The number of African migrants attempting to enter Europe has increased. In Europe, North African migrants are being accused of increased involvement in Islamic fundamentalism and terrorist activities after attacks on Madrid and London. Such terrorist attacks have become an urgent security concern for the European Union (EU) forcing the EU to make migration a security policy. The essays focus on: the extent to which the EU is threatened by patterns of African crisis; Africa's peace, security and development initiatives; current migration flows from Africa to Europe; and, the challenges and prospects of a comprehensive EU strategy for Africa. Index, 186pp, UK. ASHGATE.

Globalization is not a new phenomenon in the international system evidenced by the various efforts that have been made over the last several centuries to establish a so-called 'global village' with multiple spheres - cultural, economic, ecological, political, social. However, the various phases of this process have had divergent scope, actors, dimensions and dynamics. This book focuses on the 'new globalization' a phase that emerged when the Cold War ended. Argues that it is the most expansive and technological advanced of all of the phases of globalization and has witnessed the integration of virtually all states of the world and non-state actors into the global capitalist system. This book identifies some of the frontier issues in Africa - debt, human rights, development, state sovereignty, the environment, democratisation, the HIV/AIDS pandemic and communications - that are being impacted on by the dynamics of this new globalization. Index, 192pp, UK. ASHGATE.

Studies the interactions between the South African government and the international AIDS control regime, to examine the emergence of an epistemic community and also the develop-ment of a counter-epistemic community offering fundamentally different understandings of AIDS and radically different policy prescriptions. Explores how individuals have become influential in the crafting of the South African government's AIDS policies, despite universal condemnation from the international scientific community. Index, Index, bib, 154pp, UK. ASHGATE.

The first guide to focus on the renascent Algeria. After a decade of isolated but brutal civil unrest, peace is holding and tourism is emerging. From the northern coastal strip with bays reminiscent of southern Italy to the desert towns of the south, Algeria has a great deal to offer visitors. Algeria's World Heritage sites are free of thronging crowds. There is significant evidence of the country's Roman past; the ruins of Timgad are among the best-preserved in the world, while those at Tipasa overlook the Mediterranean Sea and are within easy reach of the capital, Algiers. 15 maps, 16 col photos, 336pp, UK. BRADT PUBLICATIONS.

New in paperback. From the killing fields of Rwanda and Srebrenica a decade ago to those of Darfur today, the United Nations has repeatedly failed to confront genocide. This is evinced, LeBor maintains, in a May 1995 document from Yasushi Akashi, the most senior UN official in the field during the Yugoslav wars, in which he refused to authorize air strikes against the Serbs for fear they would 'weaken' Milosevic. More recently, in 2003, urgent reports from UN officials in the Sudan detailing atrocities from Darfur were ignored for a year because they were politically inconven-ient. This book is the first to examine in detail the crucial role of the Secretariat, its relationship with the Security Council, and the failure of UN officials themselves to confront genocide. LeBor argues the UN must return to its founding principles, take a moral stand and set the agenda of the Security Council instead of merely following the lead of the great powers. Index, bib, notes, 326pp, USA. YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS.

Some of the essays in this volume were published in Nigeria a few years ago (ON BLACK CULTURE, Obafemi Awolowo University Press). That edition is now out of print; nonetheless, the essays remain relevant. The present text contains new chapters which serve as a continuation of Ojo-Ade's exploration and explication of African continental and diasporic cultures. Culture is defined as the totality of a peoples way of life, forged by essence and experience. The critic, a polyglot (Yoruba, English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese) with a broad-based background, analyses the works of major figures of Africana, from the ancestral continent, Brazil, Cuba, Martinique, Guyane, Haiti, Jamaica, the United States, Britain, France, and elsewhere. Index, 299pp, USA. AFRICA WORLD PRESS.

Collection of essays covering a myriad of Panafricanist fields of theory, grouped around the issue of Black survival and growth - physically, politically, economically, intellectually, socially and spiritually. Divided into seven distinct parts this multifaceted volume argues for a holistic understanding of African life and history. Index, 476pp, USA. AFRICA WORLD PRESS.

Argues that Eritrea, as the home of nine ethno-linguistic and multi-faith groups, has the potential ingredients of lethal identity-based conflicts. However, in spite of its potentially conflict-prone social structure, there have never been in the country's history generalized ethnic or faith-based violent conflicts; save the limited skirmishes that took place in Asmara in February 1950 between the Youth of the Muslim League and the youth of the Unionist Party. The civil wars between the ELF and EPLF during the first half and late 1970s and early 1980s had nothing or little to do with ethnicity or religion. In spite of their appearances, not only were these aberra-tional events limited to diehard partisan elements, but also both events were rejected and condemned by the civilian population. The reason why the civilian populations are never drawn into sectarian conflicts is because they are endowed with rich stock of social capital. This promotes social trust, norms of reciprocity and cooperation, mutual respect, tolerance and empathy across the social cleavages of faith and ethnicity. These social resources underpin the livelihood systems of the communities that inhabit the different ecological zones. Without such resources, the war of independence against sub-Saharan Africa's second largest army would have most probably failed. Index, bib, notes, 450pp, USA. RED SEA PRESS.

