Rick Ridgeway brings a unigue perspective to the history and the present problems which face the country of Kenya and its wildlfe. Although the authors thoughts and comments occur during his "hike" through Keyna from the top of Kilimanjaro, Tsavo east & west n.p., to the Indian Ocean, this is more than just a travel book. We are introduced to many of the historic persons who shaped what is currently the national park system in Kenya. We are also introduced to those who presently hold important positions within this system. The book provided an excellent discussion of the important issues in regards to the balance of nature/wildlife, economic concerns, and the local peoples. I found the discussions of the Waliangulu (elephant people) an excellent example of the problem which not only faces Kenya but other parts of Africa as well. For those with interest in this part of the world, this book provides a refreshing point of view.

I recently returned from Kenya and Tanzania where I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and went on a safari across the Seregenti and neighboring parks. Reading _The Shadow..._ has me longing to flee my desk job for good and head back to the wilds of Africa. The book brought back memories of the trip of a lifetime, from the icy cold of the oxygen-starved summit of Kili to the vast plains of East Africa and my only regret upon reading the book was that my safari was in a car -- an amazing experience, to be sure, but I envy Ridgeway his chance to experience Africa and its wildlife from the "real" perspective, the one man has always occupied... on foot and thus always on alert.

The book is a must-read for anyone who has been to or is contemplating going to East Africa; Ridgeway does a great job of discussing the history of the region and, in particular, the precarious balance between man and beast. The history of the conservation movement and cast of characters Ridgeway introduces is a wonderful way to learn more about the area and the people and policies that shaped its development. It's the latter focus, however, that makes me recommend the book even to those who've never been and never will be to Africa, because Ridgeway's ruminations about the interaction between man and nature, about what wilderness means to mankind, and, unfortunately, what mankind is doing to the last pockets of true wilderness that remain strike a chord that reaches far beyond the scope of his 250-mile walk. As he points out, North America once was "another Africa" with megafauna roaming wild just as the elephants and buffalo still do in Africa and, if we're not careful, the African wildlife may well go the way of all the large wildlife which mankind has driven to extinction.

In one sense, it's a rather depressing book because at the same time I found myself caught up in the excitement, reliving the adventure and planning my next safari, there's a faint undercurrent of despair, as Ridgeway visits the Waliangulu tribal village and finds their way of life disappearing, as he roams through the Rhino Free Range Area where the nearly-extinct black rhinoceros population is protected. But, as Ridgeway quotes "To despair of the entire situation is a reasonable alternative. But the unsatisfactory thing about despair is that besides being fruitless, it's far less exciting than hope." The excitement, and even the hope, of this seasoned adventurer shines through throughout _The Shadow of Kilimanjaro_ as he strides through one of the earth's last truly wild places.

Rick Ridgeway's account of his trek from the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro to the Indian Ocean is interesting enough on its own. But it is the frequent sidetrips along the way -- into Kenya's colourful colonial history, it's wildlife management and parks policies, and it's current political climate -- that make this book such a compelling read. What is the best way to ensure the long term survival of Africa's wildlife? Who owns the elephants? Should hunting be permitted? How big do reserves need to be? Is there a future for tribes whose traditional way of life included hunting? How can the Kenyan people share in the revenue generated by tourism? Ridgeway touches on these and many other questions, taking care to let the reader see the personalities and the politics lurking behind the strongly-held views of the main proponents in the debates. Anyone looking for a good introduction to the challenges and opportunities facing Kenya today could do worse than starting here. I read this book before visiting the country and found it an excellent preparation for the trip and a great jumping-off point for further reading.

Mr. Morrow was brave and adventurous, no surprise given his earlier experiences described in his book "What's a Commie Ever Done to Black People." Having read dozens of travel narratives and having lived and worked in African countries myself, I can say I especially enjoyed this one, not only because of his unique perspective as a black artist, but because he is a fine story teller and a very honest, direct and observant writer. Let's have a sequel!

It was Marcus Garvey who spoke and wrote so eloquently about "love for self and kind." Bro. Kojo, your book, too, is an eloquent treatise that speaks of "love for self and kind."

