The first thing you need to know is that the Republic of the Congo is not its larger neighbor, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It seems obvious, but the similarities of the names makes it hard to do research. I thought I had found a book about the Republic of the Congo, but it… [Read More]
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Category: Africa
Gabon: “Tropic Moon” by Georges Simenon
Georges Simenon was a Belgian writer best known for his detective stories. He wrote literary novels, too, like this one published in 1933. It’s about a young French man, Joseph Timar, who goes to Gabon to take a position with a French company operating there. He finds himself in a world where there are three… [Read More]
Equatorial Guinea: “The Wonga Coup” by Adam Roberts
I’ve been doing this project of learning about Africa one nation at a time for about a year and a half now, and I have read a lot of academic books. In some of these small countries, the only people doing the research are those looking for more and more obscure dissertation topics. I expected to… [Read More]
Djibouti, by Elmore Leonard
Djibouti is a small country with a major role in world trade. It has about 800,000 people and a deepwater port on the Horn of Africa that serves as a connection between Europe, East Africa, the Middle East, and on to Asia. It was once French territory and retains strong ties to Paris. I try… [Read More]
Ethiopia: “The God Who Begat a Jackal”, by Nega Mezlekia
Ethiopia is a strange country: the home of a large Christian Orthodox population, but also the birthplace of one of the largest religions in the Caribbean, Rastafari; a nation associated with famine, a famine that was largely man-made; a country where the large Christian population, monarchical social structure, and convenient location made it loom large… [Read More]
