Book reviews Summer 2009 Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles Richard Dowden, Portobello Books, soft cover, 576 pages, £9.99 Acute, urgent and comprehensive, Richard Dowden’s Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles is this generation’s defining work on the continent. Read more...

Book reviews Spring 2009 My Mercedes is Not for Sale Jeroen van Bergeijk, Broadway Publishing, soft cover, 224 pages, £12.95 When Dutch journalist Jeroen van Bergeijk fell into the back of a clapped-out wreck of a Mercedes while in Burkina Faso for a friend’s wedding a seed was planted… Read more... Book reviews Winter 2008/9 To Timbuktu for a Haircut Rick Antonson, 2008, Dundurn Press, soft cover, 256 pages, £14.99 When Rick Antonson was a boy, he would pester his father every time he left the house.  Read more... Book reviews Autumn 2008 A Guide to the Birds of East Africa Nicholas Drayson, 2007, Footprint, hardback, 202 pages, £12.99 Stop. It’s not what you are thinking. This is a charming piece of fiction that follows the “reserved and honourable” Mr Malik (and his carefully sculpted comb-over) as he tries to out-duel Harry Kahn. Read more... Book reviews Summer 2008 Toujours Tingo Adam Jacot de Boinod, 2007, Penguin Books illustrated hardback, 336 pages, £10.99 Drawing on the collective wisdom of over 300 languages, Toujours Tingo explores all kinds of actions, objects, tastes and noises for which English has no direct counterpart. Read more... Book reviews Spring 2008 Magnificent South Africa 2008, Struik Publishers, hardback, 178 pages, ZAR 250 As much of an introduction to South Africa as it is a memento for those saying goodbye, this revamped coffee table book is everything South Africa is – diverse.  Read more...