First, we read about the love you had to have for yourself,-- enough to leave your immediate family and the comforts of home to embrace new experiences in a distant land. Then we are introduced to your love for your motherland, Africa, which is apparent when your observations and insights allow us to see, touch, taste, ear, smell, and feel all that you witnessed. Finally, love for black people is clearly evident, when you allow us to walk in your shoes and share your dreams.

Although I view this as a text that projects "love for self and kind," I see it as book that I would recommend to anyone who has ever wondered, "Who am I and where do I come from?". RETURN OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN grabbed my attention from the very beginning and held me, enraptured, long after I had read the last word.

Congratulations!

Reading this book you will feel very present with the places and people Kojo adopts (and is adopted by) in his 11 years of traveling and living in West Africa. His writing is very immediate, intimate and personal, his observations keen and full of insight.

This book was truly fascinating. I read it shortly after reading The Poisonwood Bible, which had sparked my curiousity about central Africa. The author and her boyfriend set out on a trip across Zaire with no real idea of how they would get to their destination, and ended up dealing with situations that were so far beyond my frame of reference that I could scarcely imagine them. The author generally writes well and conveys a good sense of the tribulations and frustrations - as well as some moments of optimism - they encountered along the way as they got an unusually close-up view of the people and culture of the country. My only quibble with the book has to do with the inordinate number of typos.

"East Along the Equator: A Journey Up the Congo and into Zaire" is an excellent account of a journey across Central Africa (in what was then Zaire) in the early 1980s. Winternitz and her companion traveled by river barge along the entire navigable portion of the Congo river, from Kinshasa to Kisangani. The Congo river barges are legendary among 'extreme' travelers. The end of Belgian colonization of the Congo meant the end of roads, making the river the only practical way to travel between Kinshasa and Kisangani. These river barges are (were?) floating villages, complete with markets and nightclubs populated by traders who make their livelihood onboard, as well as travelers going from place to place. From Kisangani the journey continues overland, to an eventual return to Kinshasa by air. In Kinshasa the pair are arrested and interrogated by the secret police after interviewing a politician opposed to president Moubutu. Winternitz gives an even-handed and interesting account of the journey, along with relevant history and background information. The book contains a good bibliography. This book was journalism when it was first published, and it is still worth reading today, as a document of the Congo under Moubutu.

"East Along the Equator: A Journey Up the Congo and into Zaire" is an excellent account of a journey across Central Africa (in what was then Zaire) in the early 1980s. Winternitz and her companion traveled by river barge along the entire navigable portion of the Congo river, from Kinshasa to Kisangani. The Congo river barges are legendary among 'extreme' travelers. The end of Belgian colonization of the Congo meant the end of roads, making the river the only practical way to travel between Kinshasa and Kisangani. These river barges are (were?) floating villages, complete with markets and nightclubs populated by traders who make their livelihood onboard, as well as travelers going from place to place. From Kisangani the journey continues overland, to an eventual return to Kinshasa by air. In Kinshasa the pair are arrested and interrogated by the secret police after interviewing a politician opposed to president Moubutu. Winternitz gives an even-handed and interesting account of the journey, along with relevant history and background information. The book contains a good bibliography. This book was journalism when it was first published, and it is still worth reading today, as a document of the Congo under Moubutu.

I'm always looking for books about Africa. The fact that Ms. Bickmore has never been to Africa was an initial turn-off. It's strange to me that she didn't travel there before using it as a setting for her book. So I think that her descriptions of Africa was what a well-read American would expect. From my limited travel in African (five trips to East and South Africa), I'd say she did that part pretty well.

As to the story itself, it's all about indendent women and the price they pay for that independence. Her three women all married (or committed) too young!

I've read this book several times over the last 10 years. This time, it had been packed away after a move and I hadn't seen it in quite a while. When I pulled it out of a box I was searching through for something else, I immediately sat down to read it again. I would love to pass it on to my daughter, who is 14, but I had forgotten about some of the more "romantic" scenes. Someday, though, I know she'll enjoy it as much as I have. This is just one of those books that you carry with you forever. Treat yourself to this one and you'll be glad you did.

