5 comments about A Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons.

1. I am a student of Bio-Anthropology, and I have to say that when it comes to bio-anthro, especially my specialty- Primatology- the textbooks NEVER tell you everything you need to know in order to be a good Primatologist, but Robert Sapolsky does in "A Primate's Memoir."
   
   Sapolsky delivers a narrative that is at once fanciful and credible. Too bizarre to be taken as anything other than reality. The experience of the author as a budding scientist in the Kenyan Serengeti, coming of age amidst the incongruous corruption and stark beauty of the African continent, as he works his way through the American Academic Dominance Hierarchy while conducting a long-term study on Savannah Baboons. He mixes cross-cultural social commentary with humorous storytelling. It is literally a laugh-out loud kind of book, particularly for the budding anthropologist. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the field. In a way, it is like the primatological equivalent of "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," except that is all true. A brilliant book, which every anthropologist should read.
   
   BTW, all anthro textbooks should have chapters dedicated to the trials and tribulations one must endure while living among other cultures, dealing with third world corruption, and knowing how to negotiate the African social arena. I feel more worldly for having read this masterpiece.



2. This is a beautiful, poignant, fascinating and enlightening read. It's also a bit heart-wrenching. Despite the fact that it is ostensibly about baboons, each sentence within this book contains more humanity and feeling than a typical week of day to day living on our strange modern worlds.



3. This is a fun recollection of Sapolsky's experiences in Africa.
   
   Somebody looking for data might want to avoid it as the information is more about things that struck him through his observations with his baboon troop. Some would be reminded of Goodall's earlier books when he writes about his interactions with the baboon.
   
   There are many chapters on what he went through and the people he meet and interacted.
   
   Some are great such as Thomas who had the great ability to pull endless fish out of a river but it was offset by his other great ability to attract buffalo. As Sapolsky wrote: "Buffalo would scamper in from miles away to nail Thomas, toss him over their shoulders, and send his fish sailing into mudholes, thorn bushes, high into trees." Sapolsky comments about looking for him and find him cursing and spitting and cackling at some buffalo, threatening it with his trademark an astounding pelvic grind, as the monster approached.
   
   That whole imagery made me laugh.
   
   His own personal reflections of living in Africa are rather interesting as he interjects himself into the community. Some of his comments bring another picture to the Masai who many times are pictured as the noble warriors and yet they do questionable things.
   
   Probably one disheartening thing is the corruption that existed and probably still exists. As he prided himself on being a New Yorker; he finds himself being conned and regularly pressed for bribes. And yet, he himself takes to conning people when his money runs out.
   
   An outbreak of Bovine TB ravishes a Baboon troop and eventually hits his troop. Sapolsky finds himself unenviable task of killing Baboons as he tries to discover what is killing the Baboons and where is it coming from. Eventually, he figures it out and it involves corruption and the Masai. He can't even tell people about it because wealthy British hotel owners are against it and the local government is against it as it would hurt the tourist trade.
   
   One thing I thought was interesting was his comments about Fosse. He is not a fan.
   
   Overall it's a fun read.



4. This book is an excellent insight into the 20 year life of a biologist who grow as a person while studying baboons and navigating the up and downs of life in Kenya.



5. This book is hard to classify: Is it autobiography? Primatolgy? Travel adventures? Humanist philosophy? Humor? Basically it is all of these and more. It is a real page turner. Sapolsky has a truly marvelous sense of humor that includes knowing how to laugh at himself. I rank it with in the top 10 favorite books I've ever read. Bravo!

5 comments about Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival.

1. These guys are tough. Shipwrecked, then passed around as slaves to nomadic desert Muslims, many of them survived an ordeal that is very well described by the author. Even at the end, you are sure they are going to get whacked. Great afterward chapters put the event into context in that period (1800's).
   
   Between this and the tale of the Essex whaler, I have learned way too much about consuming one's own urine.
   
   Although I found this book a much, much better read than Wilfred Thesiger's Arabian Sands, you might give that one a try if you require more time in the Empty Quarter than this books offers.



2. While this is a fascinating (and supposedly a true) story, it was too brutal for my taste. I had to give it up about half-way thru.



