Subjects:  1. Cairo    2. Cairo (Egypt)    3. Egypt    4. Guidebooks    5. Historic sites    6. History    7. Islamic antiquities    8. Middle East - Egypt    9. Reference - Guides (General)    10. Tours    11. Travel    12. Travel - Foreign    13. Walking    14. Architecture    15. Travel writing   

Reviews (2)

A concise yet comprehensive look at a fascinating continent
"Africa" is the companion volume to the recent PBS series of the same name, and like the series, is organized into eight parts, each one focusing on a particular geographical region of the continent.In clear, concise language, John Reader gives us the historical and geographical background of each area, the current economic and social structure, and the problems affecting the particular region.The photographs are mind-blowing; they are so gorgeous that they almost dominate the excellent text.The one disappointment, for one who has also seen the PBS series, is that the book doesn't follow the individual stories of people in depth as the PBS production did; however, no one who hasn't seen the TV production will miss it, and it in no way detracts from the overall value of the book.This is one book about the "dark continent" that does the continent, and its people, proud.

Outstanding introduction to Africa
This is an excellent book for anyone who might find Reader's earlier book "A Biography of the Continent" too much of a good thing."Africa" explores many of the same themes and issues, but the information is arranged differently and there are more illustrations; this book is aimed at the educated lay-reader.Still it is an important and outstanding book.Reader is a good writer and his research and grasp of a myriad of disciplines related to his subject is impressive.Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Africa - General    3. Geography    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History: World    7. Pictorial works    8. Regional Geography    9. Scenic Photo Collections    10. African history    11. History / Africa    12. Places & peoples: general interest   

Reviews (3)

An essential for the cruising bookshelf
I first visited the Cape Verdes in 1987 while researching the ATLANTIC ISLANDS, a sailing guide covering the Azores, Madeira group, Canaries and Cape Verdes, now in its third edition. Getting information on the Cape Verdes in the English language was difficult in the extreme -- if only Aisling and Colum's excellent book had been available then! These days no sane person should visit the islands without reading it first. The Cape Verdes come as something of a culture shock after the Canaries -- this book will explain why, and help you get the most from the experience. Buy it!

Perfect blend of insight and practical help
This was just the sort of thing a hardened backpacker needed. It had all the useful nooks and crannies of info you need - plus the fact that it filled in a lot of the extra info you like to get about a place you'reseeing. They gave a great account of the islands' history - it was reallymoving.

Finally a guide in English - And it is excellent!
Irwin and Wilson's guide gives you all the factual information you need, and in addition succeeds in capturing the spirit of Cape Verde, with boxes on cultural and historical issues linked to each island. There is no doubtabout it: This is the best guide available. If you read German, RolfOsang's "Kapverdische Inseln" from Dumont is nearly as good and auseful supplement (especially when it comes to photos). The chapters onCape Verde in Rough Guides' and Lonely Planet's books on West Africa areneither up-to-date nor in-depth enough if you plan to spend more than a fewdays in Cape Verde (which you should!). Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Cape Verde    5. TRAVEL & HOLIDAY    6. Travel / Africa   

Reviews (1)

Beautiful pictures of people living in a beautiful and harsh environment
This is a very beautiful coffee-table-style book containing almost 200 pages of pictures taken by photographer Basil Pao. It is large format (31 x 25 cm) and hardcover and printed on glossy paper. A pleasure for anyone with an eye for beautiful pictures and/or an interest in the Sahara area of northern Africa.
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Subjects:  1. 1943-    2. Africa    3. Description and travel    4. Palin, Michael,    5. Photo Essays    6. Photography    7. Pictorial works    8. Sahara    9. Subjects & Themes - Travel - General    10. Subjects & Themes - Travel - World/Africa    11. Travel    12. FICTION - FICTION TRD PB    13. Photographs: collections    14. Photography / Travel    15. The Sahara    16. Travel writing   

Reviews (13)

