This is a great cookbook, with anecdotal information that makes it feel like you're sitting down with the authors over hot Turkish coffee, reminiscing about their travels.

Each recipe has the country/ies of origin, and what it's called in Arabic (which could come in very handy next time you're in a Middle Eastern restaurant!). The instructions are clear, and it has a great index.

My one complaint is that it has only a few photos. I like to know what it's supposed to look like when I'm trying a new recipe. I know that's not a deterrent for many cooks, but for those of you like me, that is a drawback. The varied selections and the cultural tidbits between the covers more than make up for that lack, though, and I recommend this cookbook heartily.

What I liked about this book is the fact that many Arabic complicated dishes were simplified, and it encouraged me to cook many dishes that I like but thought would take me a lot of time!

What I did not like is the fact that the writer has generalised the Marocan cuisine for the whole of North Africa or the Magreb. The Couscous is a Berber dish, the Berbers live all over Tunisia, Marocco and Algeria, this is why couscous is found in all those countries. Couscous is NOT a Marocan dish that is popular in Algeria and Marocco ad the author claims. Also the Tunisian Tajin has nothing to do with the Marocan Tajin, I think the author has never had a Tajin in Tunisia and he used a Marocan recepie and claimed it to be a Tunisia dish.

I hope those 2 mistakes will be rectified in the future edition, and I would welcome the author in Tunis and introduce him to the Tunisia cuisin which will make his book more complet!

Other than that, I highly recomend this book.

This is an amazing book! I have been able to recreate dishes that I ate as a child. There are excellent traditional recipes for Lebanese, Egyptian and Palestinian/Jordanian food. Also included are several versions of the same recipe with regional differences which is a rare treat for those with more experience and knowledge of middle eastern food. A must have.

The Roman ruins of Libya have been seen by very few Westerners in recent decades. They are in a remarkable state of preservation. The enormous basilica of Septimus Severus at Leptis Magna, while a ruin, looks like it could easily be put back together to it's former glory. The excellent state of preservation is due both to the desert climate and to the near complete absence of tourism. Eric Newby writing in "On the Shores of the Mediterranean" describes the difficulties he went through in arranging a visit under the Quadaffi government. This book was produced by Italian archaeologists who remarkably have been able to continue their field work during Libya's current international isolation. The book is marred by the poor reproduction of the photos. The pictures are almost all underexposed with muddy shadow areas, flat highlights and an overall lack of contrast. A pity but the book is still worthwhile for a look at sites that most people will never be able to see.

This book is magnificent.The first 180 pages are devoted to the western province of Tripolitania, where ruins of the Roman cities of Sabratha, Oea(present-day Tripoli),and Leptis Magna are located along the North African coastline in the Gulf of Sirte. The next 50-odd pages cover the eastern province of Cyrenaica toward Egypt where the Greco-Roman cities of Cyrene, Apollonia, and Ptolemais are found.

The photographs of these cities are without a doubt some of the finest in existence.Heretofore,I have only seen random scenes of these ancient cities, but nothing organized in a book like this.

Unless one has been to Lybia,as I have,it is difficult to imagine the splendor of these ruins.Greco-Roman ruins in Europe pale in comparison.A primary reason for their preservation is the dry climate,and their burial for 1000 years by the shifting sands of the Sahara from the 9th century A.D. Excavations began in the early 20th century.

The Italian authors are experts in archeological research of the Roman era,specifically in North Africa where they have conducted many missions. Their knowledge of the rise and fall of these wealthy,elegant,and powerful cities and their importance to Rome is well presented in the text throughout the book. The writers describe what life must have been like in these cities,and provide accurate maps and reconstructions of their original dimensions where still buried by sand.

For anyone interested in the period of history when these cities flourished-7th century B.C. to about the 4th century A.D.-this book is a must. If you don't like to read-just look at the pictures.

This is a beautiful book showing some of the extensive Roman ruins left in North Africa. Highly recommended for enthusiasts and browsers.

The book is pretty large, and the pictures are clear and give you a good sense of the urban spaces pictured.

Jomo Kenyatta, the first president of independent Kenya, wrote this book as a graduate anthropology student in London. As a primary source, this book is invaluable. It gives detailed analysis of many aspects of pre-Mau Mau Gikuyu cultural ceremonies. However, as it is a product of the structuralist school of anthropology, many of its conclusions and findings are problematic, most notably in its opinion of culture as a fixed entity which determines human behavior. For students of colonial Africa, this piece will inevitably be of use. Personally, for a more nuanced view of colonial and post-colonial Kenya, I recommend the fiction of Ngugi wa Thiong'o, who tends to be more sympathetic to the lower ranks of Gikuyu societies, and who also happens to be one of the most important critics of Kenyatta's post-colonial politics. *Facing Mt. Kenya* is necessary, but at times, troublesome.

