The Adventures of Ibn Battuta, A Muslim Traveler of the 14th Century
• Ross E. Dunn
TRAVEL NARRATIVE •
2004 •
PAPER
• 359 PAGES
A modern historian's account of Ibn Battuta's travels in the medieval Islamic world. When Battuta left his native Morocco in 1325, he intended a pilgrimage to Mecca; however his travels ultimately took him as far as Mali in the west and Malaysia in the east, stopping in China, the Middle East, and much of Africa along the way. With Battuta's peregrinations as a framework, Dunn embarks on a scholarly exploration of the medieval Muslim world. He includes lengthy excerpts from Battuta's writing (Battuta's own account is also currently in print, Item AFR106) . With excellent maps.
(AFR103, $25.95) |
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Africa
• Phyllis Martin
• Patrick O'Meara
CULTURAL PORTRAIT •
1995 •
PAPER
• 400 PAGES
African history and prehistory, popular culture, art and economics with dozens of maps, photographs and drawings. We especially liked the chapter on the contemporary map of Africa. It's all here. Pick and choose those areas that interest you. It's the most popular introductory text for undergraduate African studies courses in North America -- refreshingly free of cant and completely revised in 1995 to reflect changes in African politics.
(AFR07, $26.00) |
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Africa
• Michael Lewis
• John Reader
CULTURAL PORTRAIT •
2001 •
HARD COVER
• 320 PAGES
• COMING IN
An informative survey of the geography, culture and wildlife of Africa featuring 175 color photographs and accompanying text by John Reader (Africa: A Biography of the Continent). Organized geographically, it's the companion volume to an eight-hour television series by PBS and National Geographic.
(AFR111, $50.00) |
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Africa North and West Map
• Michelin
2011 •
MAP
A fine map of the north and parts of western Africa, covering Senegal, The Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Mauritania and their neighbors as well as all the Mediterranean-bordering countries (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya) at a scale of 1:4,000,000. One Side. 40x57 inches.
(AFR34, $11.95) |
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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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African Rock Art, Paintings and Engravings On Stone
• David Coulson
• Alec Campbell
ART & ARCHITECTURE •
2001 •
HARD COVER
• 256 PAGES
• COMING IN
This beautifully illustrated overview, which ranges all over the continent, includes a section on Libya's rock art. With 200 color photos and 178 black-and-white drawings. The author is founder and first director of the National Museum and Art Gallery of Botswana.
(AFR136, $60.00) |
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African Silences
• Peter Matthiessen
TRAVEL NARRATIVE •
1992 •
PAPER
• 225 PAGES
In this narrative of Equatorial Africa, Matthiessen recounts several trips to The Gambia, Senegal, Zaire and the Congo Basin in search of rhinos, elephants and other endangered wildlife.
(WAF36, $13.00) |
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African Vodun: Art, Psychology and Power
• Susanne Preston Blier
ART & ARCHITECTURE •
1995 •
PAPER
• 476 PAGES
A detailed study of West African vodun traditions, particularly in Togo and Benin. Blier compares the psychological and visual elements of Vodun with related voodoo traditions of Haiti and New Orleans.
(WAF74, $52.50) |
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African Wildlife
• James Kavanaugh
FIELD GUIDE •
1999 •
PLASTIC CARD
A laminated foldout guide illustrating almost 150 species of African animals. This pocket guide is designed for quick reference in the field.
(AFR109, $5.95) |
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The Africans
• David Lamb
CULTURAL PORTRAIT •
1987 •
PAPER
• 371 PAGES
In these 17 well written essays, news correspondent Lamb ranges throughout Africa, creating an insightful portrait of the land and especially its people. This now-classic book is a wide-ranging political and social survey of the continent, banned in a number of countries -- and as interesting today as when it was first published in 1984.
(AFR22, $19.95) |
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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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Ancient Middle Niger, Urbanism and the Self-Organizing Landscape
• Roderick James McIntosh
• Rita P. Wright
HISTORY •
2005 •
PAPER
• 278 PAGES
A scholarly account of the ancient cities on the Middle Niger, which developed in the first millennium B.C.
