Africa
War in Darfur and the Search for Peace edited by Alex de Waal
Though widely known to the world for more than three years, Darfur's "ambiguous genocide" continues today, partly because of its complexity. There's not even agreement on what to call it. The word "genocide" is often used, although what's now taking place in western Sudan may be more akin to ethnic cleansing campaigns perpetrated in the Balkans during the 1990s. The forces underlying the Darfur crisis include (but are by no means limited to) unusually turbulent regional circumstances (fueled by, among others, Muammar Gaddafi), Chinese oil interests and global warming. Experts of widely varying backgrounds contributed a total of 15 essays to this collection, each dealing with one specific aspect of the crisis. Three of these are by the editor, a fellow of the Global Equity Initiative at Harvard, program director at the Social Science Research Council and co-director of Justice Africa. De Waal has written extensively on Darfur, including a book he co-authored and published last year, Darfur: A Short History of a Long War.
War in Darfur ... published September 1, 2007 by Harvard University Press
Unbowed by Wangari Maathai
The winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. Maathai here presents a beautifully written memoir of her extraordinary life. Born 66 years ago in "lush, green, fertile" Kenya, Maathai earned bachelor's and master's degrees in biology and a Ph.D. in veterinary science as her homeland was being deforested. It's estimated that Kenya lost 90 percent of its forests between 1950 and 2000. Maathai responded by founding the Green Belt Movement, which has fostered both feminism and environmentalism in Kenya and beyond. Since its inception, the movement has been responsible for planting some 30 million trees in Kenya. Maathai is also a leading Kenyan democracy advocate; during the increasingly autocratic rule of Daniel arap Moi, she was frequently beaten and jailed for her efforts. But after his 2002 retirement she was elected to Kenya's parliament, and in 2003 she was appointed assistant minister for the environment. Dr. Maathai remains active on both environmental and women's issues.
Unbowed ... published October 3, 2006 by Knopf
There Is No Me Without You: One Woman's
Odyssey to Rescue Africa's Children by Melissa Fay Greene
The HIV/AIDS epidemic that's killed over 25 million Africans has, in the process, created more than 12 million orphans (most of them HIV/AIDS-free) -- 1.5 million in Ethiopia alone. Award-winning author Melissa Fay Greene chronicles one Ethiopian woman's crusade to save as many of those orphans as possible. Haregewoin Teferra has taken in hundreds of AIDS orphans and helped place many in American homes. One such home is the author's; she and her husband have adopted two, with two more on the way. Greene's article about Africa's AIDS orphans ran in the NY Times Magazine four years ago and led to dozens of adoptions. Here she uses a rich and evocative telling of Teferra's complex tale to present the story of one of humankind's cruelest epidemics, and to rail against pharmaceutical companies which she accuses of crimes against humanity for withholding life-saving drugs from Africa's poor.
*Also available, unabridged, on Audio CD
There Is No Me Without You ... published September 5, 2006 by Bloomsbury USA
Mandela: A Critical Life by Tom Lodge
A respected scholar who taught in South Africa for many years delivers only a little of what might be called "criticism" of Mandela. Which is to say he's a lot more critical than most biographers have been so far regarding the most widely revered man on the planet. There are still hugely important questions to be answered, as RW Johnson pointed out in a superb review of this book in The Times of London.
Nevertheless, Lodge provides a key bridge from the Mandela hagiographies that have proliferated so far to clearer-minded explorations of the South African icon's life and consequence. The author shows that Mandela to some extent cultivated his messianic persona, not for personal aggrandizement, but because the causes he championed required a leader of transcendent stature. And it is Mandela's aristocratic charm and magnanimous personality, we see, that may have been the lynchpin to South Africa's surprisingly peaceful transition from apartheid to democracy.
Mandela: a Critical Life ... published July 31, 2006 by Oxford University Press
Monique and the Mango Rains:
Two Years with a Midwife in Mali by Kris Holloway
From 1989 to 1991, Holloway was a Peace Corps volunteer in the west African nation of Mali, where she grew to close friendship with Monique Dembele, the village midwife. This is the story of their friendship and of day-to-day life in a Third-World village with virtually no healthcare system. For example, in the United States the risk of dying during childbirth is about 1 in 3,500; in Mali it's closer to 1 in 12. Roughly 40 percent of the children born there will die by the time they're five. In addition to struggling against such long odds, we see that Monique was also up against an oppressively patriarchal society in which some men strongly resented her successes and may ultimately have contributed to her death.
Holloway spoke with Jean Feraca on Wisconsin Public Radio's Here on Earth.
