A Continent for the Taking : The Tragedy and Hope of Africa

Rating:
Summary: Better Understanding and a Sense of Tragedy.
Review: A fascinating book written by an African-American working for many years as a news reporter in Central and Western Africa. Mr. French subtitles the book The Tragedy and Hope of Africa. It seems that there is a lot more tragedy than hope. In a land rich in natural resources, rich in culture, rich in history, there is little reason to believe that there is any hope.

Perhaps it is the legacy of the colonial powers that did nothing to prepare the local people for independence, perhaps the drawing of arbitrary borders by the colonial powers neglecting such things as tribal borders (although with independence the countries have retained their old borders). Also, the Cold War was not kind to Africa. The Russians and Americans played their games of one up-manship. And with the end of the Cold War the support (such as it was) ended. Since then almost the entire continent has degenerated into civil wars, coups, and quite likely the worst governments in the world.

Now there is AIDS. Figures I hear say that AIDS may infect between one third and two thirds of the people of child bearing age. This rivals the plague years of the 1600's.

Mr. French writes a book of compashion, of understanding and unfortunately leave us with a sense of hopelessness.

Rating:
Summary: An insightful work
Review: A well written work that delivers unusual insight into the peculiar political situation in Africa. Howard French brings to bear his deep understanding of the continent. This book is a must-read for anybody seriously interested in understanding the true socio-political dynamics of Africa. Unlike most books about Africa that are written by foreigners, it avoids the condescending know-it-all attitude that gets many Africans mad.

More importantly, French is not shy about pointing out the role played (and still being played) by many western powers and multinational corporations in fostering the instability and and conflict that has plagued Africa.

The one criticism I have is that the book deals so much with the Congo crisis and with conflicts in Africa in general, but does not adequately address key positive developments that also took place. Perhaps, Mr. French will address those in a second volume.

All in all, Mr. French deserves commendation for writing such an honest and deeply incisive book.

Rating:
Summary: Where's the history?
Review: Big disappointment. Published so soon after Hartley's "Zanzibar Chest" it seems a rushed, "me too" narrative.

French, despite his genetic link to the continent writes with the empathy for Africa expected of a US journalist dispatched for a few years two to the Dark Continent. Hartley, a white Kenyan, on the other hand simply "gets-it".

I had hoped for much more detail of West Africa's pre-colonial history and culture, but it failed on that level also.

Rating:
Summary: Empathy and Understanding in Abundance
Review: Here is a book to finally break the mold, offering fresh and thoughtful ways to explain Africa's tragic development, rather than pat explanations, scapegoating and cliches. Best of all, it is a great read.

Rating:
Summary: ..and I ended up in Queens
Review: I became so immersed reading this book, I missed my subway stop to transfer uptown. The 7 train took me into Queens. This is a must read for anybody who wants to learn more about Africa. If we all appreciated and built on the real hope of Africa, there wouldn't be so much tragedy.