Argues that several factors have contributed to the rapid economic growth rates that Botswana experienced in the 1980s, particularly the convergence of the discovery of diamonds and the inflow of foreign exchange earnings from that mineral, but the country’s performance was no accident. A number of variables, such as political stability coupled with strong democratic institutions, have fuelled growth and development. These pro-growth variables stand in sharp relief against anti-growth variables (such as drought and global recession, which reduced the demand for diamonds) that characterised the early 1990s, with the pro-growth variables outweighing the anti-growth ones. Also explores how a series of national development plans - which outlined when projects came on line, their estimated costs, completion dates - contributed to Botswana's success. Index, bib, tables, charts, 185pp, USA. AFRICA WORLD PRESS.

Jean and John Comaroff investigate why it is that crime statistics have become a pervasive public passion in the South African postcolony. They explore what exactly those crime statistics make real how they take on public life, by what means they convert the abstract into the intimate and tertiary knowledge into primary experience. Why is it that they have become deeply inscribed in narratives of personal being, so vital to the construction of moral publics, so integral to debates about the meaning of democracy, freedom and security? Conventionally framed as value-free information, these numbers appear to be taking on ever more political weight as the modernist state deregulates the functions of governance, as sovereignty is parsed and privatised, as control over the means of violence is rendered ambiguous, as a culture of popular punitiveness gains credence, as race is criminalized and crime racialised. 48pp, GERMANY. LIT VERLAG.

Fiddling has had a lengthy history in Africa which has long been ignored. Jacqueline Cogdell DjeDje corrects this oversight with an expansive study on fiddling in the Fulbe, Hausa, and Dagbamba cultures of West Africa. DjeDje not only explains the history of the instrument itself, but also discusses the processes of stylistic transference and adaptation, suggesting how these may have contributed to differing performance practices. Additionally, DjeDje delves into the music, the performance context, the musicians behind the fiddle, the meaning of the instrument, and its use in these three cultures. Index, bib, notes, b/w illus, 337pp, USA. INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS.

Somali communities can be found in nearly every corner of the world from small rural towns like Barron, Wisconsin and Lewiston, Maine in the United States, to cities like Johannesburg, Sydney, Helsinki, Minneapolis, and Toronto. Diasporic Somalis are just as likely to speak Afrikaans or Finnish as they are to speak Somali. This book represents the first attempt to map the social and cultural contours of the Somali diaspora in a global context. Using case studies from Somali communities in Africa, Europe, and North America, the contributors to this volume construct a global framework for studying the Somali diaspora. This framework simultaneously compares dispersed Somalis in different cultural, economic, political, and racial contexts, and captures the fluid, transnational context of the Somali diaspora. The central questions that guide this book are: How do these contexts inform the production and maintenance of Somali diaspora formation? Consequently, how do the making and remaking of diasporic identities affect local Somali communities, the global diaspora community, host societies as well as the homeland communities they left behind? Index, 335pp, USA. RED SEA PRESS.

What can be learned from the struggles in Somalia and Somaliland to help prevent the collapse of independent states and cultural groups when confronted by a series of today’s complex challenges, ranging from militarism, dictatorship and the politicisation of diverse ethnic/clan groups? Why and how did the Siyad military dictatorship survive for over two decades? What makes a society with a relatively shared culture break into two entities, one moving towards self-government by its citizens and the other choosing authoritarian rule? In this book of essays, Dr. Hussein Adam explores questions like these as he analyses the Somali crisis and contrasts the political cultures of Somalia and Somaliland. In the process, he reveals some of the underlying complexities that can result in the collapse or sustained development of a society. He explores how indigenous political structures foster local initiatives in peace building and democratic governance. 259pp, USA. AFRICA WORLD PRESS.

New in paperback. In 1994, in one of the first acts of cultural reparation when the African National Congress came to power, Nelson Mandela requested that France release Sara Baartman's remains. Such is the resonance of the 'Hottentot Venus' story, such is the significance of her place in history, that when the remains were eventually returned in April 2002, the funeral service was a national event. Two hundred years earlier, the young Saartjie Baartman had been persuaded by a Dutch man and an English doctor in Cape Town to go with them to England to seek fame and fortune for all three. The fame and the fortune was to come from Saartjie's body - 'Hottentot' women were figures of exotic excess and the three hatched a plan for Saartjie to perform in shows which would be extravaganzas of titillation and exoticism. Index, notes, col illus, 239pp, UK. BLOOMSBURY.

New paperback edition. The brutal murder of the Dutch film-maker Theo van Gogh in 2004 shocked the world. Shot and mutilated by a Muslim fanatic as he cycled to work, it was a stark reminder of the dangers of challenging an extreme Islamic worldview. It also changed the life of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, van Gogh's collaborator on the film that had offended his murderer. Born in Somalia and raised a Muslim, she had escaped an arranged marriage and made a new life as a Dutch parliamentarian, championing the reform of Islam and its attitude to women's rights. B/w photos, 368pp, UK. POCKET BOOKS.

