures of the Cuban backed People's Liberation Army. A haunting look at some of the same failures that would befall Che and lead to his capture and execution in Bolivia. A great read!

A great and detailed account of Che's not so famous campaign in Africa. Well written; you can actually capture Che's philosophy and lifestyle.

slavery in Brazil! This book is very good! It backs everything up with documentation and it shows how cruel of an institution slavery was in Brazil. It also gives the reader a good idea on the scope of slavery in Brazil. 40% of the Africans transported to the new world went to Brazil. This was a country that was totally dependent on African slave labor.

Composed of myriad primary sources, Conrad prefaces each document with a description, date and summary of the following text. Organized topically and then chronologically within each section, the format perfectly suits the researcher. Interestingly, (for my purposes) the text contains numerous accounts of quilombos in Palmares, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro and others. The documents date from 1550 (approx.) through the final proclamation ending slavery in Brazil in 1888. Outstanding research tool, as well as an interesting read for those wishing to learn, first hand, about slavery in Brazil.

This book is a giant collection of primary sources collected and edited by Robert Conrad pertaining to black slavery in Brazil. We used this book in my Slaves Societies of the Americas history course and it was an invaluable asset to my research. I had learned almost nothing about slavery in Brazil prior to reading this book and it has truly showed me the horrors of the institution of slavery. Having been mostly educated on slavery in the US South, I was shocked to discover that there were vastly more slaves in Brazil and that the Brazilian slavery system lasted practically until 1890. This is a must read for those who wish to gain a better understanding of what slavery in the Americas was truly like.

this is a highly technical book with excellent historical references and obvious good research. Very educational and informative. It is very readable. A word of caution: some of the commentaries reflect US or English mindset bias, i.e. a hint of a moral superiority, unwarranted, most probably unintentional and unconsciously done, but frequently encountered in books written in the English language about other cultures, which may offend other native language speakers.

Poetry,Songs,and Other writing by over 27 authors such as
James Baldwin, Benjamin Banneker, Imamu Amiri Baaka, Arna Bontemps, Gwedolyn Brooks Margaret Danner, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B Du Bois, Boby Dylan, Mari Evans. Lorraine Hansberry, France E.W. Harper, Robert Hayden, Julia Ward Howe, Langston Hughes, Thomas Jefferson, James Weldon Johnson, Absalom Jones, Martin Luther King, Jr. Abraham Lincoln, Dudley Randall, Harry S Truman, Mark Twain, Margaret Walker, Booker T. Washingto, Phillis Wheatley, Walter Whitman and others.

Paintings, Drawings, Photographs, and other works of Art by over 30 people
a wondeful for children and adults alike.

This book presents an attractive and appealing introduction for children. It provides brief biographical notes (1-2 sentence) and many of the poems and prose are simply snippets, but it's designed to whet the appetite for something more, something it does admirably.

Have you ever tried to teach a classroom of 30 or more 8th graders of varying abilities to read and focus? Try it, and I recommend this book in your classroom, also a textbook called African American Literature (Holt, Rinehart, & Winston), lyrics to new popular songs and golden oldies... etc.

Back to the book, VERY much fun. Has poetry by Langston Huges, Gwendolyn Brooks, etc. A plethora of unique artwork! Interesting biographical notes in the back of the famous African Americans referred to in the book such as James Baldwin, Lucille Clifton, and Jimi Hendrix.

"This is the most important book of the decade." Around Town, WETA-TV, Washington, D

I thought this book was absoutely fantastic! I loved this book because it tells the story of the queen's life in her own perspective. I also like this book because it tells a lot about Cleopatra.You see, I love ancient Egypt,and Cleopatra is my favorite Egyptian ruler. I love learning more and more about Cleopatra and ancient Egypt. This was possibly the best way I could do that. This is also preparing me for a career I want to do when I grow up. I want to be an Egyptologist. This was a great book.

Cleopatra, a historical fiction book written by Polly Schoyer Brooks tells the story of how the beautiful, Egyptian queen Cleopatra used her elegance to pursue two powerful Roman leaders into helping her regain lost land and conquer more land for her Egyptian kingdom.