3. This is an extraordinarily depressing, horrific account of severe hardship suffered by a few American seamen shipwrecked on the Western African coast in 1815, and subsequently enslaved by an Arab tribe. It's apparently a true account, pieced together from diaries and simple recollections of the crew, held as slaves over several months during a sojourn through the desert amounting to a few hundred miles. Although at times revolting, the book provides a very detailed account of the living conditions and customs of these simple Arab tribes who literally scratch out an existence in the harsh, unforgiving climate of the Western Sahara.



4. This review is intended for people who, like me, typically avoid non-fiction. It's a character flaw, I know, but I couldn't even point you to the non-fiction sections of my local bookstores.
   
   However, the subject matter of Skeletons--desert survival--intrigued me. The gorgeous cover with the elongated shadows of a caravan plodding over the dunes didn't hurt either.
   
   The book was well worth leaving my comfort zone. I pestered my wife with mind-boggling factoids and stranger-than-fiction events drawn from nearly every chapter as I read, but the real beauty of the experience was that I was enthralled by the sensual descriptions of the captives' plight; I gained a vast appreciation for the water bottle I nursed while reading.
   
   Perhaps the greatest draw for the fiction-reader, however, was the suspense the author managed to generate regarding a deal brokered between the captain and one would-be savior. Naturally, I knew at least two characters would survive the ordeal, and admittedly, I never came to care as much for most of the other sailors as I might have in a fictionalized version of the story. However, the outcome of Captain Riley's bargain of faith kept me guessing, and I felt every pang of guilt and uncertainty right along with him.
   
   I have to admit overcoming an interest-curve (if such a thing exists) in the text preceding the shipwreck. A lot of names, dates, and locations flew right by me: I was in this for the adventure, and the first 50-or-so pages plodded a bit for me. I now view that portion of the experience like the gradual exposition in many great novels and films; the non-fiction approach to setting and character development.
   
   I really did love this book, and recommend it to those who feel intimidated by any stacks but Fiction. Maybe we'll bump into each other making those first tentative steps into the other aisles of the bookstore!



5. This story of survival of members of a shipwrecked crew in the mid-1800s is truly astounding, sold into slavery they are forced to survive in the incredibly harsh environment of the western Sahara. An interesting account of the daily lives of the people who scratch a living out of this barren landscape

5 comments about Uganda, 5th: The Bradt Travel Guide.

1. Philip Briggs has produced a masterpiece with his 4th edition of 'Uganda: the Bradt Travel Guide'. As a specialist tour operator who has visited Uganda before, I am familiar with other Uganda guidebooks and Bradt's latest edition is without a doubt, the best around. Everything the prospective visitor needs to know about Uganda is contained in this superb book. Briggs has done an exceptionally thorough job of updating the guide and I am confident that it will enable readers not only to see the best of the country, but also to understand it.



2. I've traveled to over 40 countries in the past 15 years and read between 1-3 travel guides before going to each country.
   This is one of the best travel guides I've ever read. Very detailed, current, no superficiality. Strong on history, sights and culture. I really can't think of how this book could have been improved.
   And read Abyssinian Chronicles before you go to Uganda. Wonderful character development and a Ugandan's perspective on history and culture in that country.



3. We have read this book front to back and though we don't leave for a few weeks we feel so much more informed about opportunities within and country and tips to be better prepared. Great resource!



4. I'll start by saying we've not travelled yet, but we've used books on other coutries over the years, and this one is well written, and seems well though out and presented. It has covered everything I've wanted to know before travelling very well.
   
   I'll comment on the accuracy after November!
   Merv.



5. Relatively up to date information although a few facts were off. Easy to read and well put together for a country that is not often specifically featured in books and has only started to invest in tourist endeavors. Reviews of hostels, hotels were accurate. More maps needed though. Overall helpful and complete - appreciated the historical sections.

5 comments about Ghana, 4th (Bradt Travel Guide).

1. This is a great travel guide. I recommend it to anyone traveling to Ghana.



2. This book (I actually own the earlier edition) literally saved my life and made my trip to Ghana last summer life-changing. Phillip Briggs offers uniquely funny and truly insightful advice about not only how to get around in and get the most out of this amazing country, but he also thoroughly reviews all the best accommodation, sights, places to eat, and activities at every budget. A complete work. The best guidebook I ever purchased.



