No comments about English - Tigrigna Dictionary.

No comments about Trekking in the Atlas Mountains (Cicerone Guide).

No comments about Exclusive Safari Lodges of South Africa: Celebrating the Ultimate Wildlife Experience.

1 comments about Wild Edens: Africa's Premier Game Parks and Their Wildlife (Louise Lindsey Merrick Natural Environment Series).

1. Wild Edens. Africa's Premier Game Parks and Their Wildlife, by Joseph James Shomon

   It was our pleasant experience to read an extraordinary book! Although lacking in graphics, we do consider this one much richer in content than the more familiar, photo-laden publications covering this subject.

   Wild Edens has a very well written, interesting and varied text. The author combines skill with expert knowledge in different areas, i.e., ecology, geography, history and zoology, giving the reader a complete picture of these most important African National Parks. In Appendix 1, a short essay about David Livingstone and his pioneering disclosure of central Africa, is well worth reading.

   Appendix 2, with its complete list of the parks, gives very useful information to readers planning to be visitors.

   An outstanding description of the killing of a buffalo by a pack of hyenas in Aberdares Park is most impressive (Chapter 3). The reader feels strong sensations while witnessing the "cruelty" of the natural world and the tense relations between hunters and the hunted, in nature's domain.

   Because this is a book of major interest and value, we find it unusual to discover a gross mistake...The legend of the colour photograph depicting a zebra and two baboons at Jane Goodall's camp near Lake Tanganika (see colour photographs next to pg. 80, with a similar photo on the back cover). It reads: "Zebra and chimpanzees"... It is clear that the photographed monkeys are not chimps (Pan Troglodites), but baboons (Papio Cynocephalus). Zebras and baboons have the same habitat, ` savanna', while, typically, chimpanzees live in a forest. It would be rare for the two breeds, zebra and chimp, to meet in the wild ... their habitats being so positively different. How an error such as this could have been overlooked by such a competent author is disconcerting. However, this oversight certainly does not, in any other way, jeopardize the special value of a "different" book on wild life.

   José Xavier de Basto Coimbra, Portugal with Jacqueline Martin Texas, USA

No comments about On the Missionary Trail : A Journey through Polynesia, Asia and Africa with the London Missionary Society.

1 comments about Blue Guide Morocco, Fourth Edition (Blue Guides).

1. You won't find the latest Casa Blanca club or Ouerzazate-Marrakech bus schedules in it, but you can't beat the Blue Guide for concise historical background and comment on art and architechture. In places where this really matters, like Volubilis, Moulay Idriss, and Fes, it surpasses more mainstream guide books. Pen-and-ink sketches replace glossy photos, giving the book the feel of a war correspondent's diary (or the Wall Street Journal?). ...

No comments about Alexandria & The Egyptian Mediterranean: A Traveler's Guide.

1 comments about Born for Adventure.

1. If you are searching for adventure, whether you are a teenager or an adult, this is surely a tale to keep you glued to your seat. Based on the true story of Henry Morton Stanley (of Stanley & Livingstone) and of one of his expeditions to Africa, you will find one action packed scene after another. The heat of the jungle will have you sweating, the tropical flora and fauna will mesmerize you, the mysteries of the tribal Pygmies will intrique you, and the snakes, the insects, the beating drums and ceremonial dances and blood brother rites will have you totally transported as if you too were treking through the Congo in search of adventure. Some of this is rather gruesome, not for the squeamish or very young teen. The author depicts this adventure true to life and did not allow for telling it other than as it actually was. It was harsh, it was hard, it was hot, and death defying. Our young hero of the story, a bright and anxious English lad searching for a way to avoid a boring dismal life like that of his father, connives his way on board ship with Stanley and sails off to Africa born for what he thinks is going to be a piece-of-cake walk through the jungle to rescue a British Royal. Little does he know of the dangers that lie ahead, and that his brief jaunt to Africa will see years off of his life and of harsh realities of a land filled with both wonders and peril. None of which he can scarely imagine. The book is filled with great characters; shipmates, explorers, soldiers, doctors, and a variety of colorful African tribesmen both good and bad. All of which our hero encounters with both love and disdain as he becomes jack-of-all-trades under the servitude of Stanley. One finds a little bit of everything you need in a good novel all wrapped up in this one great story of adventure and as usual, the author delivers a top-notch yarn. Also a great story by this author is Exiled, a fabulous story told through the eyes of a camel.

1 comments about African Encounters.

1. "If my life were a book, would anyone want to read it?" This is a question that every individual, in their quest for leading a purposeful life, should ask themselves. African Encounters is a detailed account of Vic Gebhardt, a man who can give an affirmative answer to the aforementioned question. His extraordinary and fascinating life is imparted through a chronological series of dramatic, adventuresome, and inspiring tales in this book. I thoroughly enjoyed the read, and highly recommend it!

1 comments about An Indian Affair: From Riches to Raj.

1. AN INDIAN AFFAIR: FROM RICHES TO RAJ by Archie Baron was written as a companion book to a British television historical documentary series. It is therefore clear and beautifully written for the general public. It chronicles the interaction of Great Britain with India before 1858.
   My ideas about the British in India were fuzzy at best and basically informed by tales and legends from the Victorian age. This book turns all my ideas upside down. It's wonderful.
   It begins with an introduction and ends with an afterword and inbetween are 9 chapters. Chapter 1 entitled Rogue Traders and Spice Girls relates the beginnings of the British East India Company. Chapter 2, Accidental Empire gives information about Clive and the beginning of military power in India to protect trade. Chapter 3, Nabobs tells of the British who lived in India and got rich off her wealth. Chapter 4, An Indian Love Affair basically gives details about Warren Hastings, a governor-general of India and William Jones, an intellectual. Both these men loved India and thought the Indian culture was on par with most any cultures and maybe exceeded those of Great Britain. Chapter 5, Going Native, is about men like Hindoo Stuart who embraced India, not just intellectually but in all ways. These are the White Mughals. Chapter 6 First Fusion informs us about the profound influence Indian culture had back home in Great Britain and about some of the Indians who visited or came to live in Great Britain. Chapter 7, First Among Equals is about the schemes and military actions between France, the Indian rulers, and Great Britain. Chapter 8, The New Rome, chronicles the events that started the beginning of the British Government as the rulers of India. Chapter 9, Brown Englishman, tells how native Indian languages and learning were thrown over for English and western culture in India and even, for good and bad, embraced by Indians.
   AN INDIAN AFFAIR has gorgeous color plates and pictures interspersed throughout the chapters. It is 254 pages in length with Sources and Further Reading, Acknowledgements, and an Index. It is altogether a satisfying, beautiful reading experience.