When I started reading this book I thought it would be more factual than was my liking. As the book went on it grew more and more exciting until at times I could not put it down. I enjoyed reading about Julius Caesar�s relationship with Cleopatra. It was depressing though when Caesar was stabbed by some of his own subjects. After Caesar�s death Cleopatra was greatly depressed until Mark Antony, one of Caesar�s friends, came to her. She fell in love with him and they ruled Rome and Egypt together.

One of the most interesting parts was went Cleopatra and Mark Antony, Cleopatra�s other powerful husband, were in battle against Octavius and his fleet. While some of their ships were on fire they secretly escaped on Cleopatra�s royal barge and fled back to Alexandria.

The book got boring when Antony was off at battle and there was nothing for Cleopatra to do. It picked up pace though when Antony stabbed himself because Octavius had taken all his army. When Cleopatra heard that her beloved had killed himself she planned her own death. But did she follow out with this plan or did she meet another powerful Roman lover. You will have to read the book to find out.

This book is great for young or old to read. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about history but thinks those text books lack action and are way to boring.

I am in middle school, and I was doing a report on Cleopatra and this was the most helpful book that I found, and not only was it imformative, but it was fun to read. So, not only was this one of the most imformative books I have read, but it is also a good book. I loved this book and would reccommand it to any one at all.

If I don't like a book than I just don't like it. I won't read it and no one can make me. With a book I like you can't get it away from me. I don't know how many times I've been up to 2:00 am reading under the covers. With this book I was up till 4:00 am reading under the covers because I couldn't wait to turn the page and see what was going to happen next. This book takes a woman who knew what she wanted and how to get it. It tells you with wonderful adjectives how she got those ambitions fufilled and what happened after that. It takes a historical event and puts it in one of the lines in the story. So please take my avice and read about the goddess of Egypt and the enemy of Rome.

If I had to pick the man who had the most interesting life on this planet, Jean-Pierre Hallet would be at the top of my list. As a field agent for the government of the Belgian Congo, he comes to help them grow crops and gets deeply involved in African society. The things he does are amazing-and it's all true.
At different times he:
lives amongst the field pygmies, (he wrote another book just about that)
loses his hand in an explosion, then swims from crocodiles,
kills a leopard with a knife,
starts an animal hospital,
witnesses a revolution,
goes through the Masai manhood ritual, killing a charging lion with a spear.
Those are just the highlights. A big man with a bushy beard and a mechanical hand , he was making the rounds of talk shows when I was a teen ager.

I had the pleasure of knowing Jean Pierre in his shop in Santa Monica in the 90s. I heard his stories about being captured by Zairean rebels, being rescued by Zairean troops, and some of the stories "behind" Congo Kitabu. This is one of the most amazing men that has ever lived. I read Congo Kitabu for the first time in the 80s, and Jean-Pierre's efforts to save the Efe Pygmies of the Ituri forest in his later life equals that of Congo Kitabu. This book is only part 1 of one of the most amazing lives of our century. There is more to his story, and that of the Efe Pygmies, that has yet to be told.

This is one of the hidden gems of our time. It is a wonder that it has not been reprinted.

I first read Congo Kitabu in the 60's while in high school and was in awe of this true-life adventure. I nearly got to meet the author but couldn't get a ride to where he was speaking. This is one of those books everyone ought to read, because it is a page-turner, but also because it talks about a troubled area of the planet. This should be read with Out of America by Keith Richberg, a more current view of Africa. This is one of those books you'll never forget--it'll make a lasting impression and you'll want to read it again.

I had just seen Matrix Revolution, which seemed to me a mythical heroic saga, and, unable to sleep, searched my bookshelves for something to read. Little did I know as I began to read Congo Kitabu that I was entering a real-life heroic saga.

Congo Kitabu is the story of Jean-Pierre Hallet's life in Africa between 1948 and 1960. To tell the details of those years would be to spoil a breath-taking story, so I will simply talk about Jean-Pierre.

This is a man who takes his life as it comes, with humor and a kind of courage few of us know. He becomes part of all he experiences, he cares, he's a practical visionary who sees the possibilities in people and situations and creates ways to bring those possibilities about. He's also a pragmatic realist who never seems to sucuumb to sadness or despair, despite circumstances whcih would make that a great temptation, but deals directly with whatever he faces.