(WAF94, $51.00) |
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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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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 Mali
• Ross Velton
GUIDEBOOK •
2009 •
PAPER
• 304 PAGES
This third edition covers the history, culture and attractions of Mali, including its music and festivals.
(WAF16, $27.99) |
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Bradt Guide Nigeria
• Lizzie Williams
GUIDEBOOK •
2008 •
PAPER
• 342 PAGES
A detailed overview of Nigeria, its history, wildlife, culture and major attractions in the series by Bradt. Geared for the independent traveler, it includes maps, town plans, and lots of practical travel information.
(WAF84, $29.99) |
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Bradt Guide Sudan
• Paul Clammer
GUIDEBOOK •
2009 •
PAPER
• 288 PAGES
A practical guide in the popular Bradt series, noted for publishing travel guides to remote and little-visited destinations.
(AFR152, $25.99) |
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Call of the Desert, The Sahara
• Philippe Bourseiller
NATURAL HISTORY •
2004 •
HARD COVER
• 424 PAGES
The handsome coffee table book features color photographs of the landscapes, cultures and wildlife of the Sahara.
(NAF34, $50.00) |
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Captain Sir Richard Burton, A Biography
• Edward Rice
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •
2001 •
PAPER
• 688 PAGES
A splendid, absorbing account of the Victorian explorer, a man of oversize appetites, ambitions and intellect.
(AFR99, $27.50) |
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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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Conversations with Ogotemmeli, An Introduction to Dogon Religious Ideas
• Marcel Griaule
CULTURAL PORTRAIT •
1977 •
PAPER
• 248 PAGES
An account of the complex metaphysical beliefs and cosmology of the Dogon people of the upper Volta region. French anthropologist Griaule spent 16 years with his African hosts before they revealed their philosophy to him in these "conversations," originally published in 1948 as "Dieu d'Eau." It also contains interesting material on the drum and its symbolism.
(WAF44, $44.95) |
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The Cruelest Journey, Six Hundred Miles to Timbuktu
• Kira Salak
TRAVEL NARRATIVE •
2004 •
HARD COVER
• 320 PAGES
Adventurer Kira Salak's account of her journeys on the Niger River and her record-breaking 600-mile solo kayaking trip to Timbuktu.
(WAF75, $26.00) |
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Dancing Skeletons, Life and Death in West Africa
• Katherine Dettwyler
CULTURAL PORTRAIT •
1993 •
PAPER
• 172 PAGES
A vibrant account of life in Mali, which won the Margaret Mead Award in 1995. Dettwyler, a cultural anthropologist who lived and worked among the rural poor in Mali, is an unsentimental guide to the culture -- and field of ethnography. Not a simple report, Dettwyler considers her role in the lives of the malnourished children and families she encounters.
(WAF14, $19.95) |
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Dogon, Africa's People of the Cliffs
• Stephanie Hollyman
CULTURAL PORTRAIT •
2001 •
HARD COVER
• 192 PAGES
• COMING IN
A cultural portrait of the Dogon people of Mali. For thousands of years, despite extensive contact with Western civilization, the Dogon have maintained their old way of life, living in mud-brick houses below the Bandiagara cliffs, harvesting millet and sorghum in the sandy plains. Stephanie Hollyman's 125 intimate photographs capture the essence of this tightly knit, cooperative society.
(WAF46, $49.50) |
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Einstein and the Total Eclipse
• Peter Coles
SCIENCE •
1999 •
PAPER
• 80 PAGES
An account of the solar eclipse expedition that vindicated Einstein's theory of relativity. In May of 1919, Sir Arthur Eddington led a team to the Gulf of Guinea and Sobral, Brazil to observe the bending of starlight by the sun during the eclipse -- as predicted by Einstein's theory. The success of the experiment immediately propelled Einstein onto the front pages of newspapers around the world.
