An account of John Kufuor's journey from Oxford-educated lawyer to Ghana's Deputy Foreign Minister at 30, detention, emergence as leader of the Opposition's New Patriotic Party and subsequent election as President in the first democratic elections in nearly 40 years of military intervention and dictatorships. Index, col & b/w photos, 394pp, UK. AYEBIA.

Now in paperback. Leaving his own home in London, where he has never truly felt at home, he sets out for Ghana, the home of his family, in search of his roots. Travelling from Accra to Cape Coast, to the Ashanti region and on into Ghana's far north, his journey intersects with other voyages - including those of Louis Armstrong, W.E.B. du Bois, his father and mother, his grandparents, and the shocking confrontation with the history of slavery from its shores. 240pp, UK. PENGUIN.

Part novel, part autobiography, this book is above all about identity in an Africa fractured by the colonial experience. B/w ill, 158pp, GHANA. AFRAM PUBLICATIONS LTD, 9964702418

This is the first biography in English of one of the world's most widely recognised leaders, published to coincide with his retirement from the U.N. Born in Ghana and educated in North America and Europe, Kofi Annan was elected Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1996, the first Black African to serve in that position and the first to come up through the bureaucratic ranks. 384pp, USA. JOHN WILEY.

A short readable introduction to the life and political achievements of Nkrumah, as a leader of Ghana, and as a Pan Africanist. Index, refs, map, bib, xiii, 129pp, UK. 0747405042

Published 11 years after Efua Sutherland's death in the hopes of rekindling an awareness of the cultural dynamism, activism and diasporic connections that she achieved through her lifetime's work, while reflecting her deep passion for African and Ghanaian cultures in particular and her love of theatrical cultures from around the world. This collection of scholarly essays by leading academics in the field is centred around literary criticism and models for cultural development practices in Africa. Index, notes, chronology, 271pp, UK. AYEBIA.

Mumuni Bawumia served as a Member of Parliament and Government Minister in Ghana's first independent government, working closely with Kwame Nkrumah through to the period of the Fourth Republic. He is remembered particularly for his role in bridging the development gap between the north and south of the country. He was later a barrister and played a prominent role in the all-important cocoa industry. 279pp, GHANA. SEDCO PUBLISHING.

Features the life histories of eight senior Ghanaian men to explore the changing meaning of becoming a man in modern Africa. It concentrates on the ideals and expectations that formed around men who were prominent in their communities when Ghana became an independent nation. It demonstrates how they negotiated complex social and economic transformations and how they dealt with their mounting obligations and responsibilities as leaders in their kinship groups, churches, and schools. Not only were notions about men and masculinity shaped by community standards, but they were strongly influenced by imported standards that came from missionaries and other colonial officials. Ilus, 320pp, USA. INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS.

Traces the author's early childhood during the opening decades of the 20th century. Contains detail on social and material life in Asante which questions the produc-tion of historical knowledge about African societies. Indwex, maps, figs, index, 238pp, USA. HEINEMANN USA INC.

A collection of 162 biographical sketches of Ghanaians that were important in business, society, government, and the church during the late 1920s. First published by Gold Coast business man Charles Francis Hutchinson, this annotated edition is the first reprint of the book and includes an introduction offering a historical context. BNS, 500pp, USA. EJ BRILL, 9004140972

The memoirs of Francis Bartels, the headmaster of Mfantsipim, the Ghanaian school that counts Kofi Annan as a former pupil. Index, app, notes, 631pp, GHANA. GHANA U P, 9964032463

2003 Paperback

The unfinished autobiography of Kum Gandah, son of a chief in Northern Ghana. His story focuses on the generation of children who grew to adulthood with independence. Notes, sepia photographs, 288pp, GHANA. SUB SAHARAN PUBLISHERS.