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READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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Books for

Enrich your travels with reading! Here's a hand-picked list prepared for your journey in conjunction with the book experts at Longitude.

Essential Reading

Item EXWAF55. Buy these 4 items as a set for $70 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

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Bradt Guide Mali

Bradt Guide Mali

by Ross Velton

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 304 PAGES

This third edition of this excellent, travel-savvy guide covers the history, culture and attractions of Mali including its music and festivals. (WAF16, $27.99)

The Race for Timbuktu

The Race for Timbuktu

by Frank T. Kryza

  • HISTORY
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 322 PAGES

An engrossing account of imperial adventures in early 19th-century West Africa and the quest for fabled Timbuktu. (WAF88, $14.95)

Segu

Segu

by Maryse Conde | Barbara Bray

  • LITERATURE
  • 1996
  • PAPER
  • 493 PAGES

An epic novel set in the West African kingdom of Bambara (old Mali) in 1797, exhaustive in its detail and thoroughly addictive. Conde transforms actual historical events into a full-blooded, lively tale. (WAF17, $17.00)

Mali Map

Mali Map

by Gizi Map

  • 2004
  • MAP

A fold-up map shown at a scale of 1:2,000,000. (WAF43, $14.95)

 
Africa, A Biography of the Continent

Africa, A Biography of the Continent


by John Reader

  • HISTORY
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 816 PAGES

With the ease of a practiced journalist, Reader weaves a masterful and lively tale of the continent, from ancient cultures to modern times. Both authoritative and informal, this is a splendid introduction to all of Africa. (AFR49, $20.00)

Dogon, Africa's People of the Cliffs

Dogon, Africa's People of the Cliffs


by Stephanie Hollyman

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2001
  • HARD COVER
  • 192 PAGES
  • OUT OF PRINT

Hollyman's 125 intimate photographs capture the essence of the tightly knit, cooperative society of the Dogon of Mali, their traditional ways of life and distinctive architecture. (WAF46, $49.50)

Monique and the Mango Rains, Two Years with a Midwife in Mali

Monique and the Mango Rains, Two Years with a Midwife in Mali


by Kris Holloway

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 212 PAGES

Holloway weaves the powerful story of a young midwife and her own coming-of-age with an open-eyed, frank account of village life in Mali. (WAF134, $24.95)

Salt, A World History


by Mark Kurlansky

  • HISTORY
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 496 PAGES

A digressive history of the world told through a grain of salt. Kurlansky follows the precious commodity through revolution, trade and kitchens. (GEN265, $17.00)

The Masons of Djenne

The Masons of Djenne


by Trevor Marchand

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 376 PAGES

An ethnography and celebration of the mud-brick architecture, monumental mosque, and merchant-traders' mansions of Djenne, a distinctive settlement on the Bani River. (WAF136, $29.95)

West Africa Before the Colonial Era, A History to 1850

West Africa Before the Colonial Era, A History to 1850


by Basil Davidson

  • HISTORY
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 257 PAGES

Davidson puts the stories of peoples and empires into context in this lively, scholarly history. With maps, illustrations and a timeline. (WAF07, $68.40)

Bogolan

Bogolan


by Victoria Rovine

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 178 PAGES

A beautifully illustrated survey of the transformation of bogolanfini (mudcloth) textiles in Mali from its traditional rural roots to contemporary symbol. With 24 color and 33 black-and-white photographs and maps. (WAF62, $24.95)

Exploration of Africa, From Cairo to the Cape

Exploration of Africa, From Cairo to the Cape


by Ann Hugon

  • EXPLORATION
  • 1993
  • PAPER
  • 173 PAGES
  • OUT OF PRINT

This jewel of a book chronicles the 19th-century exploration of Africa with hundreds of contemporary paintings and prints, brief chapters on the expeditions, and a very useful chronology. Livingstone, Burton and others are featured in a series of journal excerpts. (AFR03, $15.95)

