Livingstone's Tribe

by Stephen Taylor

An extraordinary, passionate and personal journey into Africa's past. Meshing together Africa's colonial history and the personalities of that time with his own memories of the turbulent twentieth century and its characters, Stephen Taylor will travel from Lake Victoria to the Cape of Good Hope - from the place that represents the peak of colonial exploration in Africa to the first settling place of his own family. His description and re-evaluation of the colonial period shows it in all its drama, glamour and disreputableness. His journey will be a quest for of the colonial impulse, of his own curious ambivalence towards the great continent in which he grew up, and of the southern African countries' - in particular South Africa's - future. It is a wonderfully evocative, lyrical description of some of the most dramatic lands in the world - thoughtful, historical, philosophical travel writing of the best kind.

Genres: Africa, Travel, Nonfiction

270 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Bettie · Rating 5 out of 5]

[Jeannette · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so looking forward to reading this book. Started it several times, got from Zanzibar thru Tanzania and into Uganda then started skipping about, hoping the author might start to relay any joy from his plod through East then Southern Africa. The book was just too boring to read fluently, too many people to meet, too many encounters without insights, too many words between the lines, too much political goings on.... So, I didnt really enjoy the book but read it, skimmed it, because I lived in East Africa for nearly 30 years and was hoping for a new perspective. I didnt gain it and feel disappointed.

[Marsha]

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[Simon Gisore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing... realistic, powerful and thought provoking. At the end of the book, the question that lingers is this, "Which way Africa?"

[Nathen Fitchen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very wordy, but interesting and well researched.

[Jeremy Hopkins]

On my shelf