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WEST AFRICA
More Books
African Predators
• M.G.L. Mills
• Gus Mills
• Martin Harvey
NATURAL HISTORY •
2001 •
HARD COVER
• 160 PAGES
A natural history of the giant cats and other predators of Africa, covering evolution, behavior and conservation, and complemented by full-color photographs.
(AFR114, $39.95) |
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Ake, the Years of Childhood
• Wole Soyinka
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •
1983 •
PAPER
• 230 PAGES
The "New York Times Book Review" called this account of growing up in Nigeria during World War II "a classic of African autobiography, indeed a classic of childhood memories." The author, a Nigerian Nobel Prize-winning playwright, recalls his Yoruba childhood, always mystified by the irrational and hypocritical adult world that surrounds him.
(WAF47, $14.95) |
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All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes
• Maya Angelou
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •
1991 •
PAPER
• 208 PAGES
Autobiographical in nature, this book draws on Angelou's experience living in Ghana in the 1960s with a group of Black Americans. Through her powerful prose, Angelou conveys the explores issues of identity and self-discovery. Angelou arrived in Ghana five years after independence during an optimistic time with Kwame Nkrumah as president.
(WAF24, $14.00) |
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Angry Wind: Through Muslim Black Africa by Truck, Bus, Boat and Camel
• Jeffrey Tayler
TRAVEL NARRATIVE •
2005 •
HARD COVER
• 256 PAGES
The eye-opening account of an American journalist's trek across the Sahel, the southern region of the Sahara Desert. On his travels through mostly Islamic Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Mali, Cameroon and Senegal, Tayler witnessed poverty, the influence of harsh regimes, and both hostility and a willingness to discuss the relationship of the United States to the Islamic world. An Arabic speaker, Tayler (Glory in a Camel's Eye) writes candidly about what he discovers in this complex part of the world.
(WAF83, $25.00) |
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Benin Map
• Institut Geographique National
MAP
A detailed road map for travelers.
(WAF165, $16.95) |
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Black Gold of the Sun, Searching for Home in Africa And Beyond
• Ekow Eshun
TRAVEL NARRATIVE •
2007 •
PAPER
• 240 PAGES
At the age of 33, Eshun -- born in London to African-born parents -- travelled to Ghana in search of his roots. The resulting narrative is both a portrait of a nation and the story of a search for home.
(WAF109, $13.95) |
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Bogolan
• Victoria Rovine
ART & ARCHITECTURE •
2008 •
PAPER
• 178 PAGES
An illustrated survey of bogolan, bogolanfini (or mudcloth) textiles, both traditional and contemporary. The making of mudcloth (as it is usually known in the United States) has experienced a revitalization in Mali in the last decades. With chapters on the rural roots, tourist and fine art markets, culture and fashion. Rovine is a curator of African Art at the University of Iowa.
(WAF62, $24.95) |
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Bradt Guide Ghana
• Philip Briggs
• Hilary Bradt
• Annabel Milne
GUIDEBOOK •
2010 •
PAPER
• 448 PAGES
A compact, practical guide to Ghana for the traveler with 50 detailed sketch maps, a few color photographs and excellent information on where to go and what to do. It includes helpful information on trip planning, health and safety, with special sections on Mole National Park, the monkeys of Baobeng, the mosques at Larabanga and the eastern highlands.
(WAF27, $26.99) |
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Bradt Guide Sierra Leone
• Katrina Manson
GUIDEBOOK •
2009 •
PAPER
• 256 PAGES
A comprehensive guide in the popular Bradt series.
(WAF133, $25.99) |
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Changes, A Love Story
• Ama Ata Aidoo
LITERATURE •
1993 •
PAPER
• 196 PAGES
A novel from the remarkable Ama Ata Aidoo. The protagonist Esi Sekyi confronts traditional values in marriage, love, careers, and family in contemporary Ghana. Esi's life is in several ways a symbol of the modern woman-- she is educated, has a career, and is financially independent from her husband-- yet she finds that her gender imposes a limit on her freedom. Aidoo creates a moving portrait of womens' lives in Africa and the problems that are all too familiar in almost every culture.
(WAF35, $15.95) |
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The Commodore
• Patrick O'Brian
LITERATURE •
1996 •
PAPER
• 282 PAGES
The 17th in the Aubrey opens with Jack Aubrey and Stephen Matuin home at last in England (the first time since vol 13). It's a relatively happy homecoming for Jack, but one fraught with domestic problems for Maturin. The climax is a tremendous battle off the coast of West Africa.