3. As I write I am currently traveling in Ghana. The Bradt guide is incredibly thorough and up to date. I have traveled to many different regions relatively hassle free. That is it to say, Ghana works at a very different pace but the Bradt guide helped prepare me.
   
   One note: Buy a map of Ghana and Accra, it will be very helpful. Accra is cluttered and confusing and demands more detail than the 2 page map in the Bradt guide.
   
   Either way the book couldn't be much better.



4. i have found this book thorough and trustworthy - and definitely much better than the lonely planet. recommended for independent-minded travellers



5. This book is very detailed and helpful, the only problem is that much of the information has not been updated for quite some time. There are many places listed that are no longer in existance (restaurants, banks, etc) and many new places that are nowhere to be found in the book. It says it was updated in 2007 but I was in Ghana in early 2008 and most of these things I am referring to have been around (or not been around) for quite some time. Also, the prices mentioned in the book are about 50% lower than what can be expected when you go to Ghana, and perhaps even more given the rapid rate of inflation there; the prices of almost everything went up at least some amount during my 4-month stay there, from beach fares down to avocados at the fruit stands.
   
   A few nitpicky details:
   The book recommends against taking public busses without air conditioning (and therefore does not give schedules for them). However, on a tight schedule or budget (or even not) the non-air-conditioned busses are more than comfortable.
   Also, the book says that a taxi ride to Mole National Park from Tamale should take about 2 hours (or 2.5, I can't remember). This is WRONG, it takes about 5 hours.
   The fee to get into Labadi Beach was 2c on weekdays, 4c on weekends and holidays, not the .50c that the book cites. (This discrepancy is probably due to the general unreliability of prices/rapid inflation mentioned earlier.)
   The book mentions Macumba nightclub as a popular place in Accra. I lived across the street from Macumba, and the only people for whom it is popular are hookers and the creepy men looking for hookers. To be fair, the book does allude to this. Other popular nightspots that aren't mentioned in the book include Cinderella's, The Office, Tantra, and Aphrodesiac.
   
   Overall, the book is certainly the best on the market as far as Ghana travel goes, if not solely for the reason that it is the only book that I am aware of dedicated to Ghana and not just West Africa with a tiny section on Ghana. It provides reliable enough information to be able to get around the country, as well as valuable background information on Ghanaian culture and history. Travellers should simply be forwarned that not everything in this book can be taken at face value, and travel plans (and budgets) need to be flexible enough to accomodate for this fact.

5 comments about Morocco (Country Guide).

1. I love this books, they are the best travel guides. The book was in perfect condition and it arrived on time.



2. For a recent trip to Morocco, I bought the 2007 edition of Lonely Planet's MOROCCO guide alongside its major competitor, The Rough Guide to Morocco. While Lonely Planet's guide covers the major sights and will be just the thing for casual holiday makers, it unfortunately continues the publisher's trend of abandoning "travel as lifestyle" readers, once Lonely Planet's target demographic.
   
   If you intend on slowly working your way through the whole of Morocco, seeking contact with the locals at all cost, and traveling cheaply, then Lonely Planet guide is not really worth it. LP seems to assume that the reader is rich: it recommends expensive hotels and suggests that one hire guides. It also doesn't push people to meet ordinary Moroccans. Hammams (Turkish-style baths) are a great way to enter into local custom, but instead of listing ones patronized by the locals, LP often lists expensive spa-type locations. Morocco is also a paradise for hitchhiking, where again one is brought directly into contact with people not in the tourist trade, but LP doesn't pitch it.
   
   Comparing the LP to the Rough Guide to Morocco, the Rough Guide comes out on top. Sure, the presence of a few ads in the text, and the fact that the Rough Guide line is published by the faceless corporation Penguin, are annoying. Nonetheless, the Rough Guide caters to all audiences, both the wealthy and shoestring travelers. The Rough Guide also describes Morocco in considerably more detail than the Lonely Planet guide, gives substantial recommendations on music, books, and film from or about Morocco, and even includes a few tales by Moroccan traditional storytellers.
   
