Book Reviews

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Durban author and veteran social activist and campaigner for peace and justice, Paddy Kearney, launches Guardian of the Light, the first full biography about the astonishing life and phenomenal work of Archbishop Denis Hurley – one of the most significant Catholic leaders in South Africa in the second half of the twentieth century. (AllAfrica)

This is the object of a book written by Evini Avang that was launched last Friday at the conference hall of the Ministry of Sports and Physical Education by Minister Michel Zoah. (AllAfrica)

'Like daughter, like mother'. . . The norm appears to be that parents inspire their offspring. Seldom is it the other way round. Yvonne Vera, who died in April 2005 and was one of the most prolific writers Zimbabwe has produced, inspired many people not least her mother Ericah Gwetai. (AllAfrica)

Daniel Mandishona's White Gods, Black Demons is an anthology of 10 short stories published under the Weaver Press stable. Its magic is that it feels startlingly familiar, whatever your politics may be. Each portrait in the 110-page collection is the product of prodigious observation and research that resembles a return to the 16th century Every (wo)man theatrical genre. (AllAfrica)

Exploring the dynamics and limitations of reciprocity in Liberia-US relations, the book offers a perspective on security and economic assistance as instruments of foreign policy. (AllAfrica)

A Short History of African Philosophy discusses major ideas, figures, and schools of thought in philosophy in the African context. (AllAfrica)

A book on the collection of the 16 papers delivered during the public lectures in connection with Ghana's 50 years anniversary celebration was launched in Accra on Tuesday. (AllAfrica)

Levy Patrick Mwanawasa: An Incentive for Posterity (AllAfrica)

Central Asia occupies a large chunk of our planet, stretching from the Middle East to western China, including northern India, the oil states and the countries whose name ends in "---stan". (AllAfrica)

A book on auditing relating to local features of Ethiopia was launched at a ceremony organized by the Department of Accounting and Finance of the Addis Ababa University on Monday at the Faculty of Business and Economics hall. The book is authored by Professor Yohannes Kinfu and Ato Engida Bayou. Panel discussion took place in which many stressed the huge contributions of a book on auditing relating to the ground realities of Ethiopia rather than mere theoretical assertions. (AllAfrica)

THE Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) has published a book on the cultural heritage of the Haikom, one of the marginalised San-speaking groups, who lived in the Etosha National Park for centuries until they were evicted by the South African apartheid regime in the early 1950s. (AllAfrica)

"The Challenge for Africa: A New Vision". (AllAfrica)

TITLE: WE ARE ALL ZIMBABWEANS NOW (AllAfrica)

Finally, an authoritative account of the mythologized life of Sara Baartman. The meticulously researched subject comes to life in the hands of historians Crais and Scully, who skillfully negotiate the pitfalls of writing historical biography. The authors make a delicate distinction between the woman, Sara Baartman, and the iconic Hottentot Venus, in this elegantly written, passionate, compassionate, and carefully contextualized study, in which their findings are nevertheless unflinchingly presented. Magnificent – an outstanding contribution to South African culture, past and present.-Zoë Wicomb, author of You Can't Get Lost in Cape Town and David's Story (AllAfrica)

Paper Wars goes beyond being a valuable repository of freedom of information lore. It reflects upon the ‘multiple faces of information governance’ and indeed upon secrecy itself. The volume presents new evidence and fresh thinking on this increasingly vital and global topic.-Prof Jonathan Klaaren, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (AllAfrica)

Sarah Nuttall and Achille MbembeWith an Afterword by Arjun Appadurai and Carol A. Breckenridge (AllAfrica)

Through careful archival study, Peberdy has written a path-breaking account of what it is to be a South African. This is the first analysis and periodisation of South Africa's immigration laws, and without it one cannot claim to understand the vexed issue of South Africa identity -Peter Alexander, Director, Centre for Sociological Research (AllAfrica)

In the Fog of the Season's End; By Alex La Guma; Harare; Baobab Books (1992); 181 Pages ISBN: 978-0-435-90980-2 (Paperback) (AllAfrica)

Based on fieldwork conducted between 1997 and 2006, Sverker Finnstrom, lecturer in Social Anthropology at Stockholm University, describes how the younger generation of Acholi, those born during civil strife, come to terms with their "world" as they seek "good surroundings", better futures for themselves and their families. The author sets out to show the complexity of life in a war zone, and that black-and-white propaganda of "good guys" and "bad guys" doesn't hold. (AllAfrica)

The Rowing Lesson earned Anne Landsman this year's Sunday Times fiction award. It was promoted recently in Botswana as part of a selection of new books of merit from South Africa. The Rowing Lesson was written at the "Writer's Room" a non-profit urban writer's colony in New York City where she now lives and where she continues to write. (AllAfrica)

Worried by the high indices of joblessness in the country, coupled with the fact that institutions of higher learning over the years have kept producing a number of graduates who have no hope of getting paid employment, an author attempts proffering a solution. In a book titled Life After School, he answers questions of unemployment in the country. (AllAfrica)

Book: Prince Katama (AllAfrica)

Zimbabwean Emigrants: The Truth and Deliberate Misinformation (AllAfrica)

Professor Catherine Acholonu, the enigmatic scholar, has won two prominent awards with her myth-shattering book: They Lived Before Adam. The prolific writer and researcher won the awards during this year's Harlem Book Fair held in the USA, and was one of the foremost writers celebrated at the event. (AllAfrica)

Could it have been that the Igbo lived in the Stone Age before the emergence of the modern man (homo sapien)? Could it have been that the Igbo have been in existence since 1.6 million B.C.? Could the origin of the Igbo be traced to the earliest days of the Homo erectu s Africans, who lived in Okigwe, Abia State, Nigeria between 500,000 and 1,600,000 B.C, at least one million years before the emergence of modern man? (AllAfrica)

A review of Coming Home by Olley Tsino Maruma (AllAfrica)

Transition: An International Review (2009) Issue 101. (AllAfrica)

Dr. Paul K. Fokam in a book says African enterprises must fully embrace globalisation and be conscious of what is needed of them so as to speed up their countries' development. (AllAfrica)

Coming Home (AllAfrica)

MOELETSI Mbeki: 'Architects of Poverty: Why African Capitalism Needs Changing'. 196 Pages (AllAfrica)

Book: A Short History of Nearly Everything (AllAfrica)

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