(WAF73, $13.95) |
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The Dark Child
• Camara Laye
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •
1994 •
PAPER
• 188 PAGES
Laye, Africa's foremost Francophone novelist, writes about growing up in Guinea and the dissonance between the traditions of his village and the encroaching modern world.
(WAF120, $14.00) |
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The Devil That Danced on the Water, A Daughter's Quest
• Aminatta Forna
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •
2004 •
PAPER
• 416 PAGES
In this searing memoir, Forna returns to Sierra Leone to search for the truth behind her father, a cabinet minister and political prisoner executed in 1973.
(WAF132, $14.00) |
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Eating Apes
• Dale Peterson
• Karl Ammann
• Janet K. Museveni
NATURAL HISTORY •
2004 •
PAPER
• 320 PAGES
In this powerful book, primatologist Peterson calls for a stop to the consumption of bush meat, especially chimps, bonos, and gorillas, in the forests of Central and Western Africa. These animals are both endangered and our closest relatives. With 16 disturbing color photographs.
(AFR153, $21.95) |
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The Ends of the Earth, A Journey to the Frontiers of Anarchy
• Robert D. Kaplan
TRAVEL NARRATIVE •
1997 •
PAPER
• 476 PAGES
Kaplan, a veteran foreign correspondent and wonderful writer, journeys though much of the third world in this far-ranging, insightful report on sociopolitics, the future and other big topics. Organized geographically, he hops from West Africa to the Nile, Balkans, Central Asia, China and Southeast Asia. Two large sections are devoted to Iran and the former Soviet republics of Central Asia.
(WLD26, $16.00) |
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The Famished Road
• Ben Okri
LITERATURE •
1993 •
PAPER
• 500 PAGES
The story of Azaro, a spirit-child who chooses to enter the world of the living. In this case, the living world is an African village that struggles to combat hunger, disease, violence and British rule. Winner of the 1991 Booker Prize, this book by Nigerian-born Okri focuses on human survival and the mysteries of love.
(WAF39, $16.95) |
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Forests of Gold, Essays on the Akan and the Kingdom of Asante
• Ivor Wilks
CULTURAL PORTRAIT •
1996 •
PAPER
• 405 PAGES
Through this telling collection of essays, Wilks explores the Akan peoples of Ghana and examines the Asante kingdom in particular. With sections on history, culture and important individuals.
(WAF33, $25.00) |
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The Fortunes of Wangrin
• Amadou Hampate Ba
LITERATURE •
2000 •
PAPER
• 376 PAGES
The classic 1976 story of Wangrin, a promising West African boy who leaves his tribal village only to confront the greed and corruption of the French and the colonial government.
(WAF108, $19.00) |
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Ghana Map
• ITMB
2011 •
MAP
A colorful, folded map of Ghana at a detailed scale of 1:500,000. Two Sides. 27x39 inches.
(WAF37, $12.95) |
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The Girl Who Married a Lion and Other Tales from Africa
• Alexander McCall Smith
LITERATURE •
2004 •
HARD COVER
• 192 PAGES
McCall Smith brings together a collection of often hilarious, often bizarre folktales which he heard as a child growing up in Zimbabwe. In addition to the tales from his previous collection, Children of Wax, the best-selling author includes seven new tales from Botswana. In an interesting twist on a writer's creation, the title character of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency provides an introduction.
(AFR141, $22.00) |
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God Alone Is King, Islam and Emancipation in Senegal : The Wolof Kingdoms of Kajoor and Bawol, 1859-1914
• James F. Searing
HISTORY •
2001 •
PAPER
• 336 PAGES
A case study of the effects of French colonial policy, the slave trade, and the conflicts between Islam and the aristocracy in 19th century Senegal.
(WAF117, $37.50) |
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The Heart of The Matter
• Graham Greene
LITERATURE •
2004 •
PAPER
• 255 PAGES
In Greene's masterpiece, a good man is enmeshed in love, intrigue and evil in Sierra Leone.
