|
“The book” on Africa is one that each generation
defines for itself. Richard Dowden’s AFRICA is the book for now.
AFRICA: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles explains why Africa is the way it is; it is about differences and diversities. Each one of the African countries is unique and, chapter by chapter, this book lets you get to know them. There are tales of cults and commerce in Senegal and traditional spirituality in Sierra Leone; there is an analysis of the impact of oil and the Internet on Nigeria and aid on Sudan; there is a deeper probing into what has gone so badly wrong in Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Burundi and the Congo; and Dowden examines the extraordinary transition made by South Africa into a democratic country. And from the individual stories of failure and success comes a surprising portrait of a new Africa emerging: self confident, middle class, professional…
Dowden is Britain’s finest living Africa correspondent. Over a period of 35 years, he has been present at each of the continent’s major crises, and has witnessed the warmth, wisdom and joy of the people, and the diversity of their habits, attitudes and purposes. What Dowden has seen and experienced here has transformed who he is and everything he believes in; AFRICA: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles enables us to see and understand this miraculous place in a new light too.
RICHARD DOWDEN is director of the Royal African Society. He spent a decade as Africa Editor of The Independent, and then another decade as Africa Editor of The Economist. Few writing in English now have had more experience of life as it is lived in a wider variety of African communities. He has made three television documentaries on Africa, for the BBC and Channel 4.
REVIEWS ON RICHARD DOWDEN'S AFRICA: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles
‘Africa is a vast continent, a continent of people, and not a place of exotica, or a destination for tourists. In Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles, it is clear that Richard Dowden understands this, and one could not ask for a more qualified author to explore Africa’s complexity.’
Chinua Achebe
‘This book is, quite simply, a masterpiece. The finest possible guide to sub-Saharan Africa’s past and present. It is both realistic and powerful – a highly personal book written with evident love for the culture of that beguiling continent. A triumph. A gift of love to Africa.’
Alexander McCall Smith
‘At last – a book about Africa the way it is. Richard Dowden is the Africa expert. Drawing on more than thirty years of extraordinary experiences the length and breadth of the continent he shows us an Africa of light as well as darkness, engaging as well as horrifying.
The real Africa.’
Michael Buerk
‘Infused with passion, informed by first-hand encounters, never losing historical perspective, and buttressed by a fundamental belief that Africa will come good, Dowden’s Africa is a
vade-mecum for travellers to a troubled continent.’
Michael Holman
|
