• NONFICTION

    AFRICA

    MARCH 16, 2009

HISTORY

AFRICA

by Richard Dowden

A remarkably full-bodied and frank discussion of Africa’s place in the world. Full review >

FULL REVIEW >
  • NONFICTION

    THE FATE OF AFRICA

    JULY 5, 2005

HISTORY

THE FATE OF AFRICA

by Martin Meredith

Sharp-edged, politically astute and pessimistic: a good complement to John Reader’s Africa: A Biography of the Continent... Full review >

FULL REVIEW >
  • NONFICTION

    THE FEAR

    MARCH 22, 2011

HISTORY

THE FEAR

by Peter Godwin

The author’s return to his beloved homeland transformed by violence and no longer familiar proves heart-wrenching and... Full review >

FULL REVIEW >
  • NONFICTION

    DANCING IN THE GLORY OF MONSTERS

    MARCH 29, 2011

HISTORY

DANCING IN THE GLORY OF MONSTERS

by Jason K. Stearns

An important examination of a social disaster that seems both politically complex and cruelly senseless. Full review >

FULL REVIEW >
  • NONFICTION

    DON’T LET’S GO TO THE DOGS TONIGHT

    DEC. 26, 2001

BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR

DON’T LET’S GO TO THE DOGS TONIGHT

by Alexandra Fuller

An illuminating, even thrillingly fresh perspective on the continent’s much-discussed post-colonial problems. Full review >

FULL REVIEW >
  • NONFICTION

    TWENTY CHICKENS FOR A SADDLE

    APRIL 10, 2008

  • NONFICTION

    RAINBOW’S END

    APRIL 24, 2007

BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR

RAINBOW’S END

by Lauren St John

Articulates a dream and a love of Africa that makes Zimbabwe’s fate under Robert Mugabe seem all the more crueler. Full review >

FULL REVIEW >
  • NONFICTION

    THE MASQUE OF AFRICA

    OCT. 19, 2010

NONFICTION

THE MASQUE OF AFRICA

by V.S. Naipaul

A work more narrative than reflective, but Naipaul’s prose remains smooth, subtle, often silvery. Full review >

FULL REVIEW >
  • NONFICTION

    AFRICA

    APRIL 21, 1998

HISTORY

AFRICA

by John Reader

Formidably researched, always readable, but necessarily incomplete. (55 b&w photos and maps) Full review >

FULL REVIEW >
  • NONFICTION

    NO BREAD FOR MANDELA

    APRIL 15, 2011

BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR

NO BREAD FOR MANDELA

by Ahmed Kathrada

An intimate, welcome first-person account of a portion of South African history that remains foggy to many American readers. Full review >

FULL REVIEW >
  • NONFICTION

    WARS, GUNS, AND VOTES

    FEB. 3, 2009

CURRENT EVENTS & SOCIAL ISSUES

WARS, GUNS, AND VOTES

by Paul Collier

Rigorous analyses plus policy prescriptions make for a readable treatise. Full review >

FULL REVIEW >
  • NONFICTION

    LONG WALK TO FREEDOM

    NOV. 28, 1994

BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR

LONG WALK TO FREEDOM

by Nelson Mandela

This memoir is remarkably free of polemics, self-pity, and self-aggrandizement. It is the work of a man who has led by... Full review >

FULL REVIEW >

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