An African History of Africa by Zeinab Badawi
An African History of Africa is an extensive, readable history of where we’re all originally from.
Badawi’s decade of travel and interviews, complimented by deep research and careful listening, have contributed to a history that manages to be entertaining, informative, and relentlessly relevant to the present. She encompasses an enormous diversity of cultures and histories, releasing African history from a Western-centric viewpoint, returning Africans to active agents in their own history and reaffirming African history as a subject of African pride.
Taking a chronological structure, Badawi guides the reader through an incredible range of landmark moments. From the Ancient Egyptian conception of general human rights expressed in the Westcar Papyrus, through the 614 arrival of Muslim refugees in modern-day Eritrea and the building of the world’s first Muslim shrine at Masjid al-Sahaba, to the liberation leadership of Mahdi—a religious leader who resisted the European occupation of Sudan in the 19th Century, capturing Khartoum from the British and contributing to the downfall of Gladstone’s government.
In addition to in-depth studies of historical figures—like the 10th century BCE Queen of Sheba—Badawi meets with contemporary custodians of African culture like Haile Selassie’s eldest granddaughter, and stands in the places history was made and remains, such as the Church of St Mary of Zion in Ethiopia where, according to Ethiopian tradition, the Ark of the Covenant is stored.
This is a truly landmark history, highly accessible, hugely recommended. – Sam
Flashlight by Susan Choi
If you’re craving a multigenerational saga to get lost in—think Middlesex and Pachinko—this is the one.
We first meet Louisa as a child swept up onto the shore of a beach in Japan, a miracle survivor of an incident that claimed her father and will take decades to unravel. We witness Louisa grow up and come of age, first in America, then briefly and formatively in Japan, and once again in America, but this time as an Ivy League student. She sheds parts of her identity with every transition, but at the core of her is the unknowable tragedy of that night on the beach long ago. Her mother, Anne, is also learning to live differently since the loss of her husband, discovering new sides to herself and reconnecting with people from her past before she met him. Anne and Louisa’s relationship is fraught with misunderstanding and a breakdown in communication and care, but what they share is a stubbornness to thrive despite circumstance. A sweeping family drama stretching from post-war Japan to Korea and Western suburbia, this is one to really transport the reader. – Laura