   Ahough both publishers have put out 2007 editions, the Rough Guide is more up to date than the Lonely Planet. An increasing number of travelers are heading down through Western Sahara to Mauritania and beyond. This route has gotten easier, with transportation now easy available from Dakhla. But Lonely Planet's coverage of this entire area seems to have changed little since the 2005 guide, and the authors still claim you have to provide your own transportation.
   
   I found really only two points in favour of purchasing the Lonely Planet guide. One is a large section dedicated to trekking, which the Rough Guide lacks (though here it again assumes that the readers are wealthy). The other is that LP's maps are slightly more detailed for some cities than those in the Rough Guide. All in all, if you are a wealthy traveler looking for a relaxing but exotic vacation, you can ignore all that I've written and buy LP's guide with confidence. If you are an independent traveler planning on trekking, get both the LP and the Rough Guide. But the backpacking and hitchhiking crowd can just get the Rough Guide and pass the LP by.



3. I used the Lonely Planet Morocco guidebook this past summer in 2007 for about a three week trip. I spoke no French or Arabic so needless to say I was pretty much dependent on the guidebook to give me a basic overview of the cities I visited. I really didn't have a definite itinerary so using the information from the guide I was able to make arrangements on the go. I liked how the chapters were organized and the breakdown of logistical information was really helpful. The maps in the guidebook were pretty basic and sometimes more confusing than helpful.
   I truly benefited from my use of the guidebook and without it I don't know what I would have done. However, I did have a few dislikes. First, this book is extremely heavy so I ended up ripping out pages I needed. Second, Lonely Planet devotes a good amount of pages to history and culture, which is interesting yet not always directly useful to the traveler on the road. Also, I found the descriptions of the hotels under the budget heading in Rabat and Ouzoude to be sub-par to their gushing descriptions in LP. And a negative aspect I encountered in Morocco, especially in Fes, was that hoteliers were using their exposure in LP to hawk their hotels. One place I inquired after even raised prices because they were featured in LP. The overbearing and opinioned tone of the guidebook can be off-putting as well. And, I had some of my most memorable experiences when I put aside that LP guidebook.
   LP gives a rough sketch of the cities and is a great tool in researching a place ahead of time. And does a great job in serving as a jump-off point for further exploration and adventure.



4. This book disappointed me. The info is cursory, at best. But what is profoundly disappointing is that there is basically *no* help in selecting or planning a trip. All that it amounts to is a catalog of places, with a summary about each place. If what you want is page after page of what, basically, you could get with a cursory web search, then this is your book. If what you want is a little help in picking what to do on a trip to Morocco, then buy something else, like the Rough Guide or even the excellent Fodor guide.



5. This is yet another informative and useful travel guide from Lonely Planet. Almost all the descriptions are very detailed and accurate. I recently came back from a rather short, but power packed tour of Morocco and this guide helped me plan the trip very well.
   The supplemental information about the food, sweets, history and culture is very helpful.
   
   It only seems to lack in providing a list of tour companies that can arrange trips into Sahara. It is very difficult for a solo backpacker to plan a trip to the desert without being ripped by the travel agents and the so called faux guides.

5 comments about The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca.

1. I have read sveral of Tahir Shah's books. He is an incredibly gifted writer. This book is probably his best, though I also liked In Search of King Solomon's Mines very much. His writing is very smooth and natural- it's almost impossible to put this book down and I am eagerly anticipating his next book. I am truly surprised he suvives his adventures in general. In this story he risks everything financially on the purchase of a house in Morocco and would have lost everything without several strokes of very good luck. In other books he risks his life- often several times. I loved the parts about Jins. One thing I get tired of his constant overplaying of his Afghan roots. One grandfather was Afghan, a Pashtun, that's it. He is "75%" British and was raised in the UK.



2. After spending time in Morocco and doing business with a Moroccan, this book and Shah's writing of his experiences has helped me to better understand some of my own experiences and appreciate my role in learning about the culture. It is a current, true to life, mostly lighthearted look into today's Moroccan culture. It is a fast read and one I would say for anyone thinking of visiting Morocco or wanting to know about the culture, it would be well worth the investment of time.



3. The foreign home restoration genre takes a real turn with Tahir Shah's experiences in Casablanca. His patience was amazing. I would have gone stark raving mad. I enjoyed his writing and have gone on to other books written by him. His wife must be a saint to have put up with all of the Caliph's House problems.



