Customer Reviews

Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is almost 600 pages long, and still feels like an abridged account of Africa. I actually thought it was pretty bold to call the book 'Africa' - like a little boy with a toy gun calling himself a cowboy, so I approached the book expecting to disparage it immediately. Having grown up in some of the countries written about in the book, I realized Dowden had actually lived through it enough to warrant telling the tale. I believe this book far outranks many of the history books on Africa, and should be required reading for all high school kids.

Post colonial Africa evokes different types of emotions depending on which side of the railway line you grew up on, so its easy to understand why descendants of the colonialists themselves might not find this an easy read. Dowden places a great deal of the blame for Africa's woes squarely on them and other factors like foreign aid. My opinion is biased because I tend to agree.

Those without any type of bias will find the book extremely fascinating. Discovering Africa through Dowden has left me feeling that I should make the same commitment and re-discover the beautiful continent of Africa.

This is by far the most balanced analysis on the challenges faced by sub Saharan African societies. It is unpretentious in that the author confesses his limited exposure/ experience (in the few instances) where it matters and provides a dispassionate analysis of his specific experience before he projects those specific community/ country experiences onto the continent or rather the sub Saharan portion of Africa in general.

The writer obviously benefits from an extended exposure and dispassionate, unbiased discourse with intelligent indigenes which allows an in depth knowledge of both rural and urban circumstances (both historic & current) of diverse sub Sahara African countries.

The author also has the benefit of viewing and experiencing sub Sahara Africa extensively from his Anglo-Saxon value system and you can tell that the narrative is his way of rationalizing multifaceted influences and their projection on current circumstances.

Being that I am African myself and have lived in the US and UK for an extended period, as well as traveled and lived in several West, East, and Southern African countries, I agree with a lot of the inferences he draws.

The only problems I had were that some parts of the book feel like literally reading from his diary and the impression that the author is consciously or unconsciously magnanimous in discussing Britain's role in creating and bolstering a myriad of problems.

Based on the number of 30+ years sub Saharan Africans from East/West/ Central/Southern Africa, whom I have had the need to educate with regards to the source of SSA's woes, I think this book is a MUST HAVE for all sub Sahara Africans and should be recommended reading for all the hapless development professionals who wonder why and how their best efforts may actually be making a bad situation worse.

I must confess however that I stumbled across this book a couple of days ago while searching for Dead Aid by Dambisa Moyo in the bookstore and I have hardly put it down since. I am currently on the 4th chapter (after 2 days), but this is a most compelling book, which I may likely buy more of, if only to give out as gifts in lieu of relentless questions I have to answer in my profession as a development finance practitioner focused on SSA.

Richard Dowden draws on his extensive experience covering Africa as a journalist to write one of the most informative and, I might add, most accurate piece of work on the continent. He rightly points out that Africa is much more than the portrayals seen daily on the media where Africa is seen as a continent of perpetual conflict, wars, famine and other disasters and pestilence. Instead, he shows that it is also a vibrant continent where those brave enough to invest have earned unimaginable wealth; a continent witnessing some of the highest growth rates and a place where modern innovations like the mobile phone and the internet have transformed life in ways never anticipated. It is a pity that he continues the practice of separating Africa south of the Sahara from North Africa. Africa is a geographic entity that encompasses both the north and the south. He is, however, to be forgiven since most of his work had been in the sub-Saharan region.

I give the book four stars primarily because of the many typographical and editing errors I found. I also noted a number of factual errors that he might want to correct in future editions. On page 470, he writes that the late Nigerian dictator, Sani Abacha, overthrew Ibrahim Bagangida to become head of state after Babangida annulled the elections that he had organised. The reality is that after he annullled the elections, Babangida set up an Interim National Government headed by Ernest Shonekan. It was that Interim National Government which purportedly "handed" over power to Abacha.

Also, in page 472, Dowden, describes Beko Ransome Kuti as a human rights lawyer. Kuti, although a human rights activist, was no lawyer. He was a medical doctor.

Aside from these minor drawbacks, Mr. Dowden's book is perhaps the best read for a non-African trying to get a solid and unbiased understanding of the continent. He deserves to be commended for writing such an excellent boo.

Many different perspectives of Africa are captured in Richard Dowden's remarkable book. Dowden first arrived in Africa in 1971, when he moved to Uganda as a school teacher, near the start of Idi Amin's reign. Uganda was just descending into the chaos and civil war which was to last for 15 years, and by the end of 1972 it was no longer safe for Dowden to remain. When he returned to Africa some years later, it was in a new role as a journalist.

