Press Reviews


The following is a selection of reviews of Fahamu Books titles. Simply click on '…more' for reviews in full.



To Cook a Continent
Destructive Extraction and the Climate Crisis in Africa
Nnimmo Bassey

An extremely insightful and eloquent book about what Africa can do to stop the new forms of colonisation that are being exaggerated by the chaos of climate ...more

 Pablo Solon, former Bolivian ambassador to the United Nations 



Reclaiming African History
Jacques Depelchin


The need to distill complex history into an easily digestible form suitable for policy action has never been more apparent than in today's ...more

 Peter Limb, Michigan State University, African Publishing Review 



African Sexualities
A Reader
Sylvia Tamale

Read Sylvia Tamale's introduction as published by the Nordic Africa Institute here.



No Land! No House! No Vote! Voices from Symphony Way
Symphony Way pavement dwellers

Bring the words of the Symphony Way Pavement Dweller's to the world by supporting our campaign here.



Understanding the Somalia Conflagration
Identity, Political Islam and Peacebuilding
Afyare Abdi Elmi

Twenty years ago Somalia's central, dictatorial government was ousted. The ouster did not only lead to a change of regime but it also brought about state ...more

 Liban Ahmad, editor of Somalia Research Report, Harowo.com 



African Women Writing Resistance
An Anthology of Contemporary Voices

This fresh and startling collection of contemporary African women's writing deserves a much wider audience than African or literature or women's studies ...more

 Vanessa Baird, New Internationalist 440 



Aid to Africa: Redeemer or Coloniser?

This is an extract from an article which can be read in full on the ...more

 Denis Tither , SocioLingo Africa 



SMS Uprising: Mobile Activism in Africa

Anne Perkins reviews SMS Uprising: Mobile activism in Africa - a book that will help explain how mobile phones can be used in the field to anyone ...more

 Anne Perkins, The Guardian 



Food Sovereignty
Reconnecting Food, Nature and Community

Anyone in Britain alarmed by rising inflation should look to an Indian villager for understanding about the latest worry in the global economy. Last year a ...more

 Raj Patel, The Guardian, The Guardian 



Experiments with Peace: Celebrating Peace on Johan Galtung's 80th Birthday

Turning 80 24 October 2010 I received a wonderful Festschrift, edited by two of [my friends], Jörgen Johansen and John Y. Jones (Experiments With ...more

 Johan Galtung, in preface to 'A Theory of Peace', forthcoming. 



Africa's Liberation: The Legacy of Nyerere
Emeka Anyaoku, Ana Camacho, Horace Campbell, Seithy Chachage, Ng'wanza Kamata, Faustin Kamuzora, Helen Kijo-Bisimba, Chris Maina Peter, Mouhamadou Tidiane Maoulidi, Marjorie Mbilinyi, Neema Ndunguru, Haroub Othman, Nawal El Saadawi, Mohamed Sahnoun, Issa G. Shivji, Vicensia Shule

Julius Nyerere was the founding president of Tanzania from its independence in 1961 until 1985, when he voluntarily stepped down and did not seek another ...more

 Rolf Hofmeier, former director of the Institute of African Affairs in Hamburg (part of the German Institute of Global and Area Studies), Africa Spectrum vol 45 no 3 



Speaking Truth to Power: Selected Pan-African Postcards
Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem

Wow!

The first thing that crossed my mind when I read this book was: wow! Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem is one of those brilliant African minds that was ...more

  Kenyantraveller's Blog - Stories from the road 



The Burden of Peace
Women Speak in the Aftermath of Kenya's Post-Election Crisis

It is sad, but hardly surprising, that the narrative about the post-election violence is once again being dominated by male voices.

Whether as ...more

 Rasna Warah, Daily Nation, Kenya 



Eurocentrism
Modernity, Religion and Democracy: A Critique of Eurocentrism and Culturalism
Samir Amin

The books follow the pertain of intellectual researches of the septugenerian thinker and revolutionary scholar. Amin's life, since youth have been about ...more

  Nigerian Compass 



Global History
A View from the South
Samir Amin

The books follow the pertain of intellectual researches of the septugenerian thinker and revolutionary scholar. Amin's life, since youth have been about ...more

 Nigerian Compass 



Ending the Crisis of Capitalism or Ending Capitalism?
Samir Amin

The books follow the pertain of intellectual researches of the septugenerian thinker and revolutionary scholar. Amin's life, since youth have been about ...more

