Africa

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After a lifetime s close observation of the continent, one of the world s finest Africa correspondents has penned a landmark book on life and death in modern Africa In captivating prose, Dowden spins tales of cults and commerce in Senegal and traditional spirituality in Sierra Leone analyzes the impact of oil and the internet on Nigeria and aid on Sudan and examines what has gone so badly wrong in Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Congo From the individual stories of failure and success comes a surprising portrait of a new Africa emerging an Africa that, Dowden argues, can only be developed by its own people Dowden s master work is an attempt to explain why Africa is the way it is and calls for a re examination of the perception of Africa as the dark continent He reveals it as a place of inspiration and tremendous humanity. Free Read Kindle ePUB Africa Author Richard Dowden – kino-fada.fr Two and a half stars When Africa Altered States, Ordinary Miracles is good it is wonderful There is a five star book hidden in here, but alas, too much of the book is confusing, repetitive and poorly organized Largely at fault, I think, are over ambitious goals coupled with very poor editing As an example I ll take Chapter 1...As an author and activist, I am generally optimistic about Africa s future, but Richard Dowden tempered my hope with a sobering dose of reality based on his decades of reporting on the continent His powerful guide to sub Saharan Africa is a must read for anyone who hopes to understand why Africa is the mess it is.Dowden is the director of the Royal African Society and spent two decades as Africa editor of the Independent and the Economist His book is filled with both s...Ok, i will start the review by noting that I have never been to Africa, and while I was a history major and an am an avid global news reader, i don t have any particular specialized knowledge of Africa That is, of course, why I checked out the book, and of course, it doesn t make me particularly qualified to criticize or fact check things he says in the book I did check the book out from the lib...This book took me forever to finish, but it was worth it I don t know much about African history besides well known events places i.e Rwandan genecide, South African apartheid, Darfur, ect I enjoyed learning about Africa s history way of life through the eyes of a journalist.I bought this for 1.50 at a charity shop I began reading immediately, because I was excited by the promise of 30 years experience travelling and covering Africa and a semblance of historic context for the countries I ve heard about, but know almost nothing about That said, there are a lot of things that I enjoyed about this book, but mostly, what really stands out to me, is that it could ve been a much better book It irks me that Dowden can t shake off his white liberalism Sometimes, he can I bought this for 1.50 at a charity shop I began reading immediately, because I was excited by the promise of 30 years experience travelling and covering Africa and a semblance of historic context for the countries I ve heard about, but know almost nothing about That said, there are a lot of things that I enjoyed about this book, but mostly, what really stands out to me, is that it could ve been a much better boo...The art adorning the cover of Africa highlights a key paradox in the enlightening if often unfortunately simplistic book Pictured is a young, shirtless boy holding a soccer ball as the sun sets behind him A note on the back of the book tells the reader the boy s name, adding that he is a fan of the British football club Arsenal, like Dowden himself In providing this information, Dowden counters the potential for the cover portrait to merely serve as an anonymous face of poor, sub Saharan Af The art adorning the cover of Africa highlights a key paradox in the enlightening if often unfortunately simplistic book Pictured is a young, shirtless boy holding a soccer ball as the sun sets behind him A note on the back of the book tells the reader the boy s name, adding that he is a fan of the British football club Arsenal, like Dowden himself In providing this information, Dowden counters the potential for the cover portrait to merely serve as an anonymous face of poor, sub Saharan Africa, an image which the media has a tendency of presenting But the back of the book also features a different photograph, this one of a row of acacia trees silhouetted by the setting sun The acacia tree has been used as a stand in on book covers for all things Africa so often that a collage of acacia clad covers of books on totally disparate topics save being written by an African or set somewhere in the continent recently went viral, highlighting the absurdity of ...It is interesting, but it does rely a lot on his own personal experiences rather than being aof a solid research based book He also tends to make the mistake that lots of Westerners do, of generalising about the continent or referring to it as if it was a single country, like all Africans love music Africa needs to do x, y and z I also found it quite negative, despite stating at the beginning that the West should stop viewing Africa as a charity case, or a war torn continent, a lot It is interesting, but it does rely a lot on his own personal experiences rather than being aof a solid research based book He also tends to make the mistake that lots of Westerners do, of generalising about the continent or referring to it as if it was a single country, like all Africans love music Africa needs to do x, y and z I also found it quite negative, despite stating at the beginning that the West should stop viewing Africa as a charity case, or a war torn continent, a lot of the book i...I came across this book on the Economist s book review list I started reading it a while ago, put it down and now reading parts of it Dowden goes from East to South to West to North Africa His observations are really astute as a reporter but mostly on the political level I didn t find a deep immersion or impression in rural societies where he covers a specific country Altogether, his analysis of the war torn regions like Somalia, Sudan, Zimbabwe and Uganda is very impressive Dowden really I came across this book on the Economist s book review list I started reading it a while ago, put it down and now reading parts of it Dowden goes from East to South to West to North Africa His observations are really astute as a reporter but mostly ...A good but not great book with some wonderful stories and some flawed sections Dowden has been in many of Africa s hot spots over the last thirty years and had great stories and history on many countries That said, there were sections that...Great reference book, not one to be read completely or ever finished.

Africa
  • 22 May 2017
  • Hardcover
  • 576 pages
  • 1846271541
  • Richard Dowden
  • Africa