Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles
Richard Dowden
Book of the month – August 2009
Richard Dowden takes us on a journey through history and geography of the African continent. Naturally his 553-page book cannot cover all African countries he, however, gives a concise acount of a number of selected states which he especially focused on as a journalist since he first came to Uganda in the 1970s.
Despite its volume, the book reads very well, one reason being that Richard Dowden combines the countries´ historical overviews with his personal experience and encounters. The selection or omission of particular events and their interpretation is by nature always subjective and as such subject to a discussion. However, this might be exactly the reason why this book is worth reading. One more strong point of the book is also the fact that the last two chapters include very recent topics such as Asia in Africa and perspectives of the future like The new Africa.
