The Last Empire: De Beers, Diamonds, and the World

The Last Empire: De Beers, Diamonds, and the World details the history of the De Beers diamond empire as well as the history of South Africa through the eyes of the company.  Beginning with the initial discovery of diamonds on the De Beers family farm and ending in the mid-1990s, Stefan Kanfer thoroughly describes Cecil Rhodes' rise to power by gradually acquiring more land and more influence until he was the most powerful man in all of Africa.  The book then follows the reign of Rhodes' successors over the De Beers empire for the next hundred years.  For most of the book, South Africa is in a state of apartheid, where blacks and whites must be separated at all times.  This causes a great deal of change in the mining industry, and Kanfer illustrates this period of turmoil by listing countless injustices in the name of white supremacy.  The Last Empire is an interesting read and is very informative, but at times can be confusing; it is difficult to take in all of the information because nearly every paragraph of the book is relevant and factual.

Ramses the Great

The Two Princes of Calabar

The Two Princes of Calabar is the remarkable story of two brothers that are taken from their home in Calabar, Africa and are sold into the slave trade.  Originally slave traders themselves, the brothers use their extraoridinary knowledge of the english language to eventually escape slavery.  The brothers then go on to become Methodists and stay with the brother of the founder of Methodism in England.  After all that they go through the brothers make a shocking return to the slave trade in Calabar.  This short but intriguing story shows a new side of the slave trade is definitely worth reading.  Written by Randy J. Sparks, a history professor at Tulane, The Two Princes of Calabar is a compilation of letters and other first hand accounts that piece together the journey of these two brothers that is unlike anything in a history book.

-Queen Isabel

Dark Star Safari

In this book, Paul Theroux returns to Africa to travel the continent and see what has changed since he lived there. He starts in Cairo, Egypt and slowly works his way down to Cape Town, South Africa, recounting everything that happened to him in between. Theroux uses the book to show Americans that Africa isn’t really as savage as we think it is; it may be behind technologically but it definitely isn’t full of cannibals. Throughout the book, Theroux quotes different people who have voiced their opinions about Africa to either support a point he is making, or point out that something incredibly naïve. As an American who used to live in Africa, Theroux provides the reader with basic knowledge, but he also seems to be learning as he travels, just like the reader. Even though the book was a work of nonfiction, it was interesting to read because it was written like a story instead of the author just throwing information at the reader. This book is pretty long, almost 500 pages, but it was not hard to read and increased my knowledge of the Africa and its people.

- Betty Crocker

We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families- Stories from Rwanda

This book, named by the New York Times as a bestseller and Editors' Choice is an absolute must- read. It teaches about the history of Africa, and more specifically Rwanda before European colonization, during European colonization, and after European colonization. This book gives its readers an inside look into the minds of those who commit acts of terror and genocide. Prior to reading this book, I had very little knowledge about the genocide in Rwanda. This book opened up my eyese to what happened there a little less than twenty years ago. The only complaint that I have about this book would be the lack of transitions from chapter to chapter. You would be sitting reading one chapter that was purely about the Belgians taking over the country in the mid 1900s, and then the next chapter would be following somebody's story who had survived the genocide. These lacking transitions made the book hard to follow at first, but I think it sent a very good message to its readers. The book, like Rwanda, is chaotic, there is no real order and it seems as if chapters were thrown together. However, I believe that a well organized book would have made the genocide seemlike one continuous process coming from one source. What I have learned from this book was that the genocide in Rwanda did not start with one event and everything followed continuously after that, rather the genocide occured because of Rwanda's entire history. This book opened up my eyes to what life was and still is like in Africa.

-Jacqueline Kennedy

Hannibal's Last Battle: Zama and the fall of Carthage

In an easy 163 pages, Brian Todd Carey fully illustrates and retells the events that took place between the Romans and the Carthaginians in the Punic wars. With maps and picture by picture illustrations of how the battles were laid out and concluded, Carey makes this novel easy to understand and less boring. His story tells the tale between the Romans and the Carthaginians, two power hungry empires of their time fighting over the same interest, control over the Mediterrean Sea. The Carthaginians were the forceful empire of their time, with the favorable navy and infamous commanders, while the Romans were the clear underdog, lacking a navy but posessed advantages like natural resources. When these two empires clashed in the middle of the third century BC, only one would be left reigning supreme... read to find out!! Throughout the novel, Carey does a good job in giving background information so the reader understands what is going on and why it is going on. Also, the novel recreates the battles scenes well, giving precise numbers and picture by picture narrations of the battle. If you do not like war books or anything of that sort, this may not be the book for you, but its a relatively short read and isnt as boring as I thought it would be. I personally enjoyed it and suggest it to all.

- The Ming Dynasty

Country of My Skull

Though most nations have bleak histories of racial segregation, South Africa's period of Apartheid took racism to a crueler level. Apartheid was South Africa's 48-year-long period of violent separation of black South Africans from white South Africans. After the election of the nation's first black president, Apartheid officially came to an end. Racism between white and black South Africans however, did not. To repair ties between blacks and whites, the new South African government created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as well as the Amnesty Commission. At the TRC, Apartheid's victims would publicly speak about their suffering at the hand of white government during the period. At the Amnesty Commission, perpetrators would apologize for their actions, and, if their apologies were accepted, would avoid jail sentences.

Antjie Krog's memoir "Country of My Skull" gives a first hand account of the struggles of the TRC and Amnesty Commissions since their creations. As a white South African journalist reporting from the TRC, Krog listened to thousands of victims' hearings. She also saw first hand the effects of the TRC upon the new South African society.

Krog's experiences of life before, during, and after the TRC make her an expert source of information regarding the TRC, the Amnesty Commission, and the new South African society. Some information within the text was not put into chronological order, making it hard to understand the chain of events. The various names of important committee members and politicians were hard to recall, though Krog included a Glossary of TRC/Amnesty Commission/South African politicians at the end of the book. Despite its faults, Krog's memoir paints a picture of South Africans confronting their cruel past, but creating hopes for a brighter future. "Country of My Skull" beautifully shows that a populace can confront its past, but still retain its humanity and hope for a better future.

-Nelson Mandela

The Bottom Billion

Paul Collier discusses the reasons why the poorest people in the world are poor, and why they are staying that way. He mentions four development traps which are halting the growth of the bottom billion countries and how to defeat those traps. Collier explains that it isn't how much aid you provide a country but the type of aid you are providing. He even states that some aid can be detrimental to a countries growth.

- Che Guevara

Skeletons on the Zahara

Skeletons on the Zahara, written by Dean King, tells of Captain James Riley's adventure on the Saharan Desert. The year is 1815, and after shipwrecking with his crew off the coast of Africa, their chance of survival seems slim to none. Riley and his men are soon captured by desert nomads and spend their time being traded between different slave owners as they struggle to survive on the harsh terrain. These American sailors battle sandstorms, severe dehydration, starvation, serious injuries, and frequent abuse from their Bedouin captors. Dean King's retelling of Riley's incredible odyssey is definitely worth the read. Although the true adventure takes a few chapters to begin, the wait is well worth it. Parts of the book can get mildly gruesome, but for those who love an adventure story this is a must read. Captain James Riley's survival story will definitely  leave the reader more appreciative of what they have and also inspired by unlikely friendships, bravery, and life on the desert. 
This was an intense, yet worthwhile summer read.
~Audrey Hepburn

King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa

Who knew that there were mass killings in the Congo barely 100 years ago? I know that before I picked up this novel, I had no clue about these events. King Leopold's Ghost is one of those stories that shock you with horror and make you wonder about the greed and inhumanity of man. For Leopold, the Congo was used to build his empire and make him wealthy. He was a cruel man and put this region through executions, pillaging, deforestation, and hanging without even setting foot in it. He exploited the Congo’s raw materials for his own profits and created rubber plantations that caused the lives of millions of Africans by working them to death. Adam Hochschild, the author, does not list the facts of history, and create a dry, boring book; instead he tells this tale like a story. It has the good, the bad, and the gruesome. To make it even more interesting, the author uses diary entries, journals, and other primary sources from people who actually experienced these events which helps the reader pick up on emotions that could only be explained through those people.

This book was among the best I have read this year. I had no idea about the atrocities committed in the Congo around the turn of the century until now. Even as Hochschild tries to expose King Leopold II and his horrible deeds, he still maintains neutrality and examines why Leopold may have acted the way he did. This is a book that I would definitely recommend to anyone interested in getting to know more about the world and how connected each country is to one another.

*P.S: There is also an amazing soliloquy about King Leopold by Mark Twain---“King Leopold's Soliloquy: A Defense of His Congo Rule”

-Oprah