The book review:
This is a meticulously researched and well written biography of the legendary Ewart Grogan, explorer, Kenya pioneer, politician, entrepreneur and extraordinary character.

One of twenty-one children, Grogan hustled off to South Africa as a young man where he joined Cecil Rhodes in the fight for Matabeleland. Afterwards, searching for a mechanism to make himself a name, he seized on the idea of walking from Cape Town to Cairo. This he did in 1898, saying that he undertook the quest so he could ask for the hand of the lady he loved, Gertrude Watt. The exploit of the exploration coupled with the romanticism of the motive, did indeed make Grogan known. However, ailments contracted during the trek were to plague Grogan for the rest of his long life. Certainly given the list of medical difficulties to come and the number of times the man was reported to be at death’s door, his longevity—he died at 94 in 1967—was simply amazing.

The book review:
Reviewed by Susan E. Rice, former Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, currently Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

(This review initially appeared in the Washington Post and is also available at www.brookings.org. It is reproduced here with Ms. Rice’s permission.)

The book review:
I was attracted by this book’s odd title and my own memories of the starkly modern, already decaying edifice of the motel itself that sits forlornly on the Mombasa road just near the Tsavo River bridge. Yes indeed, that building is a focus of the book, yet it is just a jumping off point for a series of essays and opinions about Zanzibar and Kenya in the late 1980’s.

The book review:
Thanks to Frank Shea for recommending this book. It is a memoir in which Brother Alois recounts with self-effacing humor anecdotes of interactions with the mostly Nandi people who lived around his school at Tindinyo. I could not find Tindinyo on my Kenyan road map, but surmise (from his text) that it lies in the Kakamega Forest, east of the Kisumu/Kakamega road towards Kapsabet.

The book review:
This is a wonderful book. Everyone will enjoy it, but Africanists, especially those who know Kenya, will find it extra fun.

Famous Kenyan author Ngugi Wa Thiongo wrote “Petals of Blood” and “The River Between” that those of you who were teachers in East Africa probably taught. “Wizard of the Crow” is his latest masterpiece. It is a marvelous vehicle for looking at, poking fun at, and seriously thinking about the panoply of current social, economic and political issues that make up the fabric of daily African life. “Wizard of the Crow” is an allegorical novel, that is, it speaks to us on several levels. The story, the characters and the plot are entertaining in and of themselves, but Ngugi obviously is looking much deeper than that in formulating his criticisms of African dictators—among whom he certainly lumps Kenyatta and Moi along with Mobutu and Amin. The novel’s “Ruler” is an amalgamation of them all. Ngugi also excoriates their sycophantic cabinet ministers—read Njonjo, Biwott, etc., the compliant press, and indeed all the self-serving folks who strive to be a part or get a part of the national spoils. He also subjects the World Bank and western diplomats to his critical humor. For example, the democracy-oriented American Ambassador is named Gemstone (Hempstone?). But in the end the butt of the irony and the object of the message is African society itself. It is no happenstance that Ngugi uses a mirror in the novel to help the wizard look into the souls of his clients. The whole book is a mirror designed to help Africans look at themselves, what they have wrought, what they permit and who they are.

The book review:
This is an obscure, but fairly accurate historical novel that details the antics and character of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. The book recently went Hollywood and is now playing at a theater near you. This review looks at both the book and the film.