Makes available a unique corpus of primary-source material. Using this resource West African chronicles and oral traditions are reinterpreted, and the composite history of the Tuareg and Songhay is revealed. Also discusses linguistic and literary issues. BNS, 65 pp b/w plates, 312 line drawings, 650pp, UK. OXFORD UNIV PRESS, 0197262228

A study of the agro pastoral Fulbe and of how they cope with insecurity, focusing on the dynamic interplay between various ecological and historical realities. The authors also look at how these insecurities are borne by different groups in society. Notes, b/w illus, maps, 547pp, THE NETHERLANDS. THELA THESIS.

Focuses on the aesthetic qualities of the masterpieces of Bamana (Bambara) religious art in Mali, resituating them in their social, aesthetic and cultural contexts. There is an emphasis on pieces used in rites of passage (Ntomo, funerals), or by agricultural cooperatives (ton, deme), and initiation societies (Kore, Jo, Komo, Kono, Tyiwara, Namakoro), pieces that stand at the crossroads of religion, aesthetics and politics. Bib, col & b/w illus, 142pp, ITALY. FIVE CONTINENTS EDITIONS.

Explores the history and cultural context of family claims to power in Bamako, located in modern-day Mali in West Africa. Perinbam argues that these families manipulated traditional belief stystems in the quest for political power, economic success, and social status, offering insights into the processes of Mande social history. Notes, maps, bib, index, 341pp, USA, UK. WESTVIEW.

Recreates the events and annals of the kingdom of Segu and the Bambara tribe that formed a series of important city states along the Niger river during the seventeenth century. 178pp, USA. UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS PRESS.

At a time when so-called fundamentalism has become the privileged analytical frame for understanding Muslim societies past and present, this study offers an alternative perspective on Islam. In an innovative combination of anthropology, history, and social theory, Benjamin Soares explores Islam and Muslim practice in an important Islamic religious centre in West Africa from the late nineteenth century to the present. Drawing on ethnography, archival research, and written sources, Soares provides a richly detailed discussion of Sufism, Islamic reform, and other contemporary ways of being Muslim in Mali and offers an original analytical perspective for understanding changes in the practice of Islam more generally. Illus, 320pp, UK. EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY PRESS.

A introduction to this West African country struggling with the effects of an economic structural adjustment programme and inter-ethnic tensions. Looks at the lives of ordinary Malians and asks how they are surviving the changes which are transforming their nation, also at their culture, from village story-tellers to world-famous film makers and musicians like Salif Keita and Ali Farka Toure. Many b/w photos, 63pp, 190 x 245mm, UK. OXFAM PUBLICATIONS.

The town of Djenne on the Bani River in Mali has been a thriving settlement for more than two millennia. Renowned for its mud-brick architecture, monumental mosque, and merchant-traders' houses, Djenne remains one of Africa's most distinctive cities. Trevor Marchand signs on as a builder's apprentice and takes readers on his journey from raw labourer to skilled craftsman. He explores the professional associations of masons, their social networks, training regimes, and changing fortunes. With his fellow builders, he produces mud bricks and plasters, constructs walls and ceilings, and sculpts rooftop crenellations using specialized tools. Marchand de-scribes the raising of a mud-brick house and explores the technical, social, and magical processes involved in making buildings and renewing the unique urban environment of Djenne. 376pp, USA. INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS.

In a joint project between South Africa and Mali, a library to preserve more than 200 000 Arabic and West African manuscripts dating from the 13th to the 19th centuries is currently under construction. It is the first official cultural project of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad), the socio-economic development plan of the African Union, and when the library is built, the cultural role of Timbuktu will be revived, as it becomes the safe haven for the treasured manuscripts. The manuscripts prove that Africa had a rich legacy of written history, long before western colonisers set foot on the continent. This volume, authored by leading international scholars, begins to sketch the 'meaning' of Timbuktu within the context of the intellectual history of West Africa, in particular, and of the African continent, in general. 416pp, SOUTH AFRICA. HUMAN SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL.

Ethnographic study of fertility, analysing the rapidly changing urban environment's impact on demographic change in Mali. BNS, 340pp, NETHERLANDS. EJ BRILL, 9004120335

A compelling account of leprosy in colonial and post colonial Mali drawing on an extensive collection of life stories. By privileging African voices in the experience of the disease, the author presents a portrait of leprosy sufferers that belies their stereotype as pitiable victims and reveals them instead as vibrant historical actors. B/w illus, notes, gloss, map, bib, index, xi, 220pp, UK. JAMES CURREY PUBLISHERS, 0852556306

Taken from the oral tradition of the history of the Haayre by a griot at the court of Dalla, Aamadu Baa Digi. BNS, 150pp, IN FRENCH & FULBE. NETHERLANDS. EJ BRILL.

2002 9004124462 Paperback

An oral account of the people, events and customs of the 18th and 19th Century Bamana city state of Segu (in what is now Mali) was recorded in 1976 by Tayiru Banbera, a hereditary professional bard, and is published here in translation. While no single oral narrative encompasses all that is known about Segu history, Tayiru covers almost all the major episodes, with his colourful language, clever dialogue, clever dialogue and thoughtful explanatory asides. He adds an extra dimension by providing a view of daily life in the period covered. Maps, tables, glos, index. x, 360pp. UK. OXBOW.

'provides a wealth of information on pre-modern West Africa, particularly on the Songhay empire of the Niger river region and on the conquest of that empire by the Moroccan Sa'di dynasty during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.' Stephen Cory, Religious Studies Review, 2000. 488pp, NETHERLANDS. BRILL, EJ, 9004128220

Counted as a success story on the continent because of achieving a peaceful transition to multi-party democracy after 23 years of brutal dictatorship, among other achievements, Mali is among the three top economic performers in West Africa, along with Benin and Senegal. The liberalisation of the economy by successive governments since 1991 and the introduction of market-based reforms have resulted in a strong economic performance. As a direct result of the development of three new mines by South African companies, gold production has grown almost eightfold in less than a decade. Apps, tables, charts, 147pp, SOUTH AFRICA. SOUTH AFRICAN INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS.

Now in paperback. A memoir in which the author revisits his youth in Mali, his early love for Swedish girls and American rock and roll and his travels to Europe and the United States, bringing to life a generation of optimistic African who were drawn to the promise of western equality, but were confronted with racism and prejudice. xvi, 271pp, UK AYEBIA CLARKE PUBLISHING Ltd 0954702344