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Book Picks: Middle East and Africa I have learned that the cost of everything from a royal suite to a bottle of soda water can be halved by the simple expedient of saying it must be halved. Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq Afghanistan An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan An Unexpected Light artfully describes Elliot?s obsession to pierce the skin of one of the world?s most enigmatic countries, Afghanistan, in the midst of the country?s violence and destruction. Elliot develops an odd love affair with this complex country that he shares successfully with his readers. This is one of those rare books that make you want to pack your bags and visit a country even though you know traveling there (at least when Elliot was there) is one of the world?s most foolhardy endeavors. Iran Reading Lolita in Tehran Nafisi paints a compelling (and at times frightening) portrait of contemporary Iran writ against her efforts to teach English literature to a group of highly motivated female students in Tehran. No other book gives you such an insider view on the tormented tug-of-war relationship between Iran?s sophisticated intellectual tradition and its desire to respect its Islamic roots. All-in-all, this is the book to read if you want to understand contemporary Iranian culture. However, be warned, that the literary references, unless you are an English major, at times can be a bit obtuse.
I love this book! Honeymoon in a Purdah should be required reading by everyone who believes that the world is a dangerous place. Wearing proves that even in one of the most anti?Western countries, a traveler can be treated with kindness, respect, and almost breathtaking generosity. She also demonstrates one of travel?s greatest lessons ? if you show others respect and kindness, they?ll open up their hearts and souls to you. If this book does not make you want to visit Iran, nothing can.
Searching for Hassan skillfully weaves Iran?s rich culture and history into a highly personal memoir about the Ward family?s (after a 30+ year absence) efforts to find Hassan, the family?s personal assistant and close friend, during their time in Iran. This is a must read book if you want to understand about Iran and its complex people!
One of the world?s most powerful comic books, Persepolis tells the story of the Iranian Islamic Revolution in 1979 through the eyes of a child. Moving, satisfying, easy to read yet also very informative. Iraq
Though Saddam Hussein and Iraq have consumed millions of pages of newsprint in the past couple years, very few people know much about either the man or place. The Demonic Comedy changes all that. Roberts provides an extremely rare insider?s look at the legacy of Saddam?s lunacy on this potentially wealthy and sophisticated country. He also takes readers on a surprisingly funny, and truly odd, journey through an Iraq that no longer exists. All in all, the Demonic Comedy should be required reading for anyone searching for answers to their questions about this tragic country. Saudi Peninsula Saudi Arabia Fool?s Paradise Though dated, Fool?s Paradise is an extremely compelling portrait of Walker?s journey across Saudi Arabia. Walker gives the reader a rare glimpse into the Saudi people and culture. My only caveat: remember when reading this book that few countries have witnessed as dramatic a decline in wealth as Saudi Arabia in the twenty+ years since this book was written. The Saudis: Inside the Desert Kingdom The Saudis presents a well?researched and compelling portrait of the Saudi culture, history, and society. Mackay uses the best journalist techniques to present a well?balanced view of this complex country spiced with moving interviews with Saudis from all walks of life. Yemen
Yemen is one of the world?s most overlooked countries. Nowadays, Yemen occasionally leaks into the world?s media as a source of terrorism. However, as readers of Motoring with Mohammed know, Yemen has a lot to offer tourist seeking someplace totally off the beaten path including friendly people, incredible sand dunes and Medieval architecture, and a beguiling and yet somewhat bizarre history and culture. Hansen is the perfect tour guide to Yemen. He is as off?beat (who else would return to Yemen just to find a diary he buried ten years earlier) yet ultimately sympathetic as the country he so compelling covers. Near East Turkey
I like this book! Like Miller?s Panama Hat Trail (about Ecuador), A Fez of the Heart uses the story of a totemic item of clothing to weave an illuminating portrait of Turkey. Seal seems to have a real deep understanding and empathy for Turkish culture and society. Few books impart such a lively and perceptive glimpse of an exotic country through the artifice of such a seemingly mundane item. Central Asia
Ralph Leighton Ever wanted to follow your obsession to visit some remote corner of the world despite seemingly insurmountable odds? If so, read this book. You'll love the story of these two academicians (Feynman is a Noble Prize winning physicist; Leighton a High School science and geography teacher) who spend ten years trying to get to Tuva just because one of them loved stamps from there during their childhood. And, while, sadly, only Leighton makes it to Tuva, you can't help but admire and be enchanted by both these explorers and the crazy place, Tuva, they come to love. General Africa
The Africans was written as a companion guide to a PBS television series in 1986. Mazrui presented a thorough and intimate view of this misunderstood continent that managed to create such a hubbub that the National Endowment of the Arts threatened to pull funding for this series at the time. Sure, the book is less than sympathetic toward the West, however, let?s face it, Mazrui is right. Africa ? more than anyplace else on earth ? was severely damaged by imperialism and has never really recovered. Sadly, to make matters worse, since The Africans was published, Africa is also plagued by AIDS as well. Yet, as Mazrui skillfully argues, Africa still has rich culture, history, and traditions that over time may pull it out of the quagmire.