A most detailed and reliable account on Kikuyu heritage, customs and way of life.

sorry but i had to read it for english/world history clss and it was ba

"Memoirs of an Arabian Princess from Zanzibar" by Emily Ruete (born Sayyida, Princess of Zanzibar) is a unique book, the only autobiography by a Zanzibari princess of the 19th century.

The author was born in Zanzibar in the mid-1800's. Long ruled by Omani Arabs, Zanzibar had achieved hegemony on the coast of Eastern Africa and had grown rich on the harvest of slaves and ivory from the continent and spices (especially cloves) from Zanzibar island itself. They had spread their influence and Swahili language as far west as Kisangani on the Congo river (the setting for V.S. Naipaul's "A Bend in the River"). Times were changing: European traders and missionaries were the harbingers of colonization for the continent, protectorate status for Zanzibar, and the crusade against the Eastern slave trade.

Sayyida eloped with a German and had to leave Zanzibar. She moved to Germany where she was eventually widowed and alone (her Islamic family in Zanzibar rejected her for marrying a European Christian.) She wrote this book for her children, to provide them a record of her history. In it she describes life in the Zanzibar royal palace and plantations: traditions, customs, palace intrigues and overthrows, the harem, slaves, festivals, manners, the status of women, and so forth. She compares her life in Europe to her life in Zanzibar. This book should be of value to anyone interested in Zanzibar or Eastern Africa, or Arab, Islamic, or Women's studies.

Please see my other reviews of books about Africa.

This book contains the memoirs of Emily (Sayyida) Ruete, a Nineteenth Century Arabian princess. It is a fascinating tale of childhood and living conditions within the harem in Nineteenth Century Zanzibar. The book is unique in that Sayyida was one of the very few princesses who learned to write, hence other princesses were not able to record their experiences. It is refreshing to read an insider's report of harem life rather than the strange misinterpretations of short-term foreign visitors. The book also contains firsthand accounts of political intrigue, which will be of interest to students of Zanzibari or Omani history.

I haven't read this book yet, although I have been planning to for the last five years. But I have read "Trade Wind," a semi-fictional but remarkably historic novel by M.M. Kaye, in which Emily Ruete is one of the main characters. I recommend everyone read it, because it gives a lot of background information on Zanzibar, and an intriguing account of the rebellion there at the time the princess (Emily) eloped with her German lover.

There are times when the monotony of the vegetable world seriously impedes my overall desire to do anything with them beyond a simple salad.. While I have had this cookbook, the vegetables that I once deemed as boring and simple were given a new and interesting life. The book turns many vegetables into tasty treats that anyone would find palatable. The books lack of pictures for the appropriate "presentation" of the dishes is its only downfall, which is made up by its cultural emphasis and the way the food tastes after it is made.

This is a wonderful book not only for the recipes but for the insights in to the part food plays in the everyday lives and culture of the people of the Middle East and North Africa. Salloum gives a brief history of most of the dishes and places them in geographical and cultural context. I enjoyed reading it as much for the delicious food as the explainations. My only criticism would be that there are no pictures in the book so a novice cook like myself has little idea of how to serve the recipes. A minor quibble... it is a lovely book and has delicious, tasty recipes.

i enjoy the fact that this book covers wide variety of tastes&Cultures throughout the world&has many great&exciting things for me too eat.I enjoy trying different Vegetarian foods&this Books adds another direction of choices.

I found this book a good introduction to anyone expecting to go trekking in East Africa. It goes over, in substantial detail, all the factors you may face (medicine, visas, hotels, transportation, tours, trails, etc.). However, there is very little on the trekking peaks, which I thought would be the most interesting portion of the book. For example, on Mt Kilimanjaro there are only maybe 5-6 pages, with only an overview description of the routes. If you are looking for overall trekking in East Africa, this is good book, but if you are looking for info on the trekking peaks, there are other, more specific guides, that may be more helpful.

I used this book to plan and complete a Kilimanjaro climb, a Tanzanian safari (Serengeti, Olduvai Gorge, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara) and a trip up the coast of Kenya. The book was more than helpful; it was essential to the success of the trip. Helpful information is complete, accurate and relevant: exactly what you will find in the Lonely Planet Trekking guide. The helpful information -- routes, housing, food, currency, gear, etc. -- are tools to keep you safe, healthy, prepared and even comfortable. The essential information is much more: it gives you a feel for where you are going and what's important about being there. Descriptions of languages, religions, customs, history, geography, geology, climate, etc., gave me a deeper awareness of the countries I was navigating through. This book is strong on both counts. Here's an example: The vocabulary lists were really helpful in opening conversations with staff, villagers and border officials. However, the book's essential advice was to just try your best at speaking Swahili, and the people you meet will respond very warmly to your having made the effort. The results were heartwarming, and they opened the doors to other discoveries I could not have made otherwise. The book itself is a valuable commodity. On Kilimanjaro I leafed through the chapters for maps and plant descriptions. The book so fascinated my guide that I gave him my copy as a parting present (though I couldn't part with it on the climb since it was the only map & route description we had!) Note that the Lonely Planet Trekking books do not promise to be field guides for the areas they describe: bring another volume(s) to help identify the flora and fauna you encounter.