The book discusses a broad range of Africa's "Big Men" who have treated their countries as a vehicle for personal enrichment on a massive scale, including Mobutu Sese Seko, who was Zaire's dictator for more than 30 years, Daniel arap Moi, who was Kenya's president for 24 years, Robert Mugabe, who has presided over Zimbabwe's economic decline over the past 20 years, and Nigeria's Sani Abacha and Olusegun Obasanjo, whose administrations have set new standards for absolute corruption.

The book covers the differing issues faced by numerous different African countries including Sudan, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, Angola, Burundi and Rwanda. Dowden's writing shows a deep understanding of African attitudes to AIDS, the causes of poverty, reasons for failure of foreign aid, the opportunities and pitfalls of African engagement with China, and a host of other issues. This is one of the best available books on Africa.

I lived 10 years in Nairobi, Kenya and travelled widely in Africa to 22 different African countries, in East Africa, South Africa, West Africa and North Africa, in the period 1953-1963.
I found it very difficult then to form an opinion about Africans, although I liked them very much, especially their hunour and laughter. I have met many of the Kenyan leaders, Kenyatta, Odinga Odinga, Tom Mboya and many more. I have long since accepted that they are as inteligent as we westerners are, and have many brilliant people. However I hate corruption in any form and never liked what I saw happening fairly soon after the colonial administrations left. The book by Richard Downden has helped me form an opinion. He has made me think about
what would have been african lifestyle and system if the colonial powers had not pressed them into our form of institutions and democracy, but rather have left them develop their own systems. He pointed our that the corrupt dictators were not necessarily the best of the africans, and often were outsiders.
I very much enjoyed reading the book and recommend it to anyone really intereted in Africa. The title "Africa", is very ambitious but justified as far as thie book is concerned.

I have lived in Nigeria for 34 years, and visited several African countries and I can honestly say, Richard Dowden's book encapsulates better than any other I have read the intricacies and nuances of African culture that most ignore or miss all-together! His ability to understand the African mind and African culture is astounding! A must-read for any expatriate who plans to visit Africa, or finds himself posted to an African nation!

A big book that helps to break down what most people consider an unknown continent. It provides a quick synopsis of how things had happened, personalises the overwhelming issues that are so forign to the West and spells the desperation of unknown outcomes. But he also reminds us that most if us don't really see Africa the way Africans see themselves.

I agree with previous reviewer--this book is full of grammatical and other errors, which detracts from its message. It also only covers sub-Saharan Africa. The Fate of Africa: from the Hopes of Freedom to the Heart of Despair by Martin Meredith is a much better attempt to explain all of Africa, and strangely enough, succeeding in presenting both a chronological and thematic treatment of the entire continent simultaneously. This book, however is worth reading as well, if you can get past the errors and if it is read with a skeptical eye and critical brain.
The book begins with the author's youthful time as a teacher in Uganda, and it is in his explanation of his interaction with African culture and its diversity across sub-Saharan countries that the book delivers on the reader's investment in reading it. The parts of the books that are anectdotal are the best. Parts of the book are fascinating, while others, such as that on South Africa, are lacking, and many times wrong (or perhaps I just disagree). If you read Nelson Mandela's autobiography Long Walk to Freedom, it is hard to draw the same conclusions that the author does on South Africa and the ANC. This book should not be the only one you read on Africa, but it is a good addition to reading other books on the subject and is excellent in highlighting how different the various countries are in history, culture and religion. Still, the book jacket promises explanations of why aid to Africa and African countries fail, promises the book does not deliver.
The Fate of Africa does a much better job of explaining many of the disputes and divisions that exist in modern day Africa arose, and explaining why they continue to exist, making the evening news much more understandable.

As someone who just spent two and a half years living and working in Africa, I found this book incredibly disappointing. So much of the news coming out of Africa these days only focuses on the grim with no information on the small steps forward that are happening every day. I was excited to read this book when I saw the subtitle: "Altered States, Ordinary Miracles." I was anticipating more miracles...let me rephrase that, I was anticipating at least a miracle or two. Eish, there were none to be found. Yes, the situation in Africa is dire, but there are great things happening too. Focusing only on the negative will only cause people to abandon Africa.

In addition to that, I would say the book was HORRIBLY written. There were grammatical issues and spelling mistakes. I felt like I was serving as editor on a manuscript that was yet to be published...except I paid to read it as opposed to being paid to read it. Very poorly organized.

A wonderful "history" book. Gives an accurate account of how Africa arrived where they are in history. It also provides an understanding of cultural differences and how easy it is to be misunderstood because of it.