To Timbuktu has all that a travel book should
To Timbuktu combines the three things necessary for a great travel book: adventure, history, and humor. The central theme of the book is Jenkins search for the source of the Niger River, but that is merely the rack from which Jenkins explores issues such as friendship, humanity, and cultural differences. That said this book is not dense or slow. In fact it is an extremely quick read. Jenkins writing is sometimes boastful and sometimes self-effacing, but always efficient and entertaining. Couldn't disagree more with those in here
who chastise Jenkins for his "machismo" and affix to him the "Ugly American" label.In a genre literally *filled* with unself-critical machismo, with authors who suffer from bloated senses of their missions and themselves and with ordinary wanderings striving unsuccessfully toward the Epic, this book stands apart. A great mix of adventure and history
I have read the book twice in the past year and enjoyed it both times.With 3 different storylines (doing the Niger River source to sea, a boyhood trip to Europe and Africa, and the history of European attempts tounderstand the Niger and visit Timbuktu) this book is a joy to read.Youexperience the trip and the mental thoughts that go through the author'shead, as well as some of the philosophical issues that are encountered inthe trip (guns, pregnant wives, etc).My recommendation:Buy it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Special Interest - Adventure    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Travel / General   

Reviews (9)

The Rough Guide to Kenya
Very informative and useful tool to use along with the internet.

very rough on some Kenya roads
While I've come to depend on Rough Guides for travel in Africa, the 7th edition of this guide proved embarrassing when I recommended that my safari drivers take the "tarred lakeshore road" that it describes as "an excellent, fast highway" from Katito to Kendu Bay.In the summer of 2003, this was probably the worst road I've ever traveled in Kenya.Conversely, while the guide describes the Mombasa Highway as so "pot-holed, narrow ... and dangerous" that "you should count on two days to cover Nairobi-Mombasa comfortably," this was the best road I've traveled in Kenya, at least to the village of Mackinnon Road, enabling us to have breakfast in Nairobi and a late lunch in Mombasa.Shortcomings such as these result when some areas of the country are too infrequently revisited to yield accurate reviews in a subsequent edition of the guide.A design flaw in recent editions of Rough Guides is the placement of cost-estimate figures in white within small circles of color, rendering many figures difficult to discern.Furthermore, the thin type face makes reading Rough Guides more challenging than their predecessor Real Guides.These criticisms notwithstanding, I still consider Rough Guides the best available introductions to wonderful destinations.

Revamped, looks better - but where's the spirit?
Rough Guide definitely looks smarter today than it used to. Typeface and design overhauled, and even their hideous logo (which STILL looks like a fire exit sign) has been jazzed up into a more agreeable fuzzy pharmaceutical-looking symbol. There are more photos, and better ones. Information, from what I could see, is accurate, and there good practical tips, as usual.
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Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Africa - East    3. East Africa - History    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. Travel Guides    7. Kenya    8. Travel & holiday guides    9. Travel / Africa   

Reviews (7)

This is the one...
when you are driving your car through namibia. Good tips and hints for a good 4x4 or 2wd holiday in this beautiful country. Lot's of info on how to get permits and reservations for national parks.
Namibia - the Brandt Travel Guide
Great reading. I read it from cover to cover & am not planning on going for 6 months!

Great Guide To Namibia
The Bradt Guide has great detail about Namibia.It presents a comprehensive review with some recently updated information.It is the kind of guide that one would bring in touring the country.Good information about the sites and places to stay, as well as good detailed local maps make this a useful guide, particularly for those not traveling on an organized tour. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Namibia    5. Travel & holiday guides    6. Travel / Africa   

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Guidebooks    3. Malawi    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign   

Reviews (6)

About as close as you are going to get to a real safari today - tales of an era now vanished forever
This book is a collection of magazine articles written by Robert Ruark in the 1950s.For those who don't know who Ruark was, he was a journalist and novelist of the 40s and 50s.In the post-war era, he became known as one of the most acerbic journalists and developed a national reputation.He went on a safari in the early 1950s that changed his life.He spent much of the next decade or more traveling to East Africa to hunt big game and birds, and writing about his experiences.He was a profilic author and wrote thousands of magazine articles and several novels of widely varying quality.
Robert Ruark's Africa
This is a good collection of Ruark's African articles.Those familiar with his work as well as those with an interest in the glory days of Safari hunting will enjoy it.New readers and those without an interest will find it dated, but the timely accounts of Mau Mau are worthwhile for anyone. There are some "natural history" mistakes by modern standards but in historical perspective it is still excellent work.Michael MacIntosh's commentary is enlightening without infringing on the original text.