(SCI28, $7.95) |
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Empires of Sand
• David Ball
LITERATURE •
2001 •
PAPER
• 770 PAGES
A rousing tale inspired by the French attempt to build a railroad across the Sahara in 1880. It's a page-turner in the grand style, mixing up French colonial ambitions, the nomadic Tuareg and romance. The book neatly divides into two sections: growing up in Paris and confrontation in the Sahara.
(NAF33, $7.99) |
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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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A Field Guide to the Birds of The Gambia and Senegal
• Clive Barlow
• Tim Wacher
• Tony Disley
FIELD GUIDE •
2006 •
PAPER
• 400 PAGES
A guide to 660 species of birds of Senegal and the Gambia, featuring 48 color plates and short descriptions on the facing pages. With several paragraphs about each species with its description, song, habitat, status and distribution.
(WAF03, $45.00) |
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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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From Slavery to Freedom, A History of African Americans
• John Hope Franklin
HISTORY •
2000 •
HARD COVER
• 742 PAGES
A classic history of the African American experience from ancient West African civilizations to the civil rights struggles of the 20th century. First published in 1947, and now in its eighth edition, this book has set the standard for comprehensive studies of the changing roles of Africans in the United States.
(USA39, $75.00) |
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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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A Guide to the Birds of Western Africa
• Nik Borrow
• Ron Demey
FIELD GUIDE •
2001 •
HARD COVER
• 816 PAGES
A comprehensive handbook -- and guide -- to the birds of Central and Western Africa from Senegal to Chad and the Congo, featuring 142 original color plates by Nik Borrow. With 1,100 detailed, full color distribution maps.
(WAF59, $115.00) |
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Hemingway in Africa, The Last Safari
• Christopher Ondaatje
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •
2004 •
HARD COVER
• 240 PAGES
Ernest Hemingway's love of East Africa can be glimpsed in "The Green Hills of Africa" and "The Snows of Kilimanjaro"-- Christopher Ondaatje traveled to Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to retrace the steps of Hemingway's inspiration for this amply illustrated biography. Ondaatje examines Hemingway's travels with a literary attention to detail, and documents his findings with 98 color photographs, including one of the actual leopard which inspired the short story "The Snows of Kilimanjaro."
(AFR139, $37.50) |
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Historical Dictionary of Mali
• Pascal James Imperato
REFERENCE •
1996 •
HARD COVER
• 576 PAGES
A scholarly dictionary of important people, places and events in Malian history. With a chronology, six regional maps and detailed entries, it's an expensive but comprehensive academic reference for Mali.
(WAF49, $100.00) |
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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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Leo Africanus
• Amin Maalouf
LITERATURE •
1992 •
PAPER
• 360 PAGES
A fictional memoir documenting the first 40 years in the life of Leo Africanus (or Leo the African), a Muslim scholar whose travels lead him throughout the Mediterranean and North Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries. Based on a real-life figure, Leo is witness to many of the revolutionary changes and figures in the Western world of the period.
(MED55, $16.95) |
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Lonely Planet Gambia and Senegal
• David Else
GUIDEBOOK •
2009 •
PAPER
• 328 PAGES
In its hallmark style, this practical guide to The Gambia and Senegal by Lonely Planet features maps, a good overview of culture, history and nature, and much nuts-and-bolts information on excursions, accommodations and sightseeing. With color photographs and excellent travel information.
(WAF01, $24.99) |
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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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Myth and Reality in the Rain Forest, How Conservation Strategies are Failing in West Africa
• John F. Oakes
NATURAL HISTORY •
1999 •
PAPER
• 338 PAGES
A survey of national parks and conservation throughout West Africa. Oakes, who has worked on conservation projects in Africa and India, uses West Africa as a case study to argue against the prevailing notion that wildlife is best protected through small-scale community development. Of primary interest to conservationists, it also offers an interesting theoretical perspective for travelers to the region.