This book is absolutely the best book I have ever read. I've read it about 5 times(both books)and I just love it. It's catching, you can't tear yourself from it until you're finished. You feel like your right there, living their lives and I cry everytime I read the sad parts. I recommend this book to everyone, read it, you won't be the same.

There couldn't be two more different places than New York City and the lands of the Maasai in Tanzania. Tepilit Ole Saitoti's story of his journey in and between these two worlds is fascinating. I am looking forward to the update he is writing now that he is a Maasai Elder. This insight into another land and culture is a gift.

Excellent book, very accurate and really worth the money. It gives the picture of a boy growing up as a real Maasai and the new life in civilized world of Germany and USA - a man between two cultures and the difficult question to decide which way to go along. Makes yourself wondering about the way we Western people are living and gives a chance to see our world with other eyers.

After having visited the Maasai area some months ago a good opportunity to compare facts with my own experience and found it even more interesting. Go for it!

I read this book 12 years ago and was so moved that I wrote a letter to to the author - something I have never done before or since. I was so struck by his ability to navigate between two cultures that seemingly had little in common. His book is a testimonial to the flexibility of the human spirit and the power of education. Last week, out of the blue, I received a telephone call from the author. Apparently, he had saved my address all these years. Saitoti is currently in the US as a visiting scholar. He will be speaking in various institutions and he has just started writing a follow up to The Worlds of a Maasai Warrior (The Worlds of a Maasai Elder). I have just shown him these amazon reviews. He is sitting here beside me and
would like to take this opportunity to say: "Thank you to the reviewers of my book for such beautiful reviews and to amazon.com for posting such a wonderful display of my work."

Future generations will be most thankful that we had as Prime Minister of Britain, Winston Churchill. Not only for his leadership, which undoubtedly saved the world from Nazism, but also because of his memoirs. Reading this book, it felt like I was actually there, feeling the tension as Hitler prepared on new conquests, the revulsion as France & Britain allowed Germany to destroy Czechoslavakia, the disbelief as neutral countries, USSR,Belgium, Netherlands, Norway etc, clung to their neutrality as it meant anything to Hitler, admiration for the British people as they resisted such overwhelming odds at great cost, and triumph as the Grand Alliance combines to crush Germany. Also there are so many parts of the book which describe so vividly so many great moments, such as when Churchill first meets Stalin. A top read!

Churchill's book is really astonishing, not only for the sheer size, but for the vast expand of knowledge displayed and the personal experience behind it. Churchill includes hundreds of documents and thus gives ample proof of what he writes. His strongest moments are his criticism of British appeasement policy and the account of 1940/41, where his will to survive and his pertinacity can still be felt through the pages. His personal experience is always there, though he refrains from giving his readers too many anecdotes. In spite of the fact the everything was written very shortly after the war, most things are quite accurate, though the pages on Nazi Germany are not always enlightened. But - being German - I have never felt any hatred towards my people as a whole and one can well join in with his disgust of Germany at that time. The book, or rather books, never bore. An absolute masterpiece of historical writing.

A masterpiece of world literature. Anyone remotely interested in twentieth century history should read Churchill's accounts of WWI and WWII.

Churchill begins the Second World War by noting that the "volumes [are] a continuation of the story of the First World War...set out in The World Crisis, The Eastern Front, and The Aftermath". As great as the Second World War is in scope and insight, it is even greater when considered together with his treatment of WWI. It is a pity his account of WWI and its aftermath are currently no longer in print, available only through university libraries and sellers of rare books (if any publishers are reading, I beg them to consider republishing his accounts of WWI).

Churchill's chronicles of WWI and WWII are a invaluable account of the incomprehensible turmoil that characterized the first half of the 20th century. The scope of this literary achievement is made even more precious and amazing when one considers the firsthand perspective given by Churchill. During both wars, he occupied important government roles, putting him in a unique position to chronicle events during that era. The World Crisis, The Eastern Front, The Aftermath, and the volumes of the Second World War are personal memoirs as much as monumental histories. They are compelling on many levels, the stories of many through one.

