 |
A Continent for the Taking: The Tragedy and Hope
of Africa
Howard W. French
ISBN: 1400030277
Format: Paperback, 320pp
Pub. Date: April 2005
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
BBP Sales Rank: 21,130
List Price: $15.00
BBP Price: $11.98 Save 20% |
|
|
|
click to
enlarge |
|
A
Continent for the Taking,
Howard W. French, 1400030277
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Africa first captivated New York Times journalist Howard W. French more than
twenty-five years ago, but his knowledge of and passion for the continent has
the depth of a lifetime association. His experiences there awakened him as
nothing before to the selfishness and shortsightedness of the rich, the
suffering and dignity of the poor and the uses and abuses of power. And in this
powerfully written, profoundly felt book, he gives us an unstinting account of
the disastrous consequences of the fateful, centuries-old encounter between
Africa and the West.
French delineates the betrayal and greed of the West-often aided and abetted by
Africa's own leaders-that have given rise to the increasing exploitation of
Africa's natural resources and its human beings. Coarse self-interest and
outright greed once generated a need for the continent's rubber, cotton, gold
and diamonds, not to mention slaves; now the attractions include offshore oil
reserves and minerals like coltan, which powers cellular phones.
He takes us inside Nigeria, Liberia, Mali and the Congo, examining with unusual
insight the legacy of colonization in the lives of contemporary Africans. He
looks at the tragedies of the AIDS epidemic, the Ebola outbreak and the
genocide that resulted in millions of deaths in Rwanda and the Congo. He makes
clear the systematic failure of Western political leaders-the nurturers of
tyrants such as Mobuto Sese Seko and Laurent Kabila, whose stories are told
here in full detail-and the brutal excesses of the CIA.
In helping us to better understand the continent, and indeed Africans
themselves, French helps us see as well the hope and possibility that lie in
the myriadcultural strengths of Africa.
|