4. Tahir Shah has written another charming book about his experiences in a strange and wonderful land. He manages, once again, to both render and strip away the mystery of the subject of his book: Casablanca and, to a lesser extent, Morocco at large.
   
   The book is (purposely I gather) written in the same form as Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence, right down to the hand-drawn sketches. Each chapter follows his experiences, together with his wife and children, in a purely chronological order, during his first year living in, and restoring, the Caliph's House in Casablanca.
   
   The book is great and full of insights and wonderful little anecdotes. It's peppered with colourful characters and histories and is, to my mind, quite deeply personal as well. I suspect that some artistic license has been taken by Shah for the sake of the story and to keep the drama high (surely he's not still surprised by references to Jinn after month seven...) but it's all perfectly acceptable.
   
   I look forward to getting a copy of the sequel shortly and can also recommend another of his books, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, for a fascinating and unique look at the culture of magic and mysticism in India.



5. Until fifty or so years ago, the paradigmatic "travel" book was an account of a solo adventurer's trials and tribulations traveling to and through relatively unknown and often moderately dangerous foreign lands, surviving on a shoestring and his or her wits and character. The best of these books made for exciting reading. As the world has gradually become smaller and more westernized, travel books have gradually become tamer and less exciting, so that by now the paradigmatic "travel" book is practically domestic in nature. It recounts a stretch of time, often a year, during which the author, often with family in tow, actually takes up residence in a foreign city or region -- for example, Peter Mayle in Provence, Adam Gopnik in Paris, and innumerable Brits and Americans in Tuscany. The best of these modern travel books are pleasant and many are instructive, but (alas) they never are exciting. THE CALIPH'S HOUSE: A YEAR IN CASABLANCA is another of these contemporary "domestic" travel books, although the setting, Morocco, is more exotic than Provence, Paris, or Tuscany.
   
   In THE CALIPH'S HOUSE, Tahir Shah tells the story of moving his family (wife and two very young children) from the U.K. to Casablanca and into a dilapidated, rambling old house and compound (rumored to once have been the residence of a caliph), which he then spends a year restoring. The restoration is complicated immeasurably by what seems like the ten plagues of Egypt, including rats, mysteriously appearing slime, hordes of workmen who seem to want to move in rather than finish their work, and (worst of all) jinns. The book is driven by the recurring cultural clashes and misunderstandings between the rational and efficient Tahir Shah and the Moroccans, with their propensity to blame all mishaps and misfortune in the world on jinns, their absurdly byzantine bureaucracy, and their stubborn adherence to traditional, centuries-old ways of doing things. Rather than relying on his own wits to overcome the obstacles he encounters, Tahir Shah gets by on seemingly inexhaustible financial resources and the savvy of his street-wise Moroccan executive assistant, Kamal. Far from the heroic adventurer, Tahir comes across as a bit of a doofus. The only person of heroic or noble character that we are introduced to is Tahir's deceased grandfather, Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah, a Pashtun Afghan who lived his last years in Morocco after a career as a diplomat, world-traveller, and writer.
   
   Tahir Shah's writing is above average, but hardly distinguished. THE CALIPH'S HOUSE makes for a pleasant and instructive read, but nothing more. It did, however, end up coloring my view of Morocco. Before reading the book, Morocco was fairly high on my wish-list of places to go; it is now a few slots lower on the list.

3 comments about Natural Fashion: Tribal Decoration from Africa.

1. The sub title, "Decoration from Africa" is literally correct but substantially misleading. This is a book of sumptuous photographs of young and beautiful inhabitants of Ethiopia's Omo valley. There are essentially no pictures of day to day life or the true context of these people's lives. This book is not about daily life, nor does it pretend to be, but by describing its content as tribal decoration from Africa it promises something authentic. However, nearly everyone here is decked out in face and body paint and draped in a salad bar of lush leaves, sensual pods and pretty flowers. Are they decorating themselves out of some tribal tradition, or for the benefit of the potographer? Travel to southern Ethiopia has become very much easier in recent years. Small groups of intrepid tourists now visit the Omo frequently where as 20 years ago such visits were rare and arduous. Published images from the 80s will show villagers less flamboyantly made up. What appears to be happening is that a fashion show for foreigners is under way, much as what happened in the Nuba Hills of Sudan after Leni Reifenstahl published her famous photo essay hald a century ago. A more accurate title for this book would have been New Fashions: Tribal Children Decorate Themselves for Hans Silvester.



