Suggested reading
The books below have been read by individuals aware
of the Berlin-Nairobi Physics Exchange Programme and are suggested
to participanting exchange students in order to help them develop
a deeper understanding of their respective host country. It is
also most worthwhile to consider the list of Africa's 100 best
books of the 20th century.
If you have any further suggestions we would be most grateful if you contacted Jürgen Theiss. When you purchase the books below at Amazon or Abebooks via the specific links provided or via the general links, a share of the earnings will support the Berlin-Nairobi Physics Exchange Programme. Thank you for supporting the Berlin-Nairobi Physics Student Exchange Programme.
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If you have any further suggestions we would be most grateful if you contacted Jürgen Theiss. When you purchase the books below at Amazon or Abebooks via the specific links provided or via the general links, a share of the earnings will support the Berlin-Nairobi Physics Exchange Programme. Thank you for supporting the Berlin-Nairobi Physics Student Exchange Programme.
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Kenya:
The Quest for Prosperity, Norman Miller and Rodger
Yeager (1994), 254pp. For more information and to order: Amazon Germany, UK, or USA. Comment: This is a general and detailed book about the history, ecology, society, politics, economics and international relations of Kenya. Suggested by: Jürgen Theiss. |
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Africa:
Dispatches from a fragile continent, Blaine Harden (1991),
334pp. For more information and to order: Amazon Germany, UK, or USA. Comment: This is a collection of stories, each illuminating an African problem. It is written by an American journalist of the Washington Post and is an easy read. Suggested by: Mike Greenslade (former British physics lecturer at the University of Maseno in Kenya), Jürgen Theiss. |
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Out
of America: A black man confronts Africa,
Keith B. Richburg
(1998), 288pp. For more information and to order: Amazon Germany, UK, or USA. Comment: This is very similar in style to the book by Blaine Harden (see above) and also written by a American journalist of the Washington Post. Suggested by: Ferdinand Streicher, Jürgen Theiss. |
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Africa
in Chaos, George B. N. Ayittey
(1999), 416pp. For more information and to order: Amazon Germany, UK, or USA. Comment: This describes Africa's problems in great detail, analyzes their origins and suggests possible solutions. It is written by an academic from Ghana. Suggested by: Jürgen Theiss. |
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Afrika gibt
es nicht: Korrespondenzen aus drei Dutzend Ländern,
Georg Brunold (1997), 441pp. For more information and to order: Amazon Germany. Comment: This book intends to eradicate the stereotypical view of Africa in Europe and describes Africa's vitality and diversity. Suggested by: Florian Weissbach. |
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Going down River
Road, Meja Mwangi (1976), 215pp. Nairobi, River Road, Meja Mwangi (1997), 347pp. (German version) For more information and to order: Original English version: Amazon Germany, UK, or USA; German version: Amazon Germany Comment: Novel about a building labourer and the misery and crime in Nairobi's slums. Suggested by: Florian Weissbach, Mario Konschake. |
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Der Chronist der Winde,
Henning Mankell (2002) 267pp. For more information and to order: Amazon Germany Comment: Novel about a street child in Mozambique. Suggested by: Mario Konschake. |
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A bend in the river, V.
S. Naipaul (1989) 288pp. An der Biegung des großen Flusses, V. S. Naipaul (2002) 411pp. For more information and to order: Original English version: Amazon Germany, UK, USA German version: Amazon Germany Comment: This book is just wonderful. It is about the loss of orientation due to uprooting. It takes place during the rise of a dictatorship after the end of colonization somewhere in central Africa probably Zaire/Republic of Congo. The reader experiences the perspective of the people which is most interesting. Suggested by: Mario Konschake. |
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A grain of wheat, Ngugi
wa Thiong'o (1993), 224pp. Freiheit mit gesenktem Kopf, Ngugi wa Thiong'o (1984), 384pp. For more information and to order: Original English version: Amazon Germany, UK, USA; German version: Amazon Germany Comment: This is a classic. It is about the Mau-Mau uprising and the liberation of Kenya. These historical events are described through the accounts of individual lifes of villagers as well as white people. The story is somewhat convoluted and is not an easy read campared to "Going down River Road" or "A bend in the river" but it is very enriching. Suggested by: Mario Konschake. |
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The Shadow
of the Sun - My African Life, Ryszard Kapuscinski (2002), 336pp. Afrikanisches Fieber - Erfahrungen aus vierzig Jahren, Ryszard Kapuscinski (2001), 336pp. For more information and to order: English version: Amazon Germany, UK, USA; German version: Amazon Germany Comment: This is a wonderful book. Although Ryszard Kapuscinski lived in Africa for 40 years, he writes from a European perspective. It thus allows him to describe everyday scenes which an African author might not find worth mentioning but which a European readership is highly appreciating. The accounts on the history of Uganda and Ruanda are particularly interesting. Suggested by: Mario Konschake. |
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Afrikanische Todesklage, Peter Scholl-Latour
(2001), 472pp. For more information and to order: Original German version: Amazon Germany A very interesting though sometimes apodictic book by a controversial author who definitely has travelled a lot through Africa in the past 40 years. Especially the chapters about Kongo/Zaire, Rwanda and Burundi and about Sierra Leone and Liberia are breathtaking. Suggested by: Florian Weissbach |
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