There's not much material out there on Africa's longest running civil war, which is depressing for newcomers to the history of this conflict. Of what does exist, Connell's narrative is a valuable look into life with the Eritrean rebels seeking to split from a brutish Ethiopian state. In this book we find him getting strafed by Ethiopian jets, suffering through long desert hikes behind the lines, and reporting on the refugee situation. It is a fascinating look at the politics of rebel Eritrea and the collateral damage of warfare in the Horn of Africa.

As he states at the beginning, Connell is sympathetic to the EPLF (Eritrean Popular Liberation Front). So other than high-level news reports, you don't get much consideration of what's going on outside rebel(EPLF)-occupied Eritrea. The account is quite one-sided, even against the other rebel groups operating in Eritrea. The EPLF was a Marxist-oriented revolutionary movement from the beginning. Much of the book is devoted to educating the reader on the EPLF's great progress in pulling off land reforms, sharing Maoist "political education" with the rural population, and teaching the worker exploitation inherent in capitalism. All of which can be skimmed and discarded, but it takes away from the main strength of the book: that he was one of only a few reporters on the ground to witness much of Africa's most bizarre conflict. I wanted to learn more about the offensives, why the Soviets got involved, and what was going on from a big picture level. Reading endless detail about EPLF comrades setting up farm cooperatives in rural villages was not terribly exciting.

The definitive book on the Ethiopian/Eritrean war has not yet been written. But Connell's "Against All Odds" will give you insight into the struggles of the main leftist guerrilla group and their experience between 1977-1991.

PS- For war buffs, this book is a little light on its treatment of the battles and the maps included reveal few details.

This was the first book that i bought one a recent trip to Eritrea and although it may be bias in favor of Eritrea, and the EPLF it is rightly so to counter act all of the Eithiopian propraganda that the west gets. this is a first hand acount of what the author saw for himself during the 30 year conflict with Ethiopia. it is a great read with a lot of the authors own feeligs and stories. this is a great way to get away from the dry military history of, this tank went there, the army moved there, this division had this big gun here style. I bet if you read this book you will not be able to explain african politics in short little articals like one would find in newspapers and weeklys. the reader will find that the world and africa are more compicated then we like to belive, and that africans, and in this case Eritreans can make a nation with out the heavy hand of western help.

This is an excellent book:I recommend it for anybody interested in history of the Eritrean struggle.This book, written by an author who, in the process had a near death experience( Missed by a fighter jet!!) ,offers a very realistic and indepth look at the longest civil war in Africa.It happens to be one of the few books wriiten about a traumatic and tragic time for the people of Eritrea. The author ,a journalist,whose intention was to cover Africa from Cairo to Johannesburg was caught up in development in Addis Ababa(Ethiopian capital).For the next couple of decades has practically been part of the struggle.He shares his experience and insigths in this book. The book begins with a raid into Asmara (Eritrean capiltal)by the then guerrila figthers.Then the reader is taken deep into rebel territory in the sahel mountains for an upclose and personal with the "tegadelti" liberation fighters. It gives a very vivid account several battles and the descrptions of them by both rank and file guerrilas and the highest commanders. You will meet in the book courageous souls who survived a thousand mile subsea level trek.You will meet...Fana,stereotypcal Eritrean highlander woman who was just as rebelious to tyranny as the ones actually figting it out with an AK47. The book explores the reasons behind the conflict (eventhougth not as detailed as the struggle itself).It presents a decent view of the oppossing sides. It is one of the most exciting and educational books I have ever read.

This book was recommended by another client on a recent safari trip to Tanzania. Her description of the author's unsentimental descriptions of the challenges involved in collecting and transporting various 'samples' intrigued me. I really enjoyed the book--particularly the sections on lions in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. The blurb on the back cover which comments that the book may be the best antidote to 'Out of Africa' hit the nail on the head.
I thoroughly enjoyed Packer's descriptions of time spent in the field, observing and tracking lions. He also does a good job contrasting his everyday life in Minnesota with life in the Serengeti and Gombe Parks.
If you're interested in a 'real' picture of a researcher's life in the field, lions or baboons, or descriptions of the Serengeti, you won't be disappointed.

