• Geography & Cultures

    Geography & Cultures (227)

  • History of Ashanti by Otumfuo, Nana Osei Agyeman Prempeh II (Hardcover)

    History of Ashanti is unusual, perhaps unique, in that it provides a long historical account of the great West African forest kingdom of Asante by a ruler of that society. Thus, it is African history written by an African king and his assistants. This is, without a doubt, a very important document for historians of Africa. It has too a much wider resonance at the present time: here the Asante ‘voice’ is speaking directly to all those across the globe who claim ancestral links to the African continent, and who are still engaged in the struggle to define, to strengthen and to assert their identities in a world that long discounted the value, or even the existence, of their historical experience.

  • ‘The History of Ashanti Kings and the Whole Country Itself’ and Other Writings

    The History of Ashanti Kings and the Whole Country Itself is a key text for understanding the history of the great West African kingdom of Asante (now in Ghana). It is also an early–and perhaps the earliest–example of history writing in English by an African ruler and his amanuenses. It was begun in 1907 in the Seychelles on the instructions of the Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh I, who had been in British captivity with his family since 1896, during which time he had acquired proficiency in English.

    The chief source of information was his mother the Asantehemaa Yaa Kyaa, who possessed an encyclopaedic knowledge of the oral history of her own lineage, which was also the royal dynasty of Asante. The result is an indispensably detailed document that charts the history of the Asante monarchy from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. Context is provided by the inclusion of other writings by or about Agyeman Prempeh, together with four introductory essays by the world’s leading scholars of Asante history.

    This fascinating volume evokes the rich historical experience of a renowned kingdom, and is of compelling interest to all concerned with the production of indigenous historical knowledge in Africa.

  • The Fall of The Asante Empire: The Hundred -Year War for Africa’s Gold Coast

    In 1817, the first British envoy to meet the king of the Asante of West Africa was dazzled by his reception. A group of 5,000 Asante soldiers, many wearing immense caps topped with three foot eagle feathers and gold ram’s horns, engulfed him with a “zeal bordering on phrensy,” shooting muskets into the air. The envoy was escorted, as no fewer than 100 bands played, to the Asante king’s palace and greeted by a tremendous throng of 30,000 noblemen and soldiers, bedecked with so much gold that his party had to avert their eyes to avoid the blinding glare. Some Asante elders wore gold ornaments so massive they had to be supported by attendants. But a criminal being lead to his execution – hands tied, ears severed, knives thrust through his cheeks and shoulder blades – was also paraded before them as a warning of what would befall malefactors. This first encounter set the stage for one of the longest and fiercest wars in all the European conquest of Africa. At its height, the Asante empire, on the Gold Coast of Africa in present-day Ghana, comprised three million people and had its own highly sophisticated social, political, and military institutions. Armed with European firearms, the tenacious and disciplined Asante army inflicted heavy casualties on advancing British troops, in some cases defeating them. They won the respect and admiration of British commanders, and displayed a unique willingness to adapt their traditional military tactics to counter superior British technology. Even well after a British fort had been established in Kumase, the Asante capital, the indigenous culture stubbornly resisted Europeanization, as long as the “golden stool,” the sacred repository of royal power, remained in Asante hands. It was only after an entire century of fighting that resistance ultimately ceased.

  • Alke-Bulan Duo and Heritage Tales from Santse

    “Alke-Bulan Duo” is an uncommon, classical novel – a historical fictional narrative of the saga of Two Ancient Africans, whose identities and personae were inspired by the intriguing Biblical account of Barabbas and Simeon of Cyrene. The saga of the Two is positioned in the historical settings of the 1st century AD and is recounted by Ataa Forkoyi, the legendary protagonist, to his audience of seven children of the Kerit Kids Klub at a campsite in the Accra Plains of Ghana.
    The novel’s foremost backdrop – an enveloping ambience of settings anchored in the epoch of ancient times and in varying geographical spaces, including Judea, stretching from North-East and North-West Africa (Pelusium, Alexandria, Apollonia and Cyrene), the Sahara Desert, Menroe, Sudan and