Some of my favorite books to learn about Tanzania or Africa
Books about Tanzania
- Paradise, Abdulrazak Gurna
- From the Zanzibar-born Nobel Prize winner, a coming-of-age story set in Tanzania that illuminates the harshness and beauty of an Africa on the brink of colonization. Sold by his father in repayment of a debt, twelve-year-old Yusuf is thrown from his simple rural life into complexities of pre-colonial urban East Africa. Through Yusuf’s eyes, Gurnah depicts communities at war, trading safaris gone awry, and the universal trials of adolescence. The result is what Publishers Weekly calls a “vibrant” and “powerful” work that “evokes the Edenic natural beauty of a continent on the verge of full-scale imperialist takeover.” Shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the Whitbread Award, Paradise was characterized by the Nobel Prize committee as Abdulrazak Gurnah’s “breakthrough” work. It is at once the chronicle of an African boy’s coming-of-age, a tragic love story, and a tale of the corruption of African tradition by European colonialism.
- Uhuru Street: Short Stories, M.G. Vassanji
- A collection of stories set in the Asian community of Dar es Salaam, depicting the changes in Uhuru Street from the sheltered innocence of colonial rule in the 1950s to the shattered world of the 1980s.
- A Girl Called Problem, Katie Quirk
- Thirteen-year-old Shida, whose name means “problem” in Swahili, certainly has a lot of problems in her life — her father is dead, her depressed mother is rumored to be a witch, her family bears the weight of a curse, and everyone in her rural Tanzanian village expects her to marry rather than pursue her dream of becoming a healer. So when the elders of Litongo make a controversial decision to move Shida’s people to a nearby village, Shida welcomes the change. Surely the opportunity to go to school and learn from a nurse can only mean good things. Nonetheless, mysterious calamities plague Shida’s people after their move. Desperate to stay, Shida must prove to her people that life can be better in their new home.
Books about other African countries
- Congo: The Epic History of a People, David van Reybrouck
- From the beginnings of the slave trade through colonization, the struggle for independence, Mobutu’s brutal three decades of rule, and the civil war that has raged from 1996 to the present day, Congo: The Epic History of a People traces the history of one of the most devastated nations in the world. Esteemed scholar David Van Reybrouck balances hundreds of interviews with a diverse range of Congolese with meticulous historical research to construct a multidimensional portrait of a nation and its people. Epic in scope yet eminently readable, both penetrating and deeply moving, Congo—a finalist for the Cundill Prize—takes a deeply humane approach to political history, focusing squarely on the Congolese perspective, and returns a nation’s history to its people.
- The State of Africa : A History of Fifty Years of Independence, Martin Meredith
- Africa is forever on our TV screens, but the bad-news stories (famine, genocide, corruption) massively outweigh the good (South Africa). Ever since the process of decolonialisation began in the mid-1950s, and arguably before, the continent has appeared to be stuck in a process of irreversible decline. Constant war, improper use of natural resources and misappropriation of revenues and aid monies contribute to an impression of a continent beyond hope. How did we get here? What, if anything, is to be done? Weaving together the key stories and characters of the last fifty years into a stunningly compelling and coherent narrative, Martin Meredith has produced the definitive history of how European ideas of how to organise 10,000 different ethnic groups has led to what Tony Blair described as the ‘scar on the conscience of the world’. Authoritative, provocative and consistently fascinating, this is a major book on one of the most important issues facing the West today.
- Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- With effortless grace, celebrated author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie illuminates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra’s impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in southeastern Nigeria during the late 1960s. We experience this tumultuous decade alongside five unforgettable characters: Ugwu, a thirteen-year-old houseboy who works for Odenigbo, a university professor full of revolutionary zeal; Olanna, the professor’s beautiful young mistress who has abandoned her life in Lagos for a dusty town and her lover’s charm; and Richard, a shy young Englishman infatuated with Olanna’s willful twin sister Kainene.
Half of a Yellow Sun is a tremendously evocative novel of the promise, hope, and disappointment of the Biafran war.
- With effortless grace, celebrated author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie illuminates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra’s impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in southeastern Nigeria during the late 1960s. We experience this tumultuous decade alongside five unforgettable characters: Ugwu, a thirteen-year-old houseboy who works for Odenigbo, a university professor full of revolutionary zeal; Olanna, the professor’s beautiful young mistress who has abandoned her life in Lagos for a dusty town and her lover’s charm; and Richard, a shy young Englishman infatuated with Olanna’s willful twin sister Kainene.
- City of Thorns: Nine Lives in the World’s Largest Refugee Camp, Ben Rawlence
- The Dadaab refugee camp is many things: to the charity workers, it’s a humanitarian crisis; to the Kenyan government, a “nursery for terrorists”; to the Western media, a dangerous no-go area. But to its half a million residents, it’s their last resort.
Situated hundreds of miles from any other settlement, deep within the inhospitable desert of northern Kenya where only thorn bushes grow, Dadaab is a city like no other. Its buildings are made from mud, sticks, or plastic. Its entire economy is grey. And its citizens survive on rations and luck. Over the course of four years, Ben Rawlence became a firsthand witness to a strange and desperate place, getting to know many of those who had come seeking sanctuary. Among them are Guled, a former child soldier who lives for football; Nisho, who scrapes an existence by pushing a wheelbarrow and dreaming of riches; Tawane, the indomitable youth leader; and Kheyro, a student whose future hangs upon her education.
In City of Thorns, Rawlence interweaves the stories of nine individuals to show what life is like in the camp, sketching the wider political forces that keep the refugees trapped. Lucid, vivid, and illuminating, City of Thorns is an urgent human story with deep international repercussions, brought to life through the people who call Dabaab home.
- The Dadaab refugee camp is many things: to the charity workers, it’s a humanitarian crisis; to the Kenyan government, a “nursery for terrorists”; to the Western media, a dangerous no-go area. But to its half a million residents, it’s their last resort.
- Tropical Gangsters: One Man’s Experience with Development and Decadence in Deepest Africa, Robert Klitgaard
- Selected as one of the six best nonfiction books of 1990 by the editors f the New York Times Book Review, this is a compelling and entertaining account of the author’s two-and-a-half year adventure in Equatorial Guinea, and his efforts to get this small bankrupt African nation on the path of structural development.
My personal pro tips: items to bring on your trip
- Aeropress: If you are a coffee lover like me, I strongly recommend bringing this with you. Tanzania does not really have a coffee culture, and the coffee there tastes quite different from other parts of the world. My personal favorite that I bring wherever I travel is the aeropress, because it is the easiest way to prepare great coffee on the go. Don’t forget to bring filters and your favorite coffee.
- Chocolate: Good quality chocolate, especially the type with extra high cacao content (+70%) is something I have not yet found in Tanzania. Let me admit that, as a Dutch person, I am spoiled in this regard. But while some Tanzanian supermarkets stock imported chocolate, this is extremely expensive, and the quality has declined due to improper preservation in the sunny climate. So if you are as much of an addict as I am, I recommend bringing some with you. If you have any left over, it will make a much appreciated gift!
- Rechargeable lamp: Tanzania has frequent power cuts. Most upscale lodges have a generator, but not all, and they may not always be working. To avoid finding yourself in the dark, I recommend bringing a small rechargeable camping lantern, like this practical one.
- Portable Mini Bluetooth Speaker to play music from your phone. I bought this sturdy little JBL speaker years ago, have been taking it on every single trip since, and it’s still working perfectly well, so I wholeheartedly recommend it.
For a complete packing guide, have a look at my post What to Pack for Tanzania.
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