 Nigerian Compass 



Chinese and African Perspectives on China in Africa

At the global roundtable on African affairs and international diplomacy the debate continues regarding the role that China has played and will play in ...more

 The East African  



Ending Aid Dependence
Thomas Simon Tandon

As former Tanzanian President, Benjamin W. Mkapa, stated in his forward,

At a time when the competition for oil, fuels, land and commodities is ...more

 Amir Demeke, East African 



This title is also available in French


Development and Globalisation: Daring to Think Differently
Thomas Simon Tandon

'These essays promise to stand the test of time.'

 Benjamin W. Mkapa, President of Tanzania 1995–2005 



Dust from our Eyes
An Unblinkered Look at Africa
Joan Baxter

Before we blame Africans for the corruption, chaos, and anarchy that are rampant across their continent, we should determine who are the corrupters, how ...more

 Judy Kennedy, The CCPA Monitor 



Silences in NGO Discourse
The role and future of NGOs in Africa
Issa G. Shivji

The two brief essays that comprise this booklet are exemplary, both originally presented to gatherings of NGO (Non-Governmental Organizations) ...more

 John S. Saul, Professor Emeritus of politics at York University in Toronto 



From the Slave Trade to 'Free' Trade
How trade undermines democracy and justice in Africa
As the world prepares to celebrate the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition on August 23, a new book on the lessons ...more
 Philip Ngujiri, The East African 



China's New Role in Africa and the South
A search for a new perspective

China's New Role in Africa and the South is a collection of essays emanating from a conference held in May 2007 on the sidelines of the African Development ...more

 Johanna Jansson, The China Monitor, Centre for Chinese Studies 



African Voices on Development and Social Justice
Editorials from Pambazuka News 2004
This book is a collection of trenchant editorials from Pambazuka News, a weekly electronic newsletter on social justice in Africa. The editorials were ...more
 Africa Week 



Women and Security Governance in Africa

Women and Security Governance in Africa edited by 'Funmi Olonisakin and Awino Okech consists of a collection of African writers whose aim is to ...more

 Kofi Johnson, Fayetteville State University, African Publishing Review 



Food Rebellions!
Crisis and the Hunger for Justice
Ernest Wamba Holt-Giménez, Ernest Wamba Patel

In this very timely book, two of the world's most prominent critics of the global food system, Eric Holt-Giménez and Raj Patel, dissect the causes of hunger ...more

 Walden Bello, president of the Freedom from Debt Coalition and professor of sociology at the University of the Philippines 



The Crash of International Finance-Capital and its Implications for the Third World
Dani Wadada Nabudere

Reading this abridged version again, as I first did in 1989 before its publication, is like reading history backwards. Professor Nabudere had predicted the ...more

 Yash Tandon, former executive director of the South Centre and author of Ending Aid Dependence 



Where is Uhuru? Reflections on the Struggle for Democracy in Africa
Issa G. Shivji

'Where is Uhuru? is recommended reading for those interested in the struggle for democracy and development in Africa.'

 Salim Ahmed Salim, former secretary general of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) 



Breathing Life into the African Union Protocol on Women's Rights in Africa
Anne Atieno Amadi, Alpha Oumar Anyumba, Issa G. Delport, Issa G. Joof-Cole, Faiza Jama Kane, Alpha Oumar Kemp, Faiza Jama Mohammed, Issa G. Mukasa, Bahame Tom Musa, Issa G. Ndashe, Faiza Jama Rusimbi, Faiza Jama Sankore, Faiza Jama Virahsawmy, Faiza Jama Wandia

'a blend of astounding clarity, conciseness, and sharp analyses'

 Sylvia Tamale, Associate Professor and Dean of Law, Makerere University, Uganda 



This title is also available in French


African Perspectives on China in Africa
Dorothy Grace Askouri, Horace Campbell, John Blessing Chan-Fishel, John Blessing Chidaushe, John Blessing Karumbidza, John Blessing Large, Kwesi Kwaa Lemos, Issa G. Obiorah, Kwesi Kwaa Prah, Kwesi Kwaa Ribeiro, Issa G. Rocha

'…the first attempt in recent years to examine African views of China'

 London Review of Books 



This title is also available in Spanish