(WAF166, $16.00) |
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The House at Sugar Beach, In Search of a Lost African Childhood
• Helene Cooper
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •
2009 •
PAPER
• 368 PAGES
Cooper, a New York Times correspondent, traces her childhood in Liberia, the devastation of civil war and her reunion with a foster sister who had been left behind when her prominent family fled to America.
(WAF131, $15.00) |
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In Sierra Leone
• Michael Jackson
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •
2004 •
PAPER
• 232 PAGES
Poet, anthropologist and novelist, Jackson vividly evokes the " sights, sounds, smells, and feel of West Africa" in this moving account of his return to Sierra Leone in the wake of a brutal civil war. Originally conceived as a biography of his friend and colleage Sewa Bockarie (S. B.) Marah, Jackson weaves African folklore, history, and politics with the noted politician's bittersweet memories of childhood.
(WAF162, $22.95) |
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Islam's Black Slaves, The Other Black Diaspora
• Ronald Segal
HISTORY •
2002 •
PAPER
• 273 PAGES
An authoritative history of the Islamic slave trade.
(AFR209, $21.00) |
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It's a Jungle Up There, More Tales from the Treetops
• Margaret Lowman
• James Burgess
• Edward Burgess
NATURAL HISTORY •
2008 •
PAPER
• 291 PAGES
Lowman's personable account, written with her two now-grown sons James and Edward, of further adventures up in the trees (and in the kitchen, balancing career and family). It's a engaging globe-skipping chronicle that takes the tropical ecologist and her family to Samoa, West Africa, Peru, Panama, India and other great habitats around the world.
(NAT92, $30.00) |
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Ivory Coast Map
• Institut Geographique National
MAP
The product of the French geographic institute, this detailed map at a scale of 1:1,000,000 covers the roads, topography and key travel spots in detail. With latitude and longitude at one-degree intervals, relief shading and contour lines at 100 meters. This map and the legend is in French only. One Side. 39x30 inches.
(WAF121, $17.95) |
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Kwame Nkrumah, The Father of African Nationalism
• David Birmingham
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •
1998 •
PAPER
• 142 PAGES
A popular biography of the African statesman who championed for independence, won Africans the right to vote and became the president of Ghana in 1960.
(WAF34, $14.95) |
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The Last Place On Earth
• Mike Fay
• Michael Nichols
NATURAL HISTORY •
2005 •
HARD COVER
• 480 PAGES
This beautiful, two-volume boxed set documents the successful conservation efforts by nature photographer Nichols and ecologist Fay, who spent 12 years recording the wildlife and fragile ecosystems of West Africa (their efforts contributed to the establishment of 13 national parks in Gabon). Volume 1 includes their groundbreaking wildlife photography, and Volume 2 features exercepts from Fay's journal during a 2,000 mile trek in the region.
(CAF38, $150.00) |
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A Long Way Gone, Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
• Ishmael Beah
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •
2008 •
PAPER
• 229 PAGES
A human rights activist offers a firsthand account of war from the perspective of a former child soldier, detailing the violent civil war that wracked his native Sierra Leone and the government forces that transformed a gentle young boy into a killer as a member of the army.
(WAF130, $12.00) |
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Mali Map
• Gizi Map
2004 •
MAP
At a scale of 1:2,000,000, this full color map, with topography and landforms, roads and attractions, includes small insets of Timbuktu and Bamako. One Side. 27x35 inches.
(WAF43, $15.95) |
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Mango Elephants in the Sun
• Susana Herrera
TRAVEL NARRATIVE •
2000 •
PAPER
• 270 PAGES
Teens will especially respond to this lively tale of the transformation of a 23-year-old Californian from bumbling volunteer to a member of the community in this tale of Herrera's two years teaching English in northern Cameroon.
(WAF20, $22.95) |
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Nigeria Map
• ITMB
MAP
A shaded relief map of Nigeria at 1:600,000. One Side. 27x39 inches.
(AFR39, $11.95) |
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No Longer at Ease
• Chinua Achebe
LITERATURE •
1994 •
PAPER
• 208 PAGES
The story of an Ibo boy who leaves his village for a British education and then finds himself involved with the corrupt Nigerian ruling elite he despises. Originally published in 1960, this is Achebe's sequel to Things Fall Apart (WAF56).
(WAF107, $13.00) |
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Onions are My Husband, Survival and Accumulation by West African Market Women
• Gracia Clark
CULTURAL PORTRAIT •
1994 •
PAPER
• 488 PAGES
A vivid ethnographic portrait of the women of the enormous open-air Kumasi Central Market in Ghana based on interviews and fieldwork by University of Indiana anthropologist Gracia Clark.
