Michele
asked
Tim Butcher:
I am currently reading Blood River and loving it. Your writing is superb. I don't read a lot of non-fiction, but I had just finished a book about Zimbabwe and was left wanting more. I knew something about this from Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible. I have also read Alexandra Fuller's memoirs. I am fascinated by Africa and its history. Can you recommend other memoirs about Africa? s
Tim Butcher
Michele – thank you for your approach. I am delighted you are enjoying Blood River. The field is wide for African memoir. Some of my favourites include Cutting for Stone (Ethiopia) by Abraham Verghese which, a bit like the eternally fabulous Poisonwood Bible is a biographically-rooted work of fiction: The Dust Diaries by Owen Sheers (Zimbabwe) and The House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper (Liberia). At risk of appearing tacky, might I mention another of my books, Chasing the Devil, which again weaves travel with history, this time through Sierra Leone and Liberia. Happy Reading, TimB
More Answered Questions
Allan Schulz
asked
Tim Butcher:
Tim - I thoroughly enjoyed your original take on the origins of WWI in "The Trigger". The way you were able to weave your experience from the Bosnian War in the 90s added a further level to one's understanding of an important subject. You may have to ask Bosnian Tourism for royalties as you made the place seem most appealing to an adventurer! What do you plan on writing about next?
Tom Smitha
asked
Tim Butcher:
Tim, I will have to read your book on the assassin who "started" WWI. My grandfather was in that war, on a ship, the US Mount Vernon, that was torpedoed off France in 1918. Your Liberia book was very good. I read it just after my second reading of Journey Without Maps. Great contrast.
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