Category Archives: World Music
Quesadillas
It`s the 1980s in Lagos de Moreno – a town where there are more cows than people, and more priests than cows – and a poor family is struggling to get by. The father, a school teacher, insists on practising and teaching the art of the insult, while the mother prepares hundreds of quesadillas to
Brief history of almost everything
Here are fifty concise, entertaining histories on a broad, eclectic range of ideas (borders, feminism), global issues (migration, world trade), commodities (bananas, jeans), regions (Africa, Ireland), and institutions (corporations, the World Bank).Lucid and irreverent, โ€Brief Histories of Almost Anythingโ€ challenges common perceptions associated with the subjects by going behind the facts. Each history has been
Gold Dust
Rejected by his tribe and hunted by the kin of the man he killed, Ukhayyad and his thoroughbred camel flee across the desolate Tuareg deserts of the Sahara. Between bloody wars against the Italians in the north and famine raging in the south, Ukhayyad rides for the remote rock caves of Jebel Hasawna. There, he
Out of Africa
The lodges, all designed to provide maximum style and comfort, also offer visitors an opportunity to get to the heart of the country by travelling amongst its people and its animals. The unforgettable experience is portrayed through amazing photographs and informative text to make this both an entertaining read as well as an object to
Africa, My Passion
In an exquisite personal pilgrimage, Corinne Hofmann delves into the slums of Nairobi to uncover the heart-warming and heart-breaking stories of unforgettable people and places, then treks 500 miles across the Namibian desert to discover the lives of the nomadic Himba people.
The Folly
Mr and Mrs Malgas are going quietly about their lives when a mysterious squatter appears on the vacant plot next to their home. Arriving with portmanteau in hand and a head full of extraordinary ideas, the stranger at once begins to fashion tools and cutlery from old iron and rubbish. Soon he enlists Mr Malgas`s
Burundi: The Biography of a Small African Country
Little known in the English-speaking world, Burundi is Rwanda`s twin, a small Central African country with a complex history of ethnic tension between its Hutu and Tutsi populations that has itself experienced traumatic events, including mass killings of over 200,000 people. The country remained in a state of simmering civil war until 2004, after which
From Dictatorship to Democracy
From Dictatorship to Democracy was a pamphlet, printed and distributed by Dr Gene Sharp and based on his study, over a period of forty years, on non-violent methods of demonstration. Now in its fourth edition, it was originally handed out by the Albert Einstein Institution, and although never actively promoted, to date it has been
The Mayor of Mogadishu: A Story of Chaos and Redemption in the Ruins of Somalia
The Mayor of Mogadishu tells the story one family`s epic journey through Somalia`s turmoil, from the optimism of independence to its spectacular unravelling.Mohamud `Tarzan` Nur was born a nomad, and became an orphan, then a street brawler in the cosmopolitan port city of Mogadishu – a place famous for its cafes and open-air cinemas. When
The Inheritance
Ben Martin is charming and successful: an academic who has raised money for children`s charities and worked with women`s agencies in sub-Saharan Africa, a devoted husband. But when his brother Francois, an artist based in Lisbon, finds out about Ben`s affair with a student, RitaKalungal, he finds himself feeling responsible both for his brother`s actions
Outlaw
Fifteen-year-old Jake Knight is an explorer and adventurer at heart but this often gets him into trouble. When a stuffy English boarding school suspends him for rule-breaking, Jake flies out to Burkina Faso where his parents are living. He is expecting a long, adventure-filled vacation under a smiling African sun. But what awaits him there
A History of Malawi: 1859-1966
This is the first comprehensive history of Malawi during the colonial period. Using a wide range of primary and secondary sources, John McCracken places this history within the context of the pre-colonial past. Central themes are the shaping of the colonial economy, the influence of Christianity, resistance to colonial occupation and the rise of a
Translating Libya: In Search of the Libyan Short Story
Part anthology and part travelogue, Translating Libya presents the country through the eyes of sixteen Libyan short story writers and one American diplomat.Translating Libya, published in 2008, was one of the first books to introduce Libyan literature to an English-speaking audience. The updated 2014 revision includes a foreword by Ahmed Ibrahim Fagih, one of Libya`s
This House is Not for Sale
This House is Not for Sale is a story about a house in an African neighbourhood, the Family House, owned and ruled over by the patriarchal, business-minded Grandpa – by turns benevolent and cruel – and home to his wives, children, grandchildren, and the many in his service. It tells the stories of the people
Alexandria: The Last Nights of Cleopatra
Finding himself in Alexandria in the winter of 2010, Peter Stothard, editor of the TLS and former editor of The Times, is forced to contemplate his past in circumstances he does not expect. The aftermath of a bombing and the onset of the Arab Spring place obstacles in his plans to complete a long-delayed biography
The Islamic Enlightenment: The Modern Struggle Between Faith and Reason
`Brilliant` Orhan Pamuk`The best sort of book for our disordered days: timely, urgent and illuminating` Pankaj Mishra`It strikes a blow … for common humanity.` Sunday Times The Islamic Enlightenment: a contradiction in terms?The Muslim world has often been accused of a failure to modernise, reform and adapt. But, from the beginning of the nineteenth century
Happiness, Like Water: Stories
In this debut collection, Chinelo Okparanta introduces us to families burdened equally by the past and the future. Here, we meet a childless couple with very different desires; a college professor comforting a troubled student; a mother seeking refuge from an abusive husband; an embittered spinster recalling the loss of a dear childhood friend; and
Born In Africa
Africa does not give up its secrets easily. Buried there lie answers about the origins of humankind and the dawn of civilisation. Through a century of archaeological investigation, scientists have transformed our understanding of the beginnings of human life, although vital clues still remain hidden. In Born in Africa, Martin Meredith follows the trail of
The Forest People
The Forest People is an astonishingly intimate and life-enhancing account of a hunter – gatherer tribe living in harmony with nature – and an all-time classic of anthropology. For three years, Colin Turnbull lived with an isolated group of Pygmies deep in the forest of the African Congo, experiencing their daily life first-hand. He attended
Now Is The Time For Running
Meet Deo: a great footballer, a fierce protector of his older brother, Innocent. Meet Innocent: easily nervous, easily happy and good at keeping score on the dusty fields of Zimbabwe where the boys play. When the soldiers come, they destroy the only home they`ve ever known. Now, Deo has nothing but his brother, and a
