Reader
asked
Tim Butcher:
Hi Tim, Blood River was an absolutely amazing book! I want to find more pre 19th century writing on the Congo and Africa as a whole. Can you please provide me with some of your favorite history books/novels/short stories about any part of Africa, that you personally feel are must reads for someone such as me that is currently wanting to learn as much as possible about the continent? Thank you so very much!
Tim Butcher
Dear Andrew
You ask a good question. The space you mention (early writing on Africa) is dominated by outsiders, non-African voices. Printing and publishing emerged elsewhere so while the oral tradition of story telling and historical recording is as strong in Africa as anywhere in the world, written accounts in the early days, at least, are almost all written by foreigners.
The early European explorers tended to be a vain lot, so powerful no editor would dare gainsay them, so the written accounts by the Burtons/Spekes/Stanleys/Livingstones/Parks/DeBrazzas are interesting enough as historical sources but too flabby and egotistical to make for great reading. Perhaps the best book I know on the early exploration of the continent, that is to say white exploration, is a modern account that cleverly edits Mungo Park and explains how reaching across the Sahara from Europe was the key. It is The Gates of Africa by Anthony Sattin.
As you can tell, I am biased towards the Congo. I find it the place where the greatest hopes for the future development of Africa were raised, only for reality to plunge the darkest depths. Joseph Conrad’s novella, Heart of Darkness, bears re-reading, not least because it is more about how we all have the devil in us, white, black, old, young etc.
Thomas Packenham’s great work The Scramble for Africa tells how the entire continent was divided up by white outsiders in a few crazy decades at the end of the 19th century, with all the consequences that followed from that. And Adam Hochschild zooms in on the Congo in particular in his fantastic history, King Leopold’s Ghost, to give an account of the Congo that will a long time in being bettered.
Over the last century there have been wonderful snapshot books that tell particular stories set in Africa but with wider value. A ship wrecked in the 18th century on the remote coast of what we now call South Africa led to the passengers and crew facing a stark choice: learn to live with the locals or run from them: The Caliban Shore by Stephen Taylor tells the story of what happened next.
Cry The Beloved Country by Alan Paton captures the dehumanising and deracinating process of apartheid/white minority rule that caused so much damage. It is his masterpiece.
And there are no end of powerful books, often scarcely-concealed memoir, that capture the white guilt and white cruelty of colonial rule. The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing stands out for me, as does Alex Fuller’s Don’t Let’s Go To The Dogs Tonight.
I have already gone on to far. Yet I could go further…..I hope this offers some help. TimB
You ask a good question. The space you mention (early writing on Africa) is dominated by outsiders, non-African voices. Printing and publishing emerged elsewhere so while the oral tradition of story telling and historical recording is as strong in Africa as anywhere in the world, written accounts in the early days, at least, are almost all written by foreigners.
The early European explorers tended to be a vain lot, so powerful no editor would dare gainsay them, so the written accounts by the Burtons/Spekes/Stanleys/Livingstones/Parks/DeBrazzas are interesting enough as historical sources but too flabby and egotistical to make for great reading. Perhaps the best book I know on the early exploration of the continent, that is to say white exploration, is a modern account that cleverly edits Mungo Park and explains how reaching across the Sahara from Europe was the key. It is The Gates of Africa by Anthony Sattin.
As you can tell, I am biased towards the Congo. I find it the place where the greatest hopes for the future development of Africa were raised, only for reality to plunge the darkest depths. Joseph Conrad’s novella, Heart of Darkness, bears re-reading, not least because it is more about how we all have the devil in us, white, black, old, young etc.
Thomas Packenham’s great work The Scramble for Africa tells how the entire continent was divided up by white outsiders in a few crazy decades at the end of the 19th century, with all the consequences that followed from that. And Adam Hochschild zooms in on the Congo in particular in his fantastic history, King Leopold’s Ghost, to give an account of the Congo that will a long time in being bettered.
Over the last century there have been wonderful snapshot books that tell particular stories set in Africa but with wider value. A ship wrecked in the 18th century on the remote coast of what we now call South Africa led to the passengers and crew facing a stark choice: learn to live with the locals or run from them: The Caliban Shore by Stephen Taylor tells the story of what happened next.
Cry The Beloved Country by Alan Paton captures the dehumanising and deracinating process of apartheid/white minority rule that caused so much damage. It is his masterpiece.
And there are no end of powerful books, often scarcely-concealed memoir, that capture the white guilt and white cruelty of colonial rule. The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing stands out for me, as does Alex Fuller’s Don’t Let’s Go To The Dogs Tonight.
I have already gone on to far. Yet I could go further…..I hope this offers some help. TimB
More Answered Questions
Chris Lindley
asked
Tim Butcher:
Hi Tim. As an author, does where the consumer buy your books affect how much royalties you get? Just like in the music industry it seems to be getting more difficult for authors to make money from their efforts thanks to greedy corporates. Musicians are finding outlets to self publish or have options for a fairer share. Is this an issue for authors? Where would you recommend we buy your books from? Thx
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