大象传媒

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel about the Nigerian Biafra civil war, 'Half of a Yellow Sun' is a riveting and emotionally charged read.

I felt so compelled to make a comment that I registered myself for a 大象传媒 username.
The best book I have ever read is John Reader's Africa - the biography of a continent. It's not everyone's cup of tea because in parts it is a little dry and scientific, but I found it to be a fascinating historical and anthropological perspective on how the continent evolved the way it did. It's a neutral account which acknowledges different arguments and I have to say it was one of those life changing books which was one that inspired me to change careers.

I have read Half of a Yellow Sun and agree that it was moving.

Thanks for the suggestions, will give them a shot. Am keen to read Sudan: everyone's favourite war by Rob Crilly - so keen on hearing from those who have read it.

I having been reading 2 books in tandem..
the first is 鈥漅ed Strangers鈥he White Tribe of Kenya鈥� by C.S. Nicholls an informative history of the white settlers of Kenya by a lady who grew up in Kenya and so writes with the authority of an insider鈥檚 first hand experience.
The other 鈥淲hen We Began There Where Witchmen鈥� by the American academic Jeffrey A. Fadiman鈥檚 this book through 300 years of Meru history (Mt Kenya). In 1969 as a Fulbright scholar he recorded 314 oral histories of the Kiramana and Murungi age-sets who were in the 70鈥檚 and 80s. And so he has done humanity a great service and gives us a rare glimpse into an African past that was evaporating as he recorded their words. After having read his book I have the beginning of a clue of how the Meru viewed their world, creation and the coming of the modern world in the form of the British. Anyone who wants to understand how these two African tribes functioned, their beliefs and culture before and after the Conquest of Kenya should read these fascinating, informative books.

Deon Meyer is pretty good (in English translation - I wouldn't know what the Afrikaans original is like) but only if you've lived in Africa. People who haven't think that the way his characters behave is unbelievable.

Andrew,

What an excellent idea! Certainly some books here that I plan to buy and read. Books on Africa cover a wide range of issues, but books on Africa's history can all be controversial - not least as the choices may be interpreted as saying something about the proposer! But a few books which I have found enjoyable are:

"Tip and Run: The Untold Tragedy of the Great War in Africa" (Edward Paice) tells a remarkably gripping story of the First World War as fought oh so ineptly by Europeans in East Africa. Sounds dry but is amazingly easy to read.

"Mimi and Toutou Go Forth: The Bizarre Battle of Lake Tanganyika" (Giles Foden) relates the mad idea of one individual in the War Office in London to defeat the German navy on Lake Tanganyika.

"The State of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence" (Martin Meredith) offers a useful round up of issues in Africa - a good primer for those needing to read in to the subject.

"Green Oranges on Lion Mountain" (Emily Joy) tells the tale of a young volunteers eye opening experiences in Sierra Leone.

"Lost Lion of Empire: The Life of 'Cape-to-Cairo' Grogan: The Life of Ewart Grogan DSO, 1876-1976" (Edward Paice) details the life of an extraordinary thorn in the side of British colonial authority.

All the best.

JAB

Three great books on politics and corruption in Kenya, one non-fiction and two fictional, all thoroughly true:

It's Our Turn to Eat, by Michela Wrong - the definitive story of modern Kenyan politics.
A Guide to the Birds of East Africa (a novel), by Nicholas Drayson - deceptively gentle but packs quite a punch.
The In-Between World of Vikram Lall, by MS Vassanji - no book has ever explained better how the rot of corruption grows and spreads.

And for those who are tired of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, an alternative inspiring novel on Botswana:
Far and Beyon', by Unity Dow.

Great idea!

I had heard of Half of a Yellow Sun before, I think I will find it and read it.

For some insight into Southern Africa the following three books are really good:

Dinner with Mugabe, by Heidi Holland
A good introduction into what went wrong in Zimbabwe.

19 with a bullet, by Granger Korff
The Angolan/Namibian bushwar seen through the eyes of a South African paratrooper.

The Maputo connection, by Nadja Manghezi
Insight into the second ANC hub in Africa during apartheid (after Lusaka) and into ANC life in exile in general.

devil on the cross by n'gugi wa thiong'o
god's bits of wood
the house of hunger
the beautiful ones are not yet born
things fall apart
i write what i like
seasons of migration to the north
the collector of treasures
a savage war of peace

Finding myself holding back on nominating one of cartoonist Zapiro's graphic exploits on South African politics. Anyway, am just glad nobody has mentioned Wilbur Smith in the must-read category... yet!

For me one of the best books has to be Palace Walk written by the Noble Prize winner Naguib Mahfouz. It's an essential read for anyone interested in modern Egypt The book is about a merchant living in Cairo, who makes his family conform to strict religious rules which he quite happily breaks himself..

