In 1957, Ryszard Kapuscinski arrived in Africa to witness the beginning of the end of colonial rule as the first African correspondent of Poland's state newspaper. From the early days of independence in Ghana to the ongoing ethnic genocide in Rwanda, Kapuscinski has crisscrossed vast distances pursuing the swift, and often violent, events that followed liberation. Kapuscinski hitchhikes with caravans, wanders the Sahara with nomads, and lives in the poverty-stricken slums of Nigeria. He wrestles a king cobra to the death and suffers through a bout of malaria. What emerges is an extraordinary depiction of Africa--not as a group of nations or geographic locations--but as a vibrant and frequently joyous montage of peoples, cultures, and encounters. Kapuscinski's trenchant observations, wry analysis and overwhelming humanity paint a remarkable portrait of the continent and its people. His unorthodox approach and profound respect for the people he meets challenge conventional understandings of the modern problems faced by Africa at the dawn of the twenty-first century.

Me and my mum came out for a trip round several phonebox libraries to release books in honour of International BookCrossing Day. I think we released 9 books and took 4 BookCrossing books between us. We also did a short walk finding geocaches, and discovered two new to us places to leave books (a phone box library and a little free library) This was left on the way home.

I saw this one at the phone box swapper today. I left two books, took one, but I didn't take this one. I think it is a fantastic book, but not only have I read it, but I still have my copy at home so I left it there. Thought I would stop in and say the book has been spotted though. We had been on a walk at Lower Dunsforth and did a loop in the car after to visit a new (to me) phonebox.