Mande Music, Traditional and Modern Music of the Maninka and Mandinka of Western Africa


by Eric Charry

  • MUSIC
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 500 PAGES

An in-depth examination of the rich musical traditions of Mali, Guinea, Senegal, and the Gambia, from the 13th century to the present day. (WAF102, $37.50)

The Hidden Treasures of Timbuktu, Rediscovering Africa's Literary Culture

The Hidden Treasures of Timbuktu, Rediscovering Africa's Literary Culture


by Joseph Hunwick | John O. Hunwick

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2008
  • HARD COVER
  • 178 PAGES

Hunwick's evocative photographs capture not just the astonishing beauty of exquisite manuscripts at the heat of this book but also the faded majesty of the city and the dignity and warmth of its inhabitants. The manuscripts themselves reveal much about ordinary life. (WAF137, $50.00)

Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa

Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa


by Mungo Park

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 272 PAGES

Park chronicles the culture, society and nature of West Africa before the colonial period in this classic account of a 24-year-old Scotsman exploring, often alone, in uncharted Africa. First published in 1799. (WAF40, $12.95)

French Lessons in Africa, Travels with My Briefcase Through French Africa

French Lessons in Africa, Travels with My Briefcase Through French Africa


by Peter Biddlecombe

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 434 PAGES
  • OUT OF PRINT

A scandalously entertaining and useful introduction to Francophone Africa by the hilarious British writer and inveterate traveler. Organized geographically, he devotes a chapter each to Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo and Zaire. (WAF68, $17.95)

Sahara Unveiled, A Journey across the Desert

Sahara Unveiled, A Journey across the Desert


by William Langewiesche

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 302 PAGES

Traveling across the Sahara from Algiers to Dakar, Langeweische has written an uncommonly good memoir of the desert, with meditations on its history, inhabitants and allure. (NAF05, $16.00)

Sundiata, An Epic of Old Mali

Sundiata, An Epic of Old Mali


by D.T. Niane

  • LITERATURE
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 96 PAGES

A splendid introduction to Mali's venerable oral traditions. Since the 13th century, Malian griots have told the story of Sundiata, the lion king, who first wrested his throne from a sorcerer, then united West Africa. (WAF48, $18.40)

West African Folktales

West African Folktales


by Jack Berry | Richard Spears

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 1991
  • PAPER
  • 229 PAGES

These 123 unembellished tales reflect the rich oral tradition of cultures throughout West Africa, particularly Ghana and Nigeria, where the pioneering Berry did much of his field work. (WAF13, $21.00)

Camel

Camel


by Robert Irwin

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 224 PAGES

Irwin traces the camel from its origins to its role in the development of Arabic society to the present -- including the plight of camel herders in Darfur and its endangered status in Mongolia and China -- in this illustrated, informed survey of the camel and its role in society and history. (BST149, $19.95)

Sahara, The Extraordinary History of the World's Largest Desert

Sahara, The Extraordinary History of the World's Largest Desert


by Sheila Hirtle | Marq de Villiers

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 326 PAGES
  • OUT OF PRINT

A chronicle of the geography, history and nature of the Sahara. The authors combine travelogue, science and archaeology in this informative report. (NAF13, $14.00)

Birds of Western and Central Africa, Princeton Illustrated Checklist

Birds of Western and Central Africa, Princeton Illustrated Checklist


by Ber Van Perlo

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 384 PAGES

An admirably compact, comprehensive guide to 1,500 species throughout Western and Central Africa featuring 109 color plates. (WAF02, $30.95)

National Audubon Society Field Guide to African Wildlife

National Audubon Society Field Guide to African Wildlife


by Bunny McBride | Duane Schlitter | Richard Estes | Peter Alden

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 1995
  • PAPER
  • 988 PAGES

This comprehensive photo guide covers 850 birds, mammals and reptiles of Africa. With range maps and a good country-by-country overview of habitats and parks. (AFR25, $24.95)

More Recommendations

Here are some other groups of books that might be of interest

Longitude provides recommended reading for travelers in partnership with the leading tour operators and travel programs for hundreds of destinations worldwide. We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.