Africa Books

Law for the Elephant is an incredibly well researched work that deserves much attention. If the myth of the lawless trail riders perpetuated by pulp fiction scribes yet infiltrated the ranks of professional historians up until the publication of this work, this book was their death knell.
Reid methodically debunks one of the most commonly misunderstood aspects of mid nineteenth century life on the Overland trail. His exhaustive use of primary sources and his meticulous notes must brand this book as the definitive work on the subject of property and social behavior on the overland trail from a legal perspective. The weight of evidence regarding the relative lawfulness of the travelers is such that, as presented, nearly half way through the reader is inexorably swayed to its veracity. Reid presents not a modicum or even generous amount of proof, but a crush of evidence. The fact that he was only able to locate three specific journal entries of lawlessness regarding property, while it does not suggest there was not more, is significantly persuasive. The fact that he is able to logically illustrate that these cases of lawlessness may be shown as examples of how legal theory and values were imbued within the lawbreakers, is doubly clever.
Although not a scintillating read, Reid displays a certain deftness for keeping the readers attention through what could have been far drier material in the hands of one not so gifted with the pen. His assemblage of innumerable primary sources is a praiseworthy accomplishment. Quotes from primary sources are woven consistently and seemingly effortlessly throughout the text, creating a patchwork of storytelling by case study.
This is not to say, however, that this is an entertaining read for laity or even the armchair historian. Reid occasionally slips into legalese that may momentarily obfuscate the read for even the professional historian, but a standard or legal dictionary remedies this. Also, Reid believes the average American on the trail possessed a greater knowledge of the law then than previously thought. Although this may be the case, some of what Reid chalks up to proof of extensive legal knowledge seems no more than ordinary common sense on behalf of the traveler. In a broader sense, to be fair, Reid does not delve deeply into criminality other than in regard to property. But, conventional wisdom suggests that the two are closely linked and thus, Reid obliquely strengthens his argument by this subtle correlation. These few minor criticisms notwithstanding, as a work of legal historical scholarship, Law for the Elephant is nearly flawless and is a significant contribution to the historiography of the overland trail.

The Overland Trail that spread to the gold fields of California and Oregon was a trying ordeal; it tested the will and endurance of the American character. The experience of the trail not only shaped America geographically, but socially, politically, and economically as well. The trail also shaped another American institution: law. Law and the Overland Trail is a topic that deserves greater study to determine charaterisitcs of the overland trail and the development of law in America. Law during antebellum America focused on capital speculation and corporate structure, and a bed of safe property law allowed corporate proliferation to occur. Reid examines inherent social and legal developments of the Overland Trail with great detail by examining a plethora of sources. He examines diaries, papers and other records for inferences to legal conduct. Reid explores the use of property law on the Overland Trail. He concludes that property law was something that was inherent to Americans in general, and not something forced upon them by corporate America (p. 335). The trail is unique in American legal history, because it shows how Americans administered law in a lawless land. Reid starts the book with general assumptions about the trail, emigrants and jurisprudence. He notes that the emigrant is a typical American: man women, child, old Young, ethnic, educated and uneducated. This mass of humanity seeking a new existence, in a place presented as a paradise, was not a lawless immoral group as legend, and some scholarship dictates. In assuming so, Reid states that, "Easily overlooked is the possibility that law could be the common denominator, explaining both the definitions people shared and the conduct they followed" (p. 10). Reid examines a common thread: property rights. The remainder of the book examines the interrelationships, uses, and behaviors associated with property and property rights. He notes that the creation, operation, and dissolution of joint stock ventures operated with a high degree of jurisprudence. An interesting aspect explored is the concept of ownership. Except for natural resources such as water, property was an abstract concept. Emigrants abandoned property as the hardships of the trial demanded, to avoid liabilities associated with traveling weight. Emigrants obtained supplies by barter, or by acquiring discarded property (p. 293). Reid notes that the transfer and handling of property, whether by and individual, or partnership was peaceful, and rarely was violence employed as a means of resolution (p. 341-54). Reid concludes by stating, "Instead, they respected the rights of property owners much as if still back east in the midst of plenty. By respect for their neighbor, and their neighbors property, they were, more than not, adhering to a morality of law" (p. 364). Law for the Elephant is an excellent macro interpretation of property, legal, and social relations of California gold rush emigrants. Another advantage the work provides us is an understanding of why current views of property came to be. The research is well covered, and the readability of the book is excellent. The book not only provides generalizations about law and the Overland Trail, but gives insight into how emigrants acted at the micro level as well.

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.

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.

Organized in 3 sections: habitats, parks, animals. The sections are well organized, easy to find what you want and easily cross-referenced. Helped us tremendously in planning where we wanted to go and what we wanted to see in East Africa. Wonderful pictures, too.

I recently took a wonderful trip to Africa and went on several game drives. We saw so many new animals that I didn't know existed. Two of my friends, also on the trip, had your book. This book explained about the animals and had such great pictures that were such a help in distinguishing the animals. I liked the small area map that tells where the animal is found. The organization of the book is so helpful and easy to find what you are looking for. I have read it over and over again and used it as a reference for my presentations.

Worst place I ever went to was Heaven Lodge in Chimanimana. Abysmal experience - how on earth can you recoment it. fantastically impressed with the bushwalking company. Give them a plug, they deserve it. Chimanimani Bushwalking Co. The only reason to go there

Swaney's guide to Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Namibia is the best on the bookstore shelf. The level of detail is superb, from major cities to rural villages. She should consider herself more a regional geographer, as her detail concerning things like history, climate, people, and place are akin to that of one! All this and she manages to fit in the best deals on lodging, food, and travel sites, not to mention important info concerning safety and hazards associated with travel. I used this book extensively during my travels throughout last year, when I lived in Windhoek. Indeed, you can find no better than this- and the information is as good or better than what the locals give! I once had the opportunity to meet her at a hostel in Windhoek, when I was doing some academic research there, and never had the chance to tell her how much I praise this guide!