Latest edition of the most authoritative collection of statistics available. Updated to 2005 wherever possible, it provides key economic and social indicators for the last 255 years of every country in the African, Asian and Australasian continents, covering: population & vital statistics; labour force; agriculture; industry; external trade; transport & communication; prices; national accounts. These are provided in a detailed series of subsets: such as unemployment figures, coal production figures and so on. 1175pp, UK. PALGRAVE.

"The collection shows the interweaving of Okafor's talents as a writer who is proficient in three genres of literature, and who draws from her African background, English language and Western experience. The feminist tenure of the collection seen in the characters, subjects, and their handling, reveals an inclusive kind of feminism and critique of exclusionist feminist episteme." Carla Comellini, University of Trieste. Gloss, 80pp, USA. AFRICA WORLD PRESS.

For three months in the spring of 1994, the Rwanda descended into one of the most vicious and bloody genocides the world has ever seen. Immaculee Ilibagiza, a young university student, miraculously survived the savage killing spree that left most of her family, friends, and a million of her fellow citizens dead. This remarkable story of survival was documented first in LEFT TO TELL and this account takes up the story as she struggles to find meaning and purpose in the aftermath of the holocaust. 288pp, UK. HAY HOUSE.

Mandela's extraordinary life receives a fresh retelling in this new biography written especially for students and general readers. This volume is an enjoyable, authoritative, and balanced way to not only understand a great man, but also to understand a critical time in world history and race relations. It follows his life from his birth into a strong Xhosa family and clan, through his political and personal development, his activism and his long imprisonment, to his freedom. The final chapters discuss his presidency and Nobel Peace Prize and life today. A timeline, photo essay, and selected bibliography complement the narrative. Index, 144pp, USA. GREENWOOD.

Music is life on the sun-baked streets of many African cities, blasting out of every bus, kiosk and market stall. This Rough Guide captures this exuberant spontaneous spirit with groundbreaking tracks from Vieux Farka Touré, Ricardo Lemvo, Kenge Kenge and named Fatai Rolling Dollar. 11 tracks, 63:01 mins, UK. ROUGH GUIDES.

New in paperback. Henry Morton Stanley, so the tale goes, was a cruel imperialist - a bad man of Africa - who connived with King Leopold II of Belgium in horrific crimes against the people of the Congo. He also conducted the most legendary celebrity interview in history, remembered in the words 'Dr Livingstone, I presume?'. Or so we think: but as Jeal shows, none of these perceptions is quite true. The reality of Stanley's life, even by the exceptional standards of the Victorian age, is yet more extraordinary. Rejected by both parents at birth and consigned to a Welsh workhouse, he emigrated to America, fought in the Civil War - on both sides - before becoming a journalist and then an explorer. Index, bib, col & b/w photos, 560pp, UK. FABER.

Tanganyika's special status as a UN Trust Territory was a decisive factor in the timing, method and manner in which it became independent. This study investigates the interaction between Tanganyikan Africans, Great Britain and the UN in this process, and how the Africans exploited this status by means of petitions and manipulation of UN Visiting Missions. It provides unique insight into the UN's role in dismantling colonial empires, Great Britain's history as a colonial power and the development of political consciousness of modern Africans in a colonial and international context. Bib, 597pp, GERMANY. LIT VERLAG.

Study of a water Goddess cult among the Igbo of Lake Oguta in southeastern Nigeria, which explores the rituals, beliefs and social organization bound up with enactments of women's power. Ogbuide holds sway in an environment where water determines commerce, artistic output, gender relations and communal life. Index, bib, gloss, b/w photos, 433pp, USA. AFRICA WORLD PRESS.

New edition. Drawing on elements of Malawian folklore, these poems confront tyranny in Malawi and East and Southern Africa, and deal with themes of colonial and post-colonial oppression, exile, good and evil. 97pp, UK. MALLORY INTERNATIONAL.

Explores the moments at which Hirson read four books obsessively in different phases of his life - both as a youth in South Africa and during his decades in Paris, where he still lives: SHOOTING AT SHARPEVILLE by Ambrose Reeves, a report on the killing on 69 anti-pass protesters by police in 1960; DIE YSTERKOI MOET SWEET (The Iron Cow Must Sweat), Breyten Breytenbach's first collection of poems; IN A MARINE LIGHT, a selection of Raymond Carver's poems; and JE ME SOUVIENS (I remember), a book of fragments of post Second World War memories by Georges Perec. The key moments at which he read and re-read these texts include the arrest of his anti-apartheid activist father, Baruch Hirson in the early 1960's; his own move to Paris in the 1970's; his father's death, and the end of a period of mourning for him. In weaving together these two strands in this book, he explores a constellation of key words, which trace, in different ways, the political space of apartheid South Africa and the transience of one who is now looking back at that time through the prism of distance. Bib, 196pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JACANA MEDIA.

Commemorative Publication in Honour of Eckhard Breitinger. A collection of essays by African writers, dramatists, and theatre practitioners reflecting on the social, political, and cultural processes in Africa from historical and cultural perspectives. Index, bib, 402pp, USA. AFRICA WORLD PRESS.