Warning: This travel guide is not designed for the "accidental tourist," the person who travels to foreign lands hoping only to recreate a faraway, expensive version of his homeland. This book is for anyone who wants to travel not only for pleasure, but also for knowledge. With humor and incredible insight, Phil Karber writes of his adventures in the lands he has visited, lands that most of us will only see on National Geo specials. Karber immerses himself in each culture, learning as much as he can about the history, philosophy, people, and customs of each country that he visits. After reading this book, the reader will feel as if he, too, has visited each place Karber describes. This book is a must-have for anyone who plans to travel to these exotic locales, but it is also a delightful way for those of us who lack the courage, time, or funds to travel to experience places that may no longer exist in a few year's time.

Phil Karber is my Dad's first cousin. Trust me, the sarcastic humor runs in the family. I have not read my cousin's book yet, but I have no doubt that it is wonderful. Phil is a great guy to be around, and he could write a dozen books about his life. I would love to read about his childhood also.

I've just finished Yak Pizza--and how much I was transported from Fort Smith, AR to places I've only dreamed or heard of. Each day I looked forward to that time after dinner when I could grab Yak Pizza, get off by myself, and take trip after trip.

Phil Karber did a remarkable job here, finding the right distance from his subject matter--at times letting places and experiences speak for themselves and at just the right times giving such keen insights from observation and analysis.

There were such poignant moments and then humor and then righteous indignation and then such a knowledge of the background history of environment, economics, political/social structure. . .and gadzooks what a vocabulary.

I wrote a haiku over my impressions the night I finished the book and had such bittersweet emotions on finishing it--here tis Brushed bamboo, twisted thickets of morass. Leeches hold time in their craw.

In 1909, just after the end of his term as President, Theodore Roosevelt traveled to Africa for a year long safari.The trip was a major undertaking ; hundreds of porters were needed to carry his baggage. Roosevelt's son, Kermit came along, taking photographs which are reproduced in the book. Roosevelt and company bag hundred of animals. It appears that all hunting rules were suspended for the ex-president. Roosevelt and son are soon blasting away at anything and everything that comes into view. British East Africa is described in terms that make today's politically correct readers wince. Attitudes have changed dramatically in less than one hundred years. It is odd to hear Roosevelt describe parts of Africa as a "white man's country," suitable for large scale settlement by Europeans. The book bogs down and I was unable to read it without skimming through some parts. The descriptions of marching through wilderness and chasing after game on foot and on horseback seem to go on forever. There is a lot of great infomation here even if it is necessary to become your own editor by skipping though tedious parts.

This book gives you the genuine flavor of safari 80 years ago.

Not being very good with a gun, having little outdoorsman skills, and not being in the best shape of my life, reading this book was better than being there. If I was there, I would miss the animals, I would be too tired to enjoy it, and besides all of that, Africa is not as it was 100 years ago.
I have just begun to reread this book, and I don't know how many times this is. I enjoy it each and every time I pick it up.

I just finished reading your book KIJABE, and wanted to applaud you for your honest and intriguing novel on the history of your family in Africa. I really liked how you juxtaposed the court story, your romance, the journals of your grandfather, and the local histories. I am an avid reader (and actually picked up your book from the Westlake Library) and I am always curious for unique books that give new perspectives to life and peoples relationships. I think Kijabe was just that. I know it was your first attempt at writing, and I hope you continue to grace the paper with your pen, as I think your style will continue to improve through the years.

Katie Conlon

ps. I would love to hear more about your story if you wouldn't mind sharing what parts were true, and where things stand now.
I'm fascinated by that kind of stuff. I'm actually a student and I study international relations ( I was in Switzerland for school last year) so real life antidotes are always helpful. thanks.