Inside Look at Ruark
This book is a compilation of short or condensed Ruark stories.It offers an inside look at what Ruark loved best in this world; Africa. Some stories are better than others, but it is all great reading.(It is no "Horn of the Hunter!)
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Subjects:  1. 1915-1965    2. 20th century    3. Africa    4. Africa - Central    5. Africa - General    6. Africa, Eastern    7. Authors, American    8. Big game hunting    9. Biography    10. Description and travel    11. Hunting - General    12. Ruark, Robert Chester,    13. Sports & Recreation    14. Travel    15. Journeys    16. Ruark, Robert Chester    17. Sports & Recreation / Hunting   

Reviews (7)

This is the Kili book to buy.
I climbed Kili in January 2006. In the months preceding the trip, I pored over numerous books on the mountain, including this book by Henry Stedman. This book was head and shoulders above the rest. Stedman's excellent descriptions of the day-to-day trekking are complemented by what I feel is genuine respect for the mountain and the people who live near it. After reading this book, you'll feel that you actually know what to expect; you'll stop worrying about whether you'll make it to the top and start looking forward to all the amazing details of this truly wonderful part of the world.

Excellent
My first time in Africa and trekking up Kili!! And everything I needed to know was in this great book. If you are planning to climb Kili, do not hesitate and get this book.

kilimanjaro Guide
An awesome book. There is a lot of information that answered a lot of my questions I had. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Mountaineering    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Tanzania    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / Africa    8. Walking, hiking, trekking   

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Mammals    3. Nature    4. Nature/Ecology    5. Reference    6. Republic of South Africa    7. Wild animals   

Reviews (2)

Enjoyable, informative read
My favorite book on Moroccan history. Harris has access to exclusive parts of Moroccan society at a pivotal time in Moroccan history (leading up to the French occupation). He writes as a sensitive traveler, but one with an insider's point-of-view. His writing style makes historical figures human; comic and tragic. His book is both funny and informative. Highly recommended.

Absorbing account of turn of the century Morocco
Walter Harris, London Times correspondant and 30 year inhabitant of Tangier, delivers the diffinitive account of pre-protectorate Morocco and the Moroccan Royal Courts.This eyewitness account of an ancient culture coming to grips with an overwhelming Western influence is both absorbing and hillarious to the point of disbelief.Harris' tales of Berber rebels and a matter-of-fact Sultanry, in addition to his coverage of the inevitabile process of European colonialization, captures the loss of innocence which befell a still vital land.A must read for anyone interested in North African history. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Travel    2. History - General History    3. Africa - General    4. African history    5. TRAVEL & HOLIDAY    6. Africa    7. 20th century    8. History    9. Morocco   

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Botswana    5. Namibia    6. Travel & holiday guides   

Subjects:  1. 1801-1873    2. 19th century    3. Education    4. Egyptians    5. Europe - France    6. France    7. History    8. History - General History    9. History: World    10. Middle East - General    11. Muslims    12. Paris    13. Tahtawi, Rifaah Rafi,    14. Travel    15. òTahòtåawåi, Rifåa°ah Råafi°,    16. 20th century    17. Classic travel writing    18. European history: c 1750 to c 1900    19. History / General    20. History / Middle East    21. Islamic studies    22. Middle East    23. Other prose: 19th century    24. Social history   

Editorial Review

Known for such feats as being the first climber to reach the summit of K2 without bottled oxygen, climbing Antarctica's highest mountain, and leading a team to the top of a formidable 2,000-foot granite tower in the most remote corner of the Amazon's Orinoco jungle, Rick Ridgeway, in his latest book, takes a walk. Of course, it's no ordinary stroll. Accompanied by park officers, Ridgeway treks unprotected among lions and elephants, rhinos and oryxes. Read more

Reviews (18)

Travel, Nature, Adventure, and History all in one package
Author Ridgeway writes a well-paced narrative that smoothly ties together his personal adventure in eastern Africa with the area's history and culture, particularly in terms of its ecology, withfocus on elephants as the defining megafauna of the area.
Ethnocentric and quite boring
I was so disappointed by this book I could not get through more than a couple of chapters.The author may know about mountaineering, but he seems to know very little about Kenya.Moreover, I found the writing to be ethnocentric and quite boring.