Olga ()

Hi there,

this is an old book, but worth reading:
Banda by Philip Short (Routledge & Kegan Paul, London 1974) - a very good biography of Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda, who ruled Malawi for 30 years.
The Fear: The last days of Robert Mugabe by Peter Godwin
Untapped, the Scramble for Africa's Oil by John Ghazvinian
Lords and Lemurs (Mad Scientists, Kings with Spears and the Survival of Diversity in Madagascar) by Alison Jolly -

lilongwegirl

Dear Andrew, I regularly read your blog but this is the first time I have been moved to comment. I read Ms Moyo's excellent book a few months ago and look forward to reading the other recommendations. The book I want to recommend is "Say You're One of Them" by Nigerian writer Uwem Akpan. The book consists of 5 fictional short stories, each written from a child's perspective. Although fiction these stories are clearly based on reality which made reading emotionally difficult at times however it is so important that the impact on children is highlighted.

Top of the list of young African writers is IMMACULEE ILIBAGIZA with her three riveting books LEFT TO TELL (discovering GOD amidst the Rwanda Holocaust) and LED BY FAITH and OUR LADY OF KIBEHO.

Immaculee writes honestly about her environment without the cheap-immorality that has become ever so common among modern African writers. She stands in the same class as WOLE SOYINKA and NGUGI wa THIONG'O.

@#11 ACP_EU_Brenda - I've read Akpan and have to agree, it's a great read!

Thanks for a great post Andrew - looks like I'm going to be doing some shopping on Amazon this weekend!

while it may be hard - grating against the couple of centuries' old rivalry - to venture that a french language book may be 'the best book' about Africa, i would recommend Achille Mbembe's 'Sortir de la Grand Nuit' (published October last year) as a perceptive and anguished participant-user description of Africa between tradition and modernism, and lots of other in-between things. Then there's the trenchant Speaking truth to power - Selected Pan African Postcards by the late Tajudeen Abdul Raheem .... Achille from Cameroon, now in South africa, Taj was from Nigeria, worked in Uganda, Kenya and all over, died tragically in a car accident on Africa Day a few years back....

My vote for best African reads definitely goes to Nobel prize winner VS Naipaul - A Bend in the River. It's on Idi Amin's Uganda and follows the story of an Indian trader trying to survive the political and economic turbulence of the newly independent East African country. It really is quite brilliant.

I cannot wait for Naipaul's latest book on South Africa to be released - it's meant to be quite the expose on SA in the post-apartheid era.

I recently read Spud, by John van der Ruit, about a schoolboy growing up during the South African transition from apartheid to democracy. Also very funny!

"The Zanzibar Chest" by Aidan Hartley is the one I would recommend. It is part biography about him being a war correspondent covering various African conflicts in the early 90's, and about his father, who worked for the British government in Africa from the 1930's onwards. Hartley draws big lines and asks big questions about the white man's role and sense of belonging to Africa. Also, the ethical qualms a war correspondent is very interesting to read about.

These are the best African books. posted in My Continent website by African writers.

"Black Mamba Boy" by Nadifa Mohamed is the breathtaking and gorgeously written true story of a Somali man's (the author's father) remarkable journey from boyhood to adulthood. Beginning in his childhood, he sets out traveling across Africa and the Middle East in search of his long lost father and ultimately finds himself. Through this story and the relationships of its characters, one learns about the colors, the rhythms and flavors embedded in Somali culture.

"Infidel" by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Hirsi Ali writes about her youth in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Kenya, her personal experiences and thoughts about having been Muslim, her election to Parliament in the Netherlands and the controversy regarding her citizenship, which helped bring down the Dutch government.

"So Long a Letter" by Mariama Ba. This strong exploration of feminism makes the novel a strong voice for the oppressed woman in Africa. The Senegalese woman who is the focus of the book is oppressed by culture and by virtue of her position.

things fall apart by chinua achebe is really great, i have read it.

"A civilization that proves incapable of solving the problems it creates is a decadent civilization.
A civilization that chooses to close its eyes to its most crucial problems is a stricken civilization.
A civilization that uses its principles for trickery and deceit is a dying civilization."
Discourse on Colonalism, by Aim茅 C茅saire
...welcome bad memories, afterall you are my lost youth!