His adventures, seeing the Africa of his day through his eyes, makes the book a great read. His heroics, both the everyday kind and the extraordinary kind, expand my understanding of what it is to be human.

In an interview Mr. Hallet says he never courted danger for its own sake, but... "it's simply that I refuse to have anything to do with that negative feeling called fear." Conga Kitabu is a great read simply as a story, as the reader scrambles along with Hallet during his numerous and fascinating adventures. It's also the heroic tale of a man who rose above fear again and again as he followed his heart, his passion, his vision. As such it expands its reader into new territory, calling him or her to do likewise.

... all these are present in this fine study. I am especially impressed with the criticisms that Igoe mounts about "fortress conservation," and it brings to mind the debates over exclusionary conservation versus "wise use" in the U.S., following John Muir, Gary Snyder, and others. The historical threads to late 19th-century U.S. preservation and the English enclosure movements are valuable, and they echo in works by Vandana Shiva and other critics of multinational corporatization.

Recently I was asked to sit for a short interview on camera related to immigration issues and policy in central Iowa. The camera, from a local TV station, was shut down by a hotel manager because of "private property." This enclosure of politics - its conduct on private turf instead of in public forums and spaces - is very parallel to the privatization of lands and the management of parks that Igoe describes in East Africa. These are only some of the consequences that capitalist privatization bring to us: the end to meaningful public debate, the dislocation of otherwise grounded and vested local communities, and so on.

I highly recommend this book for courses in environmental science, land and resource management, globalization, and, of course, any of a number of related specializations in sociocultural anthropology. It would be a good book for introductory courses as well.

From the first page of his introduction, Jim Igoe's assertiveness in presenting his work on why and how community-based conservation is failing in parts of Tanzania as well as in the United States hits readers hard, sparking their interest in these issues. Over the last decade the term conservation has reached a fluid state in which it presents the world with a new obstacle of maintaining a balance between humans and the environment, which will ideally promote reciprocal productivity in a sustainable measure. Igoe's account of the state of conservation surrounding National Parks in both the United States and Northern Tanzania is unique. Not only was he able to portray his experiences in a manner in which a western reader can relate to, but he was also able to maintain an outside perspective while becoming immersed in a new culture. In affect, Igoe was able to make correlations between two indigenous cultures who are experiencing similar struggles as they have been pushed off their land in the interest of national conservation. Additionally, he critically assesses the current approaches, which are being used to address the issue of conflict between indigenous people, political leaders and environmental conservationists.
I found two dominant strengths in this literature, the first of which is his use of diverse cultural examples. As an undergraduate student with a strong interest in this topic as well as some previous knowledge concerning the issues presented, I found Igoe's narrative style refreshing as well as engaging. Readers are able to get a direct insight into the Maasai culture and a clear historical account of the implications of colonialism and religion. Additionally, Igoe presents the progression of the development of national parks and what resulted in western fortress conservation in Tanzania. Together this information provides a solid background allowing readers who are both educated and new to these topics to gain a better understanding of how the current state of conservation arose. Secondly, his combination of information creates a piece of literature that addresses critical global issues, which can be applied to a wide variety of disciplines. Alone this speaks highly for the books adaptability in various classrooms as well as a reference for professionals in various fields. Furthermore, it supports the fact that in order for new forms of conservation to be successful it is necessary to bring together experts in various social, political, and scientific disciplines.

The social consequences that conservation brings to indigenous people has often been ignored by those trying to protect natural resources and wildlife. Jim Igoe explains and displays what happens and has happened to the people who live outside the famous national parks many of us know and cherish around the world. He presents case studies of how people who live outside the parks have suffered all over the globe. He describes this situation with passion and personal examples, as he lived with many of the people he describes. His work has given him a unique perspective, as he did not travel or live like the typical tourist who wants to view the native flora and fauna that has been protected.

The book's primary focus is East Africa, but Jim includes a substantial amount of material from other regions and cultures. His strength, in this text, is his ability to look at conservation through a global lens, but with a native's perspective. His knack for engaging people at all levels shows in this book. Jim's writing is easy to follow, crystal clear, and relates his first hand experiences and examples in a way that quickly give his work broad appeal. He brings to life the reality of indigenous people struggling to adapt to globalization and the pressure on natural resource base they have relied on for centuries.