"Whatever happens to beasts happens to man."
Combining moments of danger with moments of profound introspection, mountaineer/explorer Ridgeway details his journey from the top of Mount Kilimanjaro through the Tsavo game reserves to Mombasa, a month-long journey on foot, which allows him to experience man's primal relationships with the environment. Traveling with an experienced guide, two members of the Kenya Park and Wildlife Service, and two sharpshooters (in case of life-threatening danger), Ridgeway follows dry riverbeds across the savanna, seeking "tactile knowledge of Africa's wildlands and wild animals."
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Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Essays & Travelogues    3. Fiction    4. General    5. Hiking    6. Kenya    7. Kilimanjaro (Mount)    8. Natural history    9. Tanzania    10. Travel - Foreign    11. Tsavo National Park    12. East Africa    13. Travel / Essays & Travelogues    14. Travel writing   

Reviews (3)

A Great Return
This is the second Capstick book I have read (the first being "Death in the Long Grass"), and again I was not dissapointed.In this book he takes the role of the safari client--having retired as professional hunter--, and gives us more of an insight on what it is like to be the client on a big game hunting safari in Africa.He vividly describes the sights, sounds, smells, and the very essence of the Dark Continent.

PHC's best
This book is the definitive Capstick work.It is absolutely wonderful, and should be required reading for those who want to go to the Dark Continent and hunt the things that Bite and Trample.Capstick's wit issparkling, and his hunts are riveting.Papa Bear Hemingway would be proud.

This book was sensational.
Return to the Long Grass was probably the best book I have read in years.I could not stop reading it! I could feel the hot African heat and the chilly nights.I would recommend this book to anyone who dreams of going to Africa on a safari ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Fiction    3. Hunting    4. Hunting - General    5. Safaris    6. Sports & Recreation    7. Modern fiction    8. Travel / Africa   

Reviews (3)

Wonderful Journey
This book was more than I had hoped for.The moments captured are extrordinary, some of the best photos of African Wildlife I have ever seen.I haven't read the text yet, but the captions by the photos are very informative and contain little interesting tidbits I didn't know.I have a lot of coffee table books and this is definitely a favorite.

The most beautiful book ever published
Having been to this area of Africa three times, twice in the Masi Mara and once to the Serengeti this book brings me back over and over again to this heaven on earth. The combination of drawings, photographs, and writing of Jonathan and Angela Scott are outstanding. This is my all time favorite book. The love these authors feel for this area and the animals and people who live there comes through on every page. For anyone who has the slightest interest in wild animals, ecology, photography, art, travel or Africa this book is a must have. Awesome!

Beyond the Photo Safari!
Mara-Serengeti captures the essence of living in the Mara-Serengeti region in a way that you would not experience in a dozen safaris to Africa.The images of predators, prey, wildlife migrations, and the Masai bring you close up during moments of blazing color in the sky and dramatic action in the grasslands.The images are improved by thoughtful essays that draw on the photographers' many years of experience with these subjects.Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa - Central    2. Masai Mara National Reserve (Kenya)    3. Photo Techniques    4. Photoessays & Documentaries    5. Photography    6. Pictorial works    7. Serengeti National Park (Tanzania)    8. Subjects & Themes - Travel - General    9. Subjects & Themes - Travel - World/Africa    10. Africa    11. Photographs: collections    12. Wild animals   

Subjects:  1. Nigeria    2. Travel / road maps & atlases   

Reviews (1)

Interesting book, good to read for safari prep...
This was a very interesting book that I just finished reading in preparation for my safari to Tanzania.I would recommend it to anyone going on a safari or thinking about going on a safari.It is short for fast reading, but gives just enough description that I can't wait to be out on the Serengeti or riding in a jeep down into the Ngorongoro Crater to experience Tanzania myself. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Africa - General    3. Travel   

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Africa, West    3. Birds    4. Birds & Birdwatching - General    5. Birds & Birdwatching - Guides    6. Life Sciences - Zoology - Ornithology    7. Nature    8. Nature/Ecology    9. Pictorial works    10. Biological Sciences    11. Birds & birdwatching    12. Birds (ornithology)    13. Birds and Natural History    14. Nature / Birds & Birdwatching    15. West Africa