Showing titles in Africa

Ninety-nine elite American soldiers are trapped in the middle of a hostile city. As night falls, they are surrounded by thousands of enemy gunmen: Their wounded are bleeding to death. Their ammunition and supplies are dwindling. This is the story of how they got there -- and how they fought...

The ancient Egyptians are an enduring source of fascination - mummies and pyramids, curses, and rituals have captured the imagination of generations. We all have a mental picture of ancient Egypt, but is it the right one? How much do we really know about this great civilization? This second edition of Ancient Egypt: A Very Short Introduction explores the history and culture of pharaonic Egypt, including ideas about Egyptian kingship, ancient Egyptian writing systems, and the history of Egyptology.

On October 3, 1993, Task Force Ranger was dispatched to seize two high-profile lieutenants of a Somali warlord. Special Forces troops were transported by ground vehicles and helicopters, and the mission was meant to be over within the hour. They quickly found themselves under heavy fire, and two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down. With a hastily organized relief column many hours away, the American troops faced a desperate battle for survival.  

In 2012 retired South African general Johan Jooste was parachuted into the seemingly unwinnable war against rhino poaching in the Kruger National Park. With poaching spiralling out of control, Jooste was given the mandate to 'go military', to convert Kruger's ranger corps into a para-military force capable of taking the fight to poachers. Aged 60, white, and a veteran of 35 years of military service, Jooste's controversial appointment was immediately met with resentment and hostility by elements of South African National Parks, the police, and even the military he had served with.

From the myths told about Africa’s past to the erasure of Black contributions, The Miseducation of the Black Diaspora uncovers how colonial narratives continue to shape the identity and history of Africa's diaspora worldwide. Drawing on the author's personal experience and global events, the book challenges distorted truths and urges its listeners to reclaim and embrace their heritage as a way of resisting mental colonisation. The Miseducation of the Black Diaspora by Tawanda Bwerudza exposes racism’s roots, and empowers identity and pride.

‘Superbly reported, compelling . . . wonderfully captures the spirit of that time’ Financial Times 'Gripping and important' Observer __________________________________________________________________________ Nine days that set the course of a nation... Johannesburg, Easter weekend, 1993...

In A Long Way Gone Ishmael Beah tells a riveting story in his own words: how, at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he'd been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was...

The modern history of Africa was, until very recently, written on behalf of the indigenous races by the white man, who had forcefully entered the continent during a particularly hubristic and dynamic phase of European history. In 1884, Prince Otto von Bismark, the German chancellor, brought the plenipotentiaries of all major powers of Europe together, to deal with Africa's colonization in such a manner as to avoid provocation of war.

Question: What do you do when the kitchen wall collapses into the vat of beans being cooked for a horde of hungry schoolboys? Answer: You serve it up anyway! Why let a few lumps of clay and the odd metal screw spoil a decent meal? When Bunmi Asaolu arrived at the grand gates of St. John/Mary's Unity Secondary School (SAJOMACO) as a first-year student, you'd be forgiven for assuming he was swapping life on the serene university campus he grew up on for another of equal civility. Wrong! Behind the gates of SAJOMACO lay a world of contradictions.

This is the story of the "Benin Bronzes", their creation, theft, and what should happen to them now. When first exhibited in London, they caused a sensation and helped reshape European attitudes towards Africa, challenging the prevailing view of the continent as "backward" and without culture. But seeing them in the British Museum today is, in the words of one Benin City artist, like "visiting relatives behind bars". In a time of fevered debate about the legacies of empire, loot, museums, and history, what does the future hold for the Bronzes themselves? 

Africa has played a decisive role in the formation of Christian culture from its infancy. Some of the most decisive intellectual achievements of Christianity were explored and understood in Africa before they were in Europe. If this is so, why is Christianity so often perceived in Africa as a Western colonial import? How can Christians in Northern and sub-Saharan Africa, indeed, how can Christians throughout the world, rediscover and learn from this ancient heritage?

An improbable world beckons. We think we know Madagascar, but it's too big, too eccentric and too impenetrable to be truly understood. If it was stretched out across Europe, the islands would reach from London to Algiers, and yet its road network is barely bigger than tiny Jamaica's. There is no evidence of any human life until about 10,000 years ago, and, when eventually people settled, it was migrants from Borneo - 3,700 miles away - who came out on top.

To define Nigeria is to tell a half-truth. Many have tried, but most have concluded that it is impossible to capture the true scope and significance of Africa’s most populous nation through words or images. Yet here, through personal essays from twenty-four of its writers, a more accurate...

The Rhodesian Bush War (1964–1979) was a brutal and protracted guerrilla conflict that ultimately led to the end of white minority rule in Rhodesia and the birth of Zimbabwe. This comprehensive yet concise book takes you through the key events and figures that shaped this war, providing a detailed look into one of Africa’s most significant liberation struggles.

Ethiopia has a long history. It boasts one of the longest-running continuous civilizations on the planet; even the origins of humanity have been traced back to Ethiopia. Ethiopian kingdoms date back to the days of the Bible, and mentions of Ethiopian monarchs can be found all throughout the historical record.

When Rosamond Halsey Carr first arrived in Africa, she didn't realize that she would spend the rest of her life there. As a young fashion illustrator living in New York City in the 1940s, she seemed the least likely candidate for such a life of adventure. But marriage to a hunter-explorer took her to what was then the Belgian Congo, and divorce left her determined to stay on in neighboring Rwanda as the manager of a flower plantation.

The modern history of Africa was, until very recently, written on behalf of the indigenous races by the white man, who had forcefully entered the continent during a particularly hubristic and dynamic phase of European history. In 1884, Prince Otto von Bismarck, the German chancellor, brought the plenipotentiaries of all major powers of Europe together to deal with Africa's colonization in such a manner as to avoid provocation of war.

'POETIC AND FIERCE' - Olivette Otele, author of AFRICAN EUROPEANS 'THIS SWEEPING HISTORY RESTORES WOMEN TO THE CENTRE OF AFRICAN POLITICAL POWER...BOTH ACCESSIBLE AND RIGOROUS' The Observer 'A RICH, SUMPTUOUS AND BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN TAPESTRY' - Candice Carty-Williams, author of QUEENIE 'A...

A mediados del siglo XX, Marruecos desarrolló un afán expansionista que supo aprovechar la débil posición internacional de España para arrebatarle en apenas siete meses el Sahara español. Esta guerra, ignorada por la opinión pública, es una de las más sangrientas para el ejército español: 300 bajas de un pelotón de 8.000 soldados.

He was a solitary, sightless adventurer who fought the slave trade in Africa, survived a frozen captivity in Siberia, hunted rogue elephants in Ceylon, and helped chart the Australian outback. James Holman (1786-1857) became "one of the greatest wonders of the world he so sagaciously explored". In his day a celebrity, he was a best-selling author, but one who outlived his fame and died in obscurity. A Sense of the World is a spellbinding and moving rediscovery of one of history's most epic lives.