African Madness is a truly horrific picture of the brutality of African life. Shoumatoff moves the reader from the terrific ecological pillaging of Madagascar to the even more tragic oppression leveled on Africans by two madmen, Idi Amin and Jean Bokassa (Central African Empire). Yet, somehow, Shoumatoff manages to convey both the basic decency of the African people and the beauty of their land and culture in between these extremely sad accounts.
Africana contains over 2000 pages of carefully researched, well written, and balanced information about Africa and its descendants in the Americas (note: the encyclopedia also contains a lot of information about African culture in the USA, Latin America, and the Caribbean). A must read part of any library. I only wish I could find such a useful resource for information about Latin America and Asia!
Bonner argues forcefully that any solution to Africa?s wildlife problems needs to involve local Africans or else it will be condemned to failure. Bonner shows how Africa?s poverty and desperation leads people to kill wildlife and finds several inspiring example of successful, small, grass roots organization that have integrated local Africans into conserving wildlife. He also shows how some of the programs designed by the West to answer wildlife's problems actually contribute ? rather than solve ? the problem.
Shaffer recounts with gusto and passion a year spent traveling throughout Africa as a volunteer. She reveals a lot about Africa?s cultures and values through the lives of the people she meets along the way. She also tells us, in a quiet yet powerful way, about how her experiences in Africa have helped shape her life. All-in-all, Somebody?s Heart is Burning is a great read!
An extremely powerful, and unforgettable, look at the uneasy relationship between man and the elephant. Gavron weaves interesting facts about the elephant (I didn?t know, for example, that by confining elephants to preserves, man has almost ensured the destruction of all the acacia trees, and the animals that depend on these trees) with the sad tale of how man has threatened the survival of this incredible animal. West Africa General Malaria Dreams: An African Adventure Malaria Dreams reads both like a travelogue and an old?style mystery pot?boiler. Living up to the maxim, truth is often stranger than fiction, Stevens tells the true life story of his efforts to transport a car (which turns out to be owned by a spy) from the Central African Republic to Europe. Along the way, an odd assortment of, often comic, adventures occur that nearly cost Stevens and his erstwhile woman companion their lives. Cameroon
Herrera weaves an emotionally gripping and ultimately revealing portrait of the people that she encounters during her two year stint in Cameroon and how they transformed her life. Along the way, she delivers one of the most powerful memoirs about the power of ?culturally adventurous? travel to transform people I?ve ever read. I highly recommend this book! Herrera is a great story teller and a highly sympathetic person. Central Africa Zaire Facing the Congo: A Modern-Day Journey Into the Heart of Darkness Tayler faces life in the Democratic Republic of Congo (also known as Zaire) head on during his crazy efforts to follow Henry Stanley?s trip down the Congo River. Along the way, he encounters the detritus of life in Zaire after thirty years of rule by one of the world?s most truly insane despots, Mobuto. Tayler conveys in powerful images life in the closest thing to hell on Earth while capturing the captivating countryside that he encounters on his journey. A powerful, moving book! East Africa Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, and Djibouti) Surrender or Starve: Travels in Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, and Eritrea Many people remember the horrific scenes of starvation from the Horn of Africa in 1984. Yet, very few people know anything about the causes of the famine. Kaplan, argues forcefully that the West misinterpreted the players in the famine. He details how the Mengistu government in Ethiopia (the only truly Stalinist government in Africa?s history) deliberately promoted and sustained the famine to address political dissent and, conversely, how the dissident army, the Eritrean People?s Liberation Front, actually served the interests of its population much better than most revolutionary armies.
A great book! Nega successfully moves the reader from reminiscences of his childhood spent in the midst of the old fashioned, somewhat repressive, yet ultimately colorful and magical kingdom of Haile Selassie?s Ethiopia to a gripping, tragic tale of the repressive, Communist society that emerged after the King?s death. While many books have documented the pains that everyday people suffered under Maoist and Stalinist Communism, the Notes from the Hyena?s Belly is the only book I?ve read that describes so movingly how these philosophies engendered such pain on African soil. It also serves as a poignant, and memorable, look at the Ethiopian culture.
Southern Africa Botswana The Lost World of the Kalahari Written in 1958, The Lost World of the Kalahari is a surprisingly sympathetic and compelling account of Van der Post?s efforts to locate the last of the Bushman. Along the way, while Van der Post undergoes tremendous physical challenges to find the Bushmen, he also finds that the Bushmen are a highly humane and physically strong people. Well worth reading!
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