2. I do not (yet) own this book, but I spent half an hour at the Metropolitan Museum of Art gift shop recently in an absolute trance paging through it. The sole review here trashing this beautiful book struck me as so unfair that I feel compelled to write a rebuttal.
   
   The reviewer is concerned that this collection of photographs does not represent the daily lives and cultural practices of the people it represents. That in fact the attention these people are getting from tourists and photographers is encouraging them to show off and thus changing their cultural practices from what they were in isolation. All that may be true. But none of it obscures or in any way detracts from the undeniable truth that these are some of the most beautiful, creative, and uniquely adorned people in the world. To page through this book is to be transported momentarily into a world of sensual beauty that few of us even dare to imagine exists. The viewer who is open minded enough to appreciate it is gifted with an insight into the beauty of a people he/she might not have known even existed. Is that a bad thing? I don't think so.
   
   Does photographing these people and the attention that ensues change them? Probably. Is that a bad thing? I don't know. But I do know it is up to the people being photographed to decide that. It is up to them to decide whether or not, and in what manner, they want to be photographed, not some outsider who believes their culture should be left intact. In a globalizing world, I can think of many types of attention from the outside world that would not be quite so benign. If it was done without compulsion, which appears to be the case, then I think that broadcasting the beauty of a people for the world to see is a good thing. Change is inevitable. Hopefully this sort of attention will help ensure that the change is positive.



3. This book transcends fashion. The inventiveness of those pictured is breathtaking. I showed it to a friend and it made him cry! It's that powerful.

5 comments about All Things Must Fight to Live: Stories of War and Deliverance in Congo.

1. I've been reading articles and stories by Bryan Mealer for several years. In the early years, Bryan wrote some hilarious and interesting articles about bizarre subjects like the west Texas Rattlesnake Round-up. I really enjoyed his voice and continued to read his articles in Harper's and Esquire. I was thrilled to see he had written a book, and after reading All Things Must Fight to Live, I realize I owe a debt of gratitude to Bryan for sacrificing his own naivetee to bring this eloquent, gritty and painfully honest account of the horrors and beauty to me so that I may become less myopic. In my personal quest to uncover and grasp that common thread that binds us all, Bryan's stories give me something solid to hold onto. It is a must read for anyone seeking to broaden their view of the world and to understand conflicts and wars that are more than soundbites.



2. Bryan Mealer brought to life a place that, sadly, most of us know little or care even less about. He takes far off characters in a far off war and gives them an easy familiarity. This book is not for the faint of heart--the war in Congo has killed millions through combat and disease, and Mealer does not shy away from its most brutal details. And yet, he does not revel in them either, as so many war correspondents haphazardly do. He simply writes what he sees. And what he sees is pretty amazing stuff. Highly recommended.



3. I recommend this book for many reasons--Mealer's lyrical, colorful prose, insight into some of the most magnificent and heartbreaking events and places in the DRC, and finally, for a first hand account of how, why, and when news reaches us out of Africa. I'll recommend this book to my colleagues who study Congo, but also to family members who would like a window into this fiercely captivating and complicated place.



4. I had to put the book down several times because I felt sick. Bryan's writing was so real that I felt every terrifying and treacherous moment along the way. Just when a dangerous jouney ended, another began. I am so overwhelmed with what Bryan experienced in the Congo. I know him personally as well as his family, and I can't imagine what they all went through at their own levels.
   I applaud Bryan Mealer for the excellent portrayal of a dire situation. I admire his wife, Ann Marie, and family for living through all of the reports, emails and contacts from Bryan throughout his entire journey.
   BRAVO, Bryan, for the intensity, honesty, and real depiction of the situation in the Congo that we should all be aware of and concerned about.



5. I read this book in May and still find myself haunted by it. Episodes like the Kinshasa Fight Club or the surreal appearance of Jessica Lange at a triage camp will stay with me for a long long time.
   
   Mealer tenderly renders the humanity of a situation most of us would prefer to think of as inhuman.
   
   You owe it to yourself to take a look.

