African Kings

Rating:
Summary: Astonishing clothing
Review: As a collection of photographic portraits of contemporary African men dressed and posing for the photographer (i.e., not engaged in kingly acitivities) in astonishing and fantastic historic garb, usually shown among their retainers or wives, this book does not disappoint. The fabrics and outfits are pretty incredible, and invite you to stare at the goods. The kings look variously dignified, stately, and occasionally mildly hostile to the photographer's gaze. Some seem plainly overdressed, even to themselves. To the author's credit, the reader is told (briefly and somewhat perfunctorily) of the often complicated political, cultural, and kinship machinations that surround a king. In today's African nations these men have little (or no) conventional political power. In some instances, their claim to royalty is viewed, for a variety of reasons, as wholly illegitimate. The clothing and accoutrements of their position is fascinating to look at, although little information is supplied regarding the meaning of the clothes. Unfortunately there is a stiffness to both the portraits and the commentary, and that distances the viewer from the diverse and likely very interesting subjects of this book.

Rating:
Summary: The most amazing chronicle
Review: I adore this book. I do historical research, and originally ordered it from the library; I loved it so much I had to buy my own copy. Then my brother-in-law (from Nigeria) started reading it to our 8 month old niece, so I bought him a copy. I just cannot believe one dude got access to all these kings, and they agreed to pose for him. I look upon it alternately with reverence and with hilarity. There's a hilarious juxtaposition of the old and new, as with the king riding in a "car," and you can gaze forever and still not see all the strange modern objects in the background such as the fridge one king displays so proudly. It's historically accurate that kings would take any European woman's flowered dressing gown and convert it into a robe, and incongruous hats given to them by colonial powers were always revered.

The one thing they all have in common is they are all men with pride.

Rating:
Summary: Gripping sense of cultural stamina
Review: I was blown away by this book. Having just returned from a trip to West Africa (Mali) I was on the lookout for something that did not play out cliches, and I found it here. The intense variety of self-presentation seemed to me both to reflect different tribal histories as well as different individuals, chiefs and kings often with refrigerators in the background or flourescent lights overhead, and yet, to my mind, glowing with cultural vitality---even when tired or, on occasion the text tells us, dying. A previous reviewer noted the stiffness, and yet I felt good about that sense of decorum, presentation, bearing, sometimes with a bit of fun along the way. The cover picture, I might say, doesn't offer the best sense of what is inside, for it offers few surprises. The African photos of the great West African photographer Seydou Keita are, I guess, more works of art, but this book gives me a greater sense of something sometimes wild and frequently noble in African culture, and a glorious and unsettling sense of an undeniable aristocracy: I'm glad to have both books.

Rating:
Summary: Royal Africa
Review: This book with its beautiful photographs chronicles the surviving African royalty. The introduction by Pierre Alexandre, Origins Of The African Kingdoms, deals with the early history of Africa, the influence of the colonial occupation on traditional institutions, post-independence Africa and takes a closer look at the Fulani, Yoruba, Akan, Luba and Zulu peoples. The text is enlivened by historical black and white illustrations.

Following this, the next section deals with current royalty in the form of full colour portraits of the monarchs in full royal regalia plus brief biographies and historical notes on the tribes concerned. The kings and queens come from countries and tribes like Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Zambia, Cameroon, Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda.

South Africa is represented by amongst others, King Goodwill Zwelethini of the Zulu (a descendant of the warrior king Shaka) and the famous Rain Queen, Modjadji IV of the Lobedu tribe. It is an interesting and valuable study of the traditions and personalities of a disappearing African culture. This book will be of great value to historians and ethnologists.