Indian Online may have a memory "bend". Naipul's brilliant book "A bend in the River" did not take place in Uganda but in the (then Zairean) town of Kisangani where the Congo River "bends" from running Nort to run West

Some of the books about Africa that I have read and liked are:

1. Focus Africa- a Photojournalist's Perspective by Marion Kaplan
2. The Shadow of the Sun : My African Life by Ryszard Kapuscinski
3. Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town by Paul Theroux
4. Mukiwa by Peter Godwin

Ake--Wole Soyinka
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight--Alexandra Fuller
Nervous Conditions--Tsitsi Dangarembga
The Bride Price--Buchi Emecheta
Paradise--Abdulrazak Gurnah
The Man-eaters of Tsavo--John Henry Patterson

As a child of empire the son of a miner (gold, copper, nickel, uranium) I am drawn to biographies of others who experienced the exquisite pleasures and pain of growing up in Africa.
Once under your skin Africa never leaves you.
So yes 鈥淒on鈥檛 Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight鈥� by Alexandra Fuller and 鈥淢ukiwa鈥� by Peter Godwin are on the list. A less well known book is 鈥淐asting a Fragile Thread鈥� by Wendy Kann a poignant bitter sweet autobio of 3 Rhodesian sisters growing up in Rhodesia as their world ripped itself apart.

Some of my favourites鈥�

Non fiction:
(Rwanda) 鈥楢 Thousand Hills鈥� by Stephen Kinzer (a revealing biography of Paul Kagame)
(Kenya) 鈥楢 Primate鈥檚 Memoir鈥� by Robert Sapolsky (quite fun)
(Kenya) 鈥業t鈥檚 Our Turn to Eat鈥� by Michela Wrong
(Botswana) 鈥楾he Lost World of the Kalahari鈥� by Laurens van der Post

Fiction:
(Uganda) 鈥楢byssinian Chronicles鈥� by Moses Isegawa
(Kenya) 鈥楢 Cockroach Dance鈥� by Meja Mwangi
(Kenya) 鈥楥oming to Birth鈥� by Oludhe-Macgoye
(Kenya) Anything by Ngugi Wa Thiong'o (of course)
(South Africa) 鈥楤itter Fruit鈥� by Achmat Dangor
(South Africa) 鈥楤urger鈥檚 Daughter鈥� by Nadime Gordimer (or anything by her)
(South Africa) 鈥楥ry the Beloved Country鈥� by Alan Paton (of course)
(Zimbabwe) 鈥楢n Elegy for Easterly鈥� by Petina Gappah
(Zimbabwe) 鈥楬ouse of Hunger鈥� by Dambudzo Marechera
(Zimbabwe) 鈥楧on鈥檛 Let鈥檚 Go to the Dogs Tonight鈥� and 鈥楽cribbling the Cat鈥� by Alexandra Fuller
(Mozambique) 鈥楽leepwalking Land鈥� by Mia Couto (a little hard going)

Sorry - couple of corrections above: Alexandra fuller is non-fiction. And it's 'Nadine' Gordimer.

Thanks to everyone for giving me such a great reading list for the next year. May I suggest to Andrew H that 大象传媒 somehow provide a sumamry list classified into fact and fiction like RexL's contribution (and possibly country or region to make it manageable) ?

There was a time when the African writers Series held pride of place on the bookshelves of many homes.

Andrew Harding, thanks alot for this. Perhaps you can continue this by way of an virtual library on African writers. In the same vein as Shelfari. I will sign up in a heartbeat. And I know lots who will also.

If you liked Half of a yellow sun, you'd love her short stories in "That thing around your neck"

Then there are:
Not with Silver by Simi Bedford on the slave trade and the establishment of Liberia. Makes you feel like you were on the boat for the liberated slaves;

Unbowed, Wangari Maathai. Loved it.

Beautiful Feathers, Cyprian Ekwensi

I do not come to you by Chance, Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani. Hilariously written book on the not funny 419 in Nigeria

Measuring Time, Helon Habila

Mine Boy, Peter abrahams

One man, one matchet, T.M. Aluko

The Concubine, Elechi Amadi

The poor Christ of Bomba, Mongo Beti

Jagua Nana, Burning grass, al by Cyprian Ekwensi

The Detainee, Legson Kayira

Efuru, Flora Nwapa

Houseboy, Ferdinando Oyono.

I could go on and on and on

L.S.B. Leakey's three volumes entitled The Southern Kikuyu before 1903 provide real insights. Wangari Maathai's Unbowed is seminal and so is Ryszard Kapuscinski's The Shadow of the Sun. I have also recently enjoyed Maggie McCune's Till the Sun Grows Cold, a memoir of her daughter Emma's love for Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon and Missionaries, Mercenaries and Misfits edited by Rasna Warah (in the Dambisa Moyo mode)

These were recommended to me for Angola:
A Geracao da Utopia 鈥� Pepetela (translated)
The Book of Chameleons 鈥� Jose Eduardo Agualusa (translated)

On my bookshelf but not yet read鈥� thought a bit of crime fiction might be fun:
Nairobi Heat 鈥� Mukoma Wa Ngugi (son of Ngugi Wa Thiong'o)
My Life in Crime 鈥� John Kiriamiti (criminal turned writer)