To portray the issues and crises of a Diaspora culture in East Africa is one thing, but to write about them using the tools of various genres is quite another. Pally Dhillon has written a story about the clash of divergent cultures, of diametrically opposed religious beliefs, of the political and social struggles of a man who journeyed across the Indian Ocean to help build a life, a family, and a society. Kijabe is an impressive effort.

Borrowing devices from popular genres--from murder mysteries and love stories, from political thrillers and the well-known rags-to-riches motif--Dhillon tells the story of his grandfather, a poor Sikh emigrant who went to Kenya to work for the railroad industry, operated by the British at the beginning of the twentieth century. This is the same man who became one of Kenya¹s most powerful political figures, and whose mysterious death serves as the beginning of the book.

Kijabe is the fictional account of Dhillon¹s life-long research into the life of his ancestor. The history and culture underscoring the narrative greatly enrich the reader¹s experience and keep the story from falling into the trappings of genre fiction. But at the same time, the aspects of genre writing keep the story from becoming mired in its own attempt at historical accuracy.

Though this is Dhillon's first novel, it would be difficult to discern from the text. He writes with clarity and ease, with strength and power. Substantial portions of the book are devoted to the journals of his family's patriarch, but not to the extent that one voice dominates the tale. The complexity of the story requires a glossary of terms and an Appendix of Characters at the end to assist the reader¹s enjoyment. A small explanation of the nature of Sikhism and a concise history of Kenya reside at the end as well. For those who enjoy reading about the histories of far-away places, genealogy, sex, murder, and corruption, Kijabe is a book worth reading.

John Stoehr

Kijabe is a remarkable story of the three faces of East Africa - Black, Brown, White. The people from different backgrounds got together for a common aim; the development of the dark continent. The love story is unique in itself, involving people from differing religious and cultural beliefs. The religious verses, the stanzas from poets and sayings of politicians are a wonderful opening at the start of each chapter. I was absorbed in thought by reading the beginning of each chapter. Kijabe is a wonderful book carefully written by Pally Dhillon. It will bring joy for generations to come.

If you want a guide book with more than the basic superficial run of the mill tourist info this book is for you.

Lots of maps, tips and explanations of the deeper meaning behind the sites you're visiting.

I'm bringing this book with me on my trip!

Now in a updated and expanded new edition, John West's The Traveler's Key To Ancient Egypt continues to be the definitive guide to all of the sacred places of ancient Egypt. The ideal traveler's guidebook is enhanced with maps, diagrams, and photos to accompany the history and spiritual significance of Egypt's art, architecture, mythology, religion, and ritual practices. From the Pyramids of Giza to the Valley of the Kings, this traveler's guide reveals the hidden meaning of monuments, ancient city sites, as well as new research on the dating of the Sphinx. Travel tips include tour information, Nile cruises, what to bring and what to wear, shopping advice, as well as information on money, hotels, and restaurants. If you are planning a trip to the Land of the Pharaohs, beginning with a thorough perusal of John West's The Traveler's Key To Ancient Egypt!

This book is essential for any traveller to Egypt with a mind that is even slightly ajar, let alone open.

West gives an alternative account of the meaning of the monuments and antiquities to be seen in Egypt, more esoteric (though certainly not more difficult to understand) than that which is usually presented in guide books. He points out the details which brought him to the conclusion that the Giza Sphinx is in fact closer to 13,000 years old than the 4,500 years old that has been traditionally believed, and has a different viewpoint to the orthodox school in many cases. He presents both sides of the argument, and gives the information necessary to make up one's own mind based on observation of what is actually there to be seen.

On my first visit to Egypt, my companions and I felt rather sorry for tourists in groups with official guides, because they seemed to be missing out on at least half of the story, and in many cases the whole point.

I was particularly impressed with West's analysis of the architecture of the Temple of Luxor, based on the work of Schwaller de Lubicz, and once it was pointed out how the whole building maps onto a plan of the human skeleton, I found it very difficult to refute.

Whilst I did not always agree with his conclusions on every occasion, it cannot be disputed that West has raised thoroughly pertinent questions which conventional Egyptology has either glibly brushed under the carpet or failed to address at all.