This book has appeal at many levels. For high school and undergraduate students it offers an interesting examples of how important anthropology is to understanding the human issues of many global problems. His personal examples and ideas offer discussion points, which once read will not be forgotten. For graduate students Jim offers many ideas on how his own work with NGO's (Non government organizations) got started, progressed, and changed his life. The importance of understanding land tenure, community control, the role of NGO's and different types of parks, as well as the capacity of the local people are all shown to clearly impact both conservation and local people. For conservationists, researchers, and the general public this book offers a unique perspective and voice of the people who have been displaced, lost their livelihoods, and in a few cases successfully adapted to this change.

Globalization has affected us all, and in many cases has had negative consequences for indigenous people. Jim clearly shows that there are much larger forces at work than simply protecting interests of the wildlife and wild areas. Exploring policies of the National Park Service in the United States, as well as policies of other countries, he weaves together the similarities and clearly points out the different ways in which natural resources are managed. In addition to offering an important critique of failed policies, Jim Igoe offers alternative solutions necessary for both the environment and social justice, while providing lessons in history, land tenure and policy making from all over the globe. I recommend this book to all of my students traveling abroad to work with indigenous people.

Good authorship requires two things - a story to tell and good way of communicating it. Jim Igoe has both in buckets. Conservation and Globalisation is a clear and challenging story of how conservation practices can disrupt local lives and how apparently straightforward solutions to the problems resulting are riven with complexity and difficulty.

The book is based primarily on fieldwork in East Africa and Prof Igoe's enlivens his account of the problems of understanding the worlds he encountered there with a down to earth uncomplicated style that takes the reader right out to the towns and plains where the work was conducted. This is a must-read for any student contemplating ethnographic or anthropological fieldwork. But its scope is far more than merely East Africa. Prof Igoe's pen takes us to England before the Industrial Revolution and to the latest developments in National Parks in the US, Australia, Nepal, Brazil and Panama. He quite clearly shows how the problems of conservation and civil society are global in their origins and nature and have to be understood through a multitude of sites.

One of the book's greatest strengths is its analysis of civil society, local movements and non-governmental organisations. At a time when much hope and expectation is vested in democratisation and local empowerment this work is a sanguine wake-up call to the problems that these notions bring with them. It quite clearly demonstrates how these ideas are manipulated by local actors, often with very different agendas from global organisations, and transformed by the perpetuated dysfunction typical of the institutions implementing of global development and conservation ideals.

I would, therefore, recommend this book to students, conservationists and development workers in all situations. Its language and style are accessible to all. Its questions and challenges will inform expert practitioners, university teachers and PhD students. This is an excellent book.

Peter Dalglish is a visionary...there are no two ways about it. He has seen and experienced more in his lifetime than many of us ever will, and his story is one which every young person should read.

He has touched the lives of children from war-torn North Africa to the corrupt shanty towns of Bangkok--and in each he has made a fundamental difference in those children's lives. His contribution to social development is as far-reaching as any of the great figures in international affairs that may spring to mind, except he has achieved it on a small-scale, personal level.

I believe Mr. Dalglish has touched on a point that we should all take to heart: that those of us who have been fortunate enough to have the resources we do, have an OBLIGATION to give more to the lives of these impoverished children.

I commend Mr. Dalglish and think his book a fantastic reflection of a distinguished career of service.

This book is touching and encouraging on all levels. It teaches the true meaning of many things, touching on the soul and heart. Definetly a must read.

Peter Dalgish's book is one of the fantastic I have ever read. It is an emotional and touching story, no matter how sad or heart wrenching. But it also lets us believe in freedom and truth. Read this books!

I didn't expect to enjoy this book as much as I did; I was interested to read it after hearing Peter Dalgleish speak. He is a charismatic, brilliant speaker and this book is equally riveting. A lawyer by training, Dalgleish was heading for the big salary, the luxury life. The book charts how he turned himself around and ended up using his characteristic drive and energy to help some of the world's poorest children. It will make you question the values of western society and it will make you realise that with energy and a determination, many things are indeed possible.