BOOKS
A Continent for the Taking By Howard French
As a roving New York Times correspondent in West Africa in the 1990s, French reported on the civil war that brought down Zaire's Mobutu Sese Seko, drugs-and-diamond fueled carnage in Liberia, a deadly outbreak of the Ebola virus and the brutal regime of Nigerian strongman Gen. Sani Abacha. This vivid book paints a portrait of a continent misruled by kleptocrats and scarred by Western meddling. French finds a few glimmers of hope—including an encounter with Malian President Alpha Oumar Konarc, a visionary dedicated to democracy. What lingers, however, is the stench of corruption.
—Joshua Hammer
Francisco Felix de Souza: Mercador de Escravos By Alberto Costa e Silva
Few tales of intrepid entrepreneurs are as fascinating—or chilling—as that of Francisco Felix de Souza, probably the most powerful trafficker of African slaves between the Old World and New. Costa e Silva, a Brazilian poet and African scholar, produces a nuanced biography of the man known as Chacha, who was born in Brazil and made his fortune working the "slave coast" of what is now Benin. Oddly, Souza is remembered there not as a scourge but as a hero for defying colonial powers—a reminder that myths can scar deeper than shackles.
—Mac Margolis
An Unfinished Season By Ward Just
Sometimes I think the only memories worth having are the ones that are private," Teddy Ravan tells his son Wils, the narrator of this beautifully crafted coming-of-age tale. Even if the setting of Just's fourteenth novel is the Midwest instead of Saigon or Berlin, the territory will be familiar to his fans. It's the land of memory always tinged with regret. This is vintage Just, neatly capturing the wounded spirit of the early 1950s and Wils's aching heart.
—Andrew Nagorski