Monique and the Mango Rains ... published July 20, 2006 by Waveland Press
Secrets of the Savanna by James and Delia Owens
A generation ago, two zoologists and best-selling authors to be of Cry of the Kalahari moved to Zambia's North Luangwa National Park. There they found that as many as 100,000 elephants had been poached in the previous 10-13 years. The Owenses here chronicle their efforts to stop the slaughter by helping local people to find more profitable and less demeaning work, as well as by other inventive means.
One of the most interesting aspects of the book is the animal behavior it documents. For example, we see that when adult elephants have been wiped out, their orphaned young engage in many kinds of problematic behavior that would otherwise have been corrected by adults. Adolescent males, for example, essentially formed gangs and harassed other elephants. While the authors are committed conservationists, they're also engaging writers; their latest book's a pleasure to read.
The duo was featured on NPR's On Point and on Living on Earth.
Secrets of the Savanna ... published May 24, 2006 by Houghton Mifflin
The Trouble with Africa: Why Foreign Aid Isn't Working
by Robert Calderisi
I think [aid is] working in a small number of African countries that I still think need more of it. But in most countries, unfortunately, the governments that get it don't have the same values as the people providing it, so it gets into the wrong hands or waters weeds rather than flowers.
So said a 30-year international development specialist with the World Bank in a recent interview on WNYC's The Leonard Lopate Show. Calderisi says blaming colonialism or other European-related causes for African woes is generally wrongheaded and counterproductive. Rather, he asserts, three numbers sum up Africa's plight: From 1970-90, its nations lost $70 billion -- half their foreign markets -- to other developing countries; it loses 70,000 skilled graduates every year; and 40 percent of Africans' money is invested overseas.
Calderisi was a guest on Pacifica Radio's Sunday Salon.
The Trouble with Africa ... published March 2, 2006 by Palgrave Macmillan
Men of Salt by Michael Benanav
What a thoroughly delightful little book! A young man who's "worked as a mountain and desert guide in the American West" jets off to Western Africa to accompany a camel caravan to and from desert salt mines -- a weeks-long sojourn through some of the harshest terrain on the planet. What results is a consistently satisfying feast for the reader's mind, spirit, and even senses -- yes, the author's that good.
Benanav strikes a pitch-perfect harmony among the competing demands of presenting a strong narrative, providing a surprisingly solid historical and geopolitical grounding, and (perhaps most importantly) maintaining the modesty and sense of humor befitting a guest on an utterly uncompromising trail ride.
A century ago, adventure-travelogues were among America's favorite genres -- not only of books, but public lectures and early movies, too. This amiable and engaging volume is a throwback to that earlier time -- and for those who can spare a few hours, a wholly satisfying break from the world as you and I know it.
Men of Salt ... published January 1, 2006 by The Lyons Press
Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide by Gerard Prunier
Having written the first major work on the Rwandan genocide, University of Paris professor Gerard Prunier now turns his attention to Darfur in western Sudan. Prunier says that the present Darfur crisis has unfolded and continues today because it's an " 'African crisis': distant, esoteric, extremely violent, rooted in complex ethnic and historical factors ... devoid of any identifiable practical interest for the rich countries.' "
Those willing to spend a few hours digesting the author's lucid, densely (165 pages) erudite explanation of the Darfur crisis will come away with a sound understanding of how and why the world's latest genocide continues. The question of whether "genocide" is in fact the correct word for what's taking place in Darfur is part of the problem. Popular media, to the extent that they cover the crisis at all, often portray it as a "humanitarian" crisis, but the root of the problem is the Sudanese government -- and the fact that Western ignorance of the conflict has helped Khartoum commit mass murder by proxy.
Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide ... published Sept. 2005 by Cornell University Press
The Fate of Africa by Martin Meredith
This survey of Africa since the mid-20th century provides a grim, panoramic view of a continent drenched in political corruption, poverty, disease, violence and death. In the early 1950s, it seemed possible to some observers that African independence movements might replace centuries of brutal European colonialism with peaceful and prosperous self-governance. With a few exceptions, nothing like that has happened.
Time and again, [Africa's] potential for economic development has been disrupted by the predatory politics of ruling elites seeking personal gain, often precipitating violence for their own ends. ... After decades of mismanagement and corruption, most African states have become hollowed out.
Largely because of the vastness of its scope -- a half-century of tumultuous history involving one-sixth of the human race -- Meredith's 752-page tome constitutes a surprisingly fast read -- and an excellent primer for those only vaguely (or less) acquainted with Africa since the 1950s.
The Fate of Africa ... first published July 5, 2005 by PublicAffairs
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