5 comments about Tanzania (Country Guide).

1. Since I'm an independent traveler, I always purchase a few tour guides when in the planning process of my next trip around the world and Lonely Planet's guides have never let me down. I've purchased Lonely Planet's tour guides for Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize, Peru, Ecuador and Tanzania and have yet to be disappointed with any of them. They are easy to read, straight forward and give "off the beaten track" things to do, where to stay and eat. I have only 1 complaint and this is that I feel some guides may need to be updated more often so the information is current. The Tanzania guide book gave me some excellent information and ideas that turned our trip to East Africa into a fantastic experience.



2. Lonely planet tops the genre. Really only good for if you are going or you want to understand what a friend or family member is likely to encounter there.



3. I just returned from Tanzania and this book provided all the information I needed on the different safaris, Masai tribe, Zanzibar/Stone Town, places to eat, etc. It was a great guide!



4. I was traveling with friends in Tanzania. I had the Lonely Planet and one of my friends had the Rough Guide. Lonely Planet is a good book but when it came down to the book that we REALLY found indespensible and would stay up at night reading -- the Rough Guide Tanzania won. Lonely planet is good, yes, but Rough Guide contained much more cultural information. It depends on what you are looking for. We are students and we were working in Tanzania. Rough Guide was better for the daily living and budget stuff. If you're just a tourist, Lonely Planet is perfectly acceptable.The Rough Guide to Tanzania, Edition Two (Rough Guide Travel Guides)



5. After having read both the Bradt and the Lonely Planet (LP) guide I can say that the Bradt guide, which is also available on amazon, is much better. Not that the LP guide is bad; in fact it provides a lot of information, which is why I give it 4 stars whereas I rated the Bradt guide 5 stars. The Bradt guide provides much more details about lodges/hotels it recommends and the presentation of information and maps are just much better

5 comments about The Shadow of the Sun.

1. You can really feel the heat and human struggle when reading this book. If you read traveller books about Africa you will learn what to see and where to go. In "the Shadow of the Sun" you will read about what you will see if you turn a wrong corner from a main street and meet ordinary people - or get stuck somewhere. I have lived in Ethiopia and visited several other African countries, but this is the first book I have read that describes how it really is if you don't follow the main tourist stream.



2. The single most accurate, complex, and compelling title on Africa I've ever read--and I lived there.



3. Kapuscinski is an excellent writer and this transalation is done very well. You will learn a lot about African culture and politics. The book is divided into multiple chapters which are all like independent short articles. My criticism is that I always wanted to learn more about what the author was talking about and then the chapter would end and he would move on to a completely new country and issue. A map of Africa will be very handy while reading this book and probably should have been included in the book.
   
   If you are interested in learning about Africa in general this an excellent book to start with and it will trigger you to focus more on certain aspects that attract you attention. It did inspire me to look up a lot of things on the internet. Overall excellent writing and well researched.



4. Shadow of the Sun
   
   Excellent introduction to the African continent. The author's writing is clear and beautiful. He writes in a way that richly evokes the images and experiences that he is going through, but his writing is light and to-the-point, not burdened with unnecessary or long-winded description. A master of writing style.
   
   What also helps is that Kapuchinski truly has great insight into the people, systems, and cultures he encounters, and his experiences are truly unique and exciting because he was courageous enough to go where most white people did not.
   
   The only "flaw" of this book was, for me, the fact that the overall picture of the African continent and its people was rather depressing. One finishes this book and despairs a bit for the future of Africa. It is all understandable: such great poverty, such unjust leadership systems, such corruption and rule of brute force, such lack of education and learning...how can things ever get better?
   
   This feeling of desolation is what is leaning me against reading another of Kapuchinski's books, at least anytime soon. Moreover, although he wrote about lots of different places, the stories to some extent begin to sound very similar - they are mostly stories of brutality, oppression, injustice, poverty and hunger, lack of security, and random violence. Sure, the details of the "how" differ - but the "what" is quite similar. While I suppose that is the reality for a large part of Africa, I can't help feeling that once I have read one book like that, I already know to some extent what the next one will say.



5. I could not put this book down. Poetic, persistent, compelling, a beautiful and sobering book about the African experience in recent history. Based on this book I am eager to read every book he has published.