"Into Africa" is a detailed and interesting account of wildlife research in two national parks in Eastern Africa (lions in Serengeti and chimpanzees in Gombe). Packer writes what most readers would expect to see in such a book (i.e., about animal behavior and scientific theories that try to explain it), but he also tells us about the day-to-day life of a wildlife biologist working in Africa (budgeting, traveling, provisioning, working with local and international staff, and avoiding both animal and human danger).

Wow! This well-written book covers, in narrative style, with humor, a recent 52-day field research expedition by the author to the Tanzanian Serengeti and Ngorogoro Crater to study lions, and to Gombe (of Goodall fame) to study chimps and baboons. In frequent flashbacks he reviews his past field expeditions and what they discovered -- new theories about why lions, chimps and baboons form the type of social structures they do. He also covers the struggles and hopes of the wildlife parks, and the difficulty of trying to reconcile the needs, wants, and contributions of: the researchers, the people living in the area, the government, the tourists, the poachers, and the foreign hunters -- all on the limited funds available.
He throws in a lot of information on the species he studies, and builds this information into a theory about how all species -- perhaps even man -- are motivated to either cooperate or compete with each other. Packer also includes his commentaries and anecdotes about his fellow researchers, camp employees, local residents, local and national government officials, and the history of the area.
Packer does an especially thorough job of analyzing how the species' survival is affected by men, disease, inbreeding, other species, and their own species' behavior patterns.
The liner notes include recommendations of this book from the renowned George Schaller and Cynthia Moss. The reviews here by Booklist and Kirkus are accurate.
That said, I do have some minor quibbles with the book. There is no index, and the table of contents is only chronological according to the "diary" format of the book. If the reader wants to review the material -- however excellent -- on lion infanticide or chimpanzee wars, the reader has to leaf through the entire book to find it.
Likewise, there is no list of suggested further reading or sources, and no glossary. While Packer does define the Swahili terms he uses, he does so ONCE, in text. When one reads that "Tony Sinclair is the real mzee" on page 244, one has to remember the definition from page 52 [mzee is literally "old man" -- a term of honor and respect].
Packard also seems to dwell on the negative and random man-on-man violence -- for instance, a lengthy report on the 1975 kidnapping of four researchers from Gombe by Zairian rebels, camp thieves, and assaults on tourists. Grouping these incidents occurring over 20 years in one narrative makes them seem more pervasive than they are.
This is an EXCELLENT book for anyone interested in African wildlife or animal behavior in general.

Muriel and Tom Feelings have put together a book which counts from 1-10 in Swahili, but also through the rich illustrations introduces us to the culture of Africa. The book contains an introduction which explains the languages spoken and some informative details about the area. The book gives you the pronunication codes for the words. I was impressed by this seemingly simple book which is packed with sights and sounds of East Africa.

This children's book teaches the numbers one through ten in Swahili as well as various aspects of east African culture. Children will enjoy learning to count a new way. And, the illustrations by Tom Feelings are great. The book was a 1972 Caldecott Honor book (i.e., a runner-up to the Medal winner) for best illustrations in a children's book.

The book is more of an infomational piece than a story book. It shows you how to count from one to ten in the Swahili Language. Besides each number is a fact pertaining to the East African culture. The illustrations are beautiful and very artistic. A bow to Mr. Feelings for such artistry. In the introduction of the book is a brief information piece on Africa and the Swahili language. A must for African American children reading.

This voluminous, five volume set, is meant to serve as a comprehensive dictionary of the ancient near east. Though the topics covered are impressive, the main drawback of this volume is the surprisingly small amount of illustrations and pictures that are incorporated in the text. In a work that claims to summarize the archaeology of the ancient near east, the few pictures, plans, etc., seriously lowers the intrinsic value of the encylopedia. This said, nevertheless, these volumes can be used for the convenient summaries of the archaeology of various sites and the basic relevant bibliography.

This thing is simply great - Looks good, nice paper, great content, not overly academic/pretentious in its stile of writing. Also serves as a good read when not looking for specific topics. Im sorry I did not discover that treasure sooner.

This Oxford publication is the Motherload for sites in the Near East. Just about every site, with the exception of those found after 1996-97, in the near east is listed in this beautifully bound set (vol 1-5). It is an excellent source for any Archaeology student researching sites in the Near East. One draw back of the volumes is the lack of diagrams and photo's. However, the volumes are very well written with the student or researcher in prespective. All sites are in alphabetical order, making location a task easy to accomplish. This set is a must for serious students in the field.

(Notice: The above book offered by Amazon.com is just the first of a set of five books. I refer to all Volumes in my review, not just the one book presented above.)