(WAF11, $28.95) |
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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 Sweetness Here and Other Stories
• Ama Ata Aidoo
ANTHOLOGY •
1995 •
PAPER
• 160 PAGES
A collection of eleven short stories about the lives of women and men in postcolonial Ghana and the tensions between traditional village and urban life. Originally published by Doubleday in 1971, Aidoo's stories emphasize Ghana's prominent oral culture.
(WAF23, $14.95) |
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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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The Peoples of the Middle Niger
• Roderick James McIntosh
CULTURAL PORTRAIT •
1998 •
HARD COVER
• 346 PAGES
A scholarly study of the ancient inhabitants of the Niger floodplain, incorporating archaeological discoveries and oral traditions. McIntosh teaches anthropolgy at Rice University, and has done extensive research throughout West Africa.
(WAF93, $82.95) |
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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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The Remarkable Baobab
• Thomas Pakenham
NATURAL HISTORY •
2004 •
HARD COVER
• 144 PAGES
It was inevitable that Pakenham, an historian of Africa with a penchant for the world's most striking and bizarre trees, would discover the baobab. In this followup to Remarkable Trees of the World and Meetings with Remarkable Trees, he focuses on the tremendous, twisted boabab trees of Africa, Madagascar and Australia. Of the world's eight species, six are found in Madagascar. With 60 large-format color photographs.
(NAT71, $19.95) |
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Roots
• Alex Haley
LITERATURE •
2007 •
PAPER
• 912 PAGES
The 30th anniversary edition of Alex Haley's epic story of Kunta Kinte and his descendents. The tale begins in the Gambian village of Jufureh in 1750 and traces seven generations of one family, to tell the story of Africans in America. An engaging, powerful story of perseverance in times of slavery, it was made into one of the most popular television mini-series of all time.
(WAF21, $17.95) |
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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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Segu
• 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. Translated from French.
(WAF17, $17.00) |
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Skeletons on the Zahara, A True Story of Survival
• Dean King
EXPLORATION •
2005 •
PAPER
• 368 PAGES
King weaves a gripping tale of Captain James Riley and the men of the merchant ship Commerce, shipwrecked, captured and sold into slavery in 1815. King relies on published journals and his own travels to recreate the drama and hardship of the four-month trek across the Sahara. The men were eventually ransomed in Morocco, their survival nearly miraculous. Captain Riley's dramatic account of the ordeal, often reprinted over the years, was wildly popular in the 1800s.
(NAF16, $14.99) |
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Sufferings in Africa, The Astonishing Account of a New England Sea Captain Enslaved by North African Arabs
• James Riley
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •
2007 •
PAPER
• 336 PAGES
Captain Riley's best-selling account of misadventure and suffering in Northwest Africa (including the shipwreck of his brig Commerce and four-month captivity as a slave) still makes good reading after all these years. It's a very popular, often reprinted, tale first published in 1817 as "An Authentic Narrative of the Loss of the American Brig Commerce."
(NAF15, $14.95) |
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Sundiata, An Epic of Old Mali
• 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. It's a thrilling tale of destiny and ambition, played out in a world populated by spirits. Niane's version captures the thrill of a Griot's performance.
(WAF48, $16.60) |
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Viceroy of Ouidah
• Bruce Chatwin
LITERATURE •
1999 •
PAPER
• 160 PAGES
The tale of Francesco Manoel de Silva and his adventures in the royal court in the West African kingdom of Dahomey (Benin). A stunning demonstration of Chatwin's masterful prose, command of historical detail and fully imagined characters.
(WAF18, $13.00) |
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Wanderings in West Africa
• Richard Francis Burton
TRAVEL NARRATIVE •
1991 •
PAPER
• 624 PAGES
Intrepid explorer, Islamacist and translator of the Kama Sutra, Burton's interests took him throughout Africa and the Arab world. This account, originally published in 1861, results from his three-year stint in the British Foreign office in Fernando Po, an island off the coast of West Africa. It's a valuable first-hand account of short trips around the West African coast and inland, rich in ethnographic and cultural detail. Two volumes, bound as one, this book also includes a detailed, black-and-white line map of West Africa.
(WAF12, $19.95) |
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