(WAF28, $42.50) |
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Palace Sculptures of Abomey, History Told on Walls
• Francesca Pique
• Leslie Rainer
ART & ARCHITECTURE •
2000 •
PAPER
• 120 PAGES
This illustrated survey of the palace sculptures at Abomey combines color photographs of the bas-reliefs, archival drawings and period art with a with a lively history of the Dahomey kingdom. With 120 color and 17 black-and-white photographs. The authors are conservation specialists.
(WAF77, $29.95) |
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The Peopling of Africa, A Geographic Interpretation
• James L. Newman
CULTURAL PORTRAIT •
1997 •
PAPER
• 252 PAGES
An anthropological study of Africa, which considers, among other factors, genetics, religion, language and technology. With 50 maps.
(AFR140, $26.00) |
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Political Islam in West Africa, State-Society Relations Transformed
• Will Miles
RELIGION •
2007 •
HARD COVER
• 221 PAGES
Geared for university students, this book about the transformation of Islam includes essays on Nigeria, Mali, Mauritania, The Gambia and Senegal.
(WAF159, $52.50) |
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The Scramble for Africa
• Thomas Pakenham
HISTORY •
1992 •
PAPER
• 738 PAGES
Absorbing and meticulously researched, this in-depth history of the Victorian land grab in Africa includes excellent portraits of the egomaniacal personalities who overran the continent.
(AFR26, $23.99) |
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The Seasons of Beento Blackbird
• Akosua Busia
LITERATURE •
1998 •
PAPER
• 367 PAGES
A provocative novel dissecting the issues of marriage and African identity, featuring a cast of finely drawn characters. It's the story of Solomon Wilberforce, a successful and loveable children's book author who writes under the pseudonym of Beento Blackbird. Solomon also happens to be polygamous; he spends his winters in the Caribbean with his first wife, and summers in Ghana with his second wife. Everything's fine until he's forced to de-compartmentalize his life.
(WAF42, $24.95) |
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Senegal and The Gambia Map
• ITMB
2011 •
MAP
A colorful map of Senegal and The Gambia, at a scale of 1:800,000. One Side. 27x36 inches.
(WAF69, $12.95) |
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Still Waters in Niger
• Kathleen Hill
LITERATURE •
2002 •
PAPER
• 216 PAGES
An atmospheric novel set in America and Niger. After living for in the United States for 17 years, an Irish-American woman returns to a small village in Niger where she had once lived with her husband and three daughters.
(WAF53, $15.95) |
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The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi
• Arthur Japin
• Ina Rilke
LITERATURE •
2002 •
PAPER
• 384 PAGES
An acclaimed debut novel by a young Dutch writer, concerning the tragic fortunes of two Dutch-educated West African princes circa 1830, whose schooling renders them neither Dutch nor Ashanti.
(NTH45, $16.00) |
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West Africa, An Introduction to Its History, Civilization and Contemporary Situation
• Eugene L. Mendonsa
HISTORY •
2002 •
PAPER
• 660 PAGES
A wide-ranging academic survey. Divided into three main parts: "The Setting and Social Organization," "The History of West Africa," and "The Modern Era," the main objective of this textbook is to teach students about the depth of African civilization and how its principles can be used to address modern-day problems in West Africa. Mendonsa expresses the opinion that in order to solve current problems plaguing the region, a knowledge of history, African culture, and ancient African beliefs is crucial.
(WAF168, $50.00) |
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Whiteman
• Tony D'Souza
LITERATURE •
2007 •
PAPER
• 279 PAGES
Refusing to leave his violence-charged post in an African Muslim village after his funding is cut off, maverick American relief worker Jack Diaz, at the side of his village guardian, Mamadou, gains insights into the region's hunting, farming, culture, and struggles with AIDS
(WAF129, $13.00) |
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Yolele! Recipes from the Heart of Senegal
• Pierre Thiam
FOOD •
2008 •
HARD COVER
• 190 PAGES
This collection of 75 recipes by the Senegelese chef and owner of Yolele and Grand Dakar in Brooklyn warmly captures the flavors, colors and culinary culture of his native country.
(WAF141, $21.95) |
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