Collection of love stories from African women, combining the quiet confidence of established and award winning writers with the tentativeness and originality of budding writers from Africa and the African Diaspora. The love theme is aimed at debunking the myth that African women are poor and helpless victims whilst showing their strength, complexity and diversity. The stories deal with a range of challenging themes including taboo subjects such as homosexuality, domestic violence, female circumcision, ageism amongst others to produce a melting pot of narratives from interesting and informed perspectives. Contributors include Sindiwe Magona and Antjie Krog from South Africa, Veronique Tadjo from Cote d'Ivoire, Leila Aboulela from the Sudan, Tess Onwueme, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Sarah Manyika, Sefi Atta and Helen Oyeyemi from Nigeria, Amma Darko and Yaba Badoe from Ghana, Wangui wa Goro from Kenya, and Doreen Baingana from Uganda. 249pp, UK. AYEBIA. Includes the winning story in the 2007 Caine Prize for African Writing Monica Arac de Nyeko's 'Jambula Tree'.

2006 0954702360 Paperback

An impressive and readable biography of the continent, describing its prehistory, geology and the emergence of humans and early societies. The author also discusses the impact of trade and foreign influences especially the demand for ivory and slaves. Several sections are also devoted to the coming of settlers, colonialism and the eventual creation of independent states. Index, bib, notes, maps, xii, 803pp, UK. PENGUIN.

1998 1997 0140266755 Paperback

A collection of 34 stories by Africa's most innovative writers. Foreworded by Chinua Achebe. 375pp, UK. ANCHOR BOOKS.

2002 1994 0385722400 Paperback

New in paperback. Ever since Stanley first charted its mighty river in the 1870s, the Congo has epitomised in the Western mind, the dark and turbulent history of a failed continent - from colonial cruelty under the Belgians to the kleptocratic chaos of Mobutu Seso Seko and the current post-apocalyptic riot of robber-baron politicians. However, its troubles only served to increase the interest of Daily Telegraph correspondent Tim Butcher, who was sent to cover Africa in 2000. He remembered his mother's stories of her own genteel river journey there in the 1950s and his connection deepened when he discovered that Stanley's expedition was funded by the Telegraph. Before long he became obsessed with the idea of recreating Stanley's original expedition but travelling alone. Tim Butcher deserves a medal for this crazy feat. I marvel at his courage and his empathy - Thomas Pakenham. Index, bib, b/w photos, maps, 363pp, UK. VINTAGE UK.

2008 2007 9780099494287 Paperback

New in paperback. Sweeping new novel from the author of PURPLE HIBISCUS, set in Nigeria in the 1960s, at the time of a vicious civil war in which a million people died, and thousands were massacred in cold blood. The three main characters in the novel get swept up in the violence during these turbulent years. As these people's lives intersect, they have to question their own responses to the unfolding political events. This extraordinary novel is about Africa in a wider sense: about moral responsibility, about the end of colonialism, about ethnic allegiances, about class and race; and the ways in which love can complicate all of these things. 448pp, UK. HARPER PERENNIAL.

2007 2006 9780007200283 Paperback

Now in paperback. Citically acclaimed journalist and writer Michela Wrong describes the recent history of Eritrea as contested territory among western nations - Italy, Britain, the USA and Russia all used the country. Part travelogue, part biography of a country, this is a riveting account of colonialism and its effects on present-day Eritrea. New edition includes an interview with the author and a list of her top ten favourite African books. Index, notes, glossary, chronology, b/w photographs, maps, xiii, 432pp, UK. HARPER PERENNIAL. 2005 0007150954 Paperback

A century after Joseph Conrad's apocalyptic 'Heart of Darkness' the author revisits the Congo as the era of Mobutu Sese Seko collapses into absurdity, anarchy and corruption. Gloss, bib, index, x, 324pp, UK. FOURTH ESTATE.

2001 2000 1841154229 Paperback

Documents the development of Mandela as a political leader, and also as a family man and friend. Through his privileged relationship with Mandela, Magubane was given unparalleled access to his private life and his home. SOUTH AFRICA. PICADOR AFRICA.

2008 9781770100657 Hardback

Fifteen year old Kambili's world is circumscribed by the high walls of her family compound in Nigeria. When she is sent to her aunt's house, as the country begins to fall apart under a military coup, she discovers love and life beyond the confines of her father's authority. Her new freedom also uncovers a terrible secret at the heart of her family life. 307pp, UK. HARPER PERENNIAL.

2008 2005 2004 9780007268382 Paperback

Now in paperback, the widely acclaimed account of the author's extensive travels in Africa over a 40 year period beginning with Ghana's independence. 'I avoided official routes, palaces, important personages, and big politics ... I preferred to hitch rides on passing trucks, wander with nomads through the desert, be the guest of peasants from the tropical savannah ... This is therefore not a book about Africa, but rather about some people from there; about encounters with them and time spent together.' 325pp, UK. PENGUIN.

2002 1998 0140292624 Paperback

Now in paperback. African bad-news stories massively outweigh the good. Ever since the process of decolonisation began in the mid-1950s, and arguably before, the continent has appeared to be stuck in a process of irreversible decline. Constant war, improper use of natural resources and misappropriation of revenues and aid monies contribute to an impression of a continent beyond hope. What is to be done? Weaving together the key stories and characters of the last fifty years into a compelling and controversial narrative, Martin Meredith has produced a comprehensive history of how European ideas of how to organise 10,000 different ethnic groups has led to the current continental malaise. Maps, Index, bib, notes, 768pp, UK. SIMON & SCHUSTER.

2011 2006 2005 9780852703878 Paperback

A series of accounts of life in Rwanda from the history of the country and the roots of the genocide to family life. A compelling work of journalism. Winner of the Guardian First Book Award. Map, 356pp, UK. PICADOR.

1998 0330371215 Paperback

New in paperback. Peter Godwin, an award-winning writer, is on assignment in Zululand when he is summoned by his mother to Zimbabwe, his birthplace. His father is seriously ill; she fears he is dying. Godwin finds his country, once a post-colonial success story, descending into a vortex of violence and racial hatred incited by an embattled dictator. His father recovers, but over the next few years, Godwin travels regularly between his family life in Manhattan and the increasing chaos of Zimbabwe, where inflation runs so fast that the currency can't keep up; where land seizures have made famine a real prospect; and where his parents, emigrants from post-war England, are refusing to abandon their home. It is against this backdrop that Godwin discovers a fifty-year-old family secret, one which changes everything he thought he knew about his father, and his own place in the world. 416pp, UK. PICADOR.

2007 9780330448185 Paperback

New in paperback. In exile for more than twenty years, Ngugi wa Thiong'o has become one of the most widely read African writers of our time, the power and scope of his work garnering him international attention and praise. His aim here is, in his own words, nothing less than 'to sum up Africa of the twentieth century in the context of 2,000 years of world history.' Commencing in 'our times' and set in the 'Free Republic of Aburiria', the novel drama-tises with corrosive humour and keenness of observation a battle for control of the souls of the Aburirian people. Fashioning the stories of the powerful and the ordinary into a dazzling mosaic, informed by richly enigmatic traditional African storytelling, Ngugi reveals humanity in all its ceaselessly surprising complexity. 784pp, UK. VINTAGE.

2007 2006 0099502685 Paperback