Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1851170 in Books
• Published on: 2000-04-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 504 pages

Customer Reviews

A mediocre photo-centered essay on West Africa.
This book was originally published in German as "Soul of Africa: The magic of a continent". The title however is misleading, as one's first impression of its contents. The book is much more limited in scope. Essentially, it covers the travels of a german photographer, Mr. Cristoph Henning in Western Africa. His photographs have been organized into subjects: Family, Law, Religion, Rulers etc. Well written and extensive text has been woven around them by Pr. Klaus Muller, covering certain aspects of Western African society. However there are serious flaws. The book is haphazardly organized, with chapters overlapping thematically and information preceding it's explanation by hundreds of pages(perhaps there have major layout changes in the English edition). Thus, the reader is often confused and annoyed, finding himself flipping through pages to clarify something. It definitely covers no more than a small part of Africa, and that from a limited point of view. On the bright side, if one decides not to take it too seriously, this lenghty tome contains many interesting, but not of National Geographic quality, photographs of local customs. The text is informative at times. It is also good value-for-money. Definitely no reference material here. A book for casual readers.