Books of the month

Suggestions, inspirations, advices...

(from the African Book Centre)

Asher, Michael

KHARTOUM: The Ultimate Imperial Adventure

Now in paperback. The British campaigns in the Sudan
in the closing years of Queen Victoria's reign are
an epic tale of adventure more thrilling than any fiction.
Evoking images of broken squares, jammed Gatling guns,
ferocious'Fuzzy Wuzzies', British gunboats on the Nile,
the Camel Corps, and the charge of the 21st Lancers at
Omdurman, the story also brings together a cast of
larger-than-life characters - Gordon, Wolseley, Kitchener,
Gladstone, Churchill, the Mahdi, the Khalifa 'Abdallahi,
and many others. 480pp, UK.

PENGUIN BOOKS.

Mafundikwa, Saki

AFRIKAN ALPHABETS: The Story of Writing in Afrika

New in paperback. A well-illustrated visual
journey through the various African alphabets,
describing their place in art and culture.
The author, a Zimbabwean graphic designer, describe
his twenty year journey to collect information on
the highly graphical and inspiring symbols that make up
the alphabets collected.Among those featured are
Adinkra symbols, the Tifinagh alphabet of the Tuareg,
Somali and Ethiopic scripts, Mnemonic devices,
Bussa Vah scrpit and Nsibidi.
Illustrated with colour photographs and images.
Index, gloss, bib, map,

xix, 169pp, USA. MARK BATTY PUBLISHERS.