Full name: Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles

Author: Richard Dowden Year: 2007 Rank: Rating: Original Rating: Pop Rating: Genres/categories: Non Fiction, History, Politics, Travel Culture: Africa Purchase/reserch links: Goodreads Barns&Noble Amazon eBooks.com LibraryThing ISBNs: 9781846271540 9781586488161 1846271541 1586488163

After a lifetime's close observation of the continent, one of the world's finest Africa correspondents has penned a landmark book on life and death in modern Africa. In captivating prose, Dowden spins tales of cults and commerce in Senegal and traditional spirituality in Sierra Leone; analyzes the impact of oil and the internet on Nigeria and aid on Sudan; and examines what has gone so badly wrong in Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Congo. From the individual stories of failure and success comes a surprising portrait of a new Africa emerging--an Africa that, Dowden argues, can only be developed by its own people. Dowden's master work is an attempt to explain why Africa is the way it is and calls for a re-examination of the perception of Africa as "the dark continent." He reveals it as a place of inspiration and tremendous humanity. Similar books: A Continent for the Taking by Howard W. French The Shackled Continent by Robert Guest The Africans by David Lamb The Graves Are Not Yet Full by Bill Berkeley The Looting Machine by Tom Burgis The Fortunes of Africa by Martin Meredith Africa by John Reader The Fate of Africa by Martin Meredith Africa Unchained by George B. N. Ayittey In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz by Michela Wrong The Zanzibar Chest by Aidan Hartley A short history of Africa by Roland Oliver The Gates of Africa by Anthony Sattin Precolonial Black Africa by Cheikh Anta Diop States and Power in Africa by Jeffrey Herbst China Road by Rob Gifford The Basque History of the World by Mark Kurlansky Eastward to Tartary by Robert D. Kaplan Lies Across America by James W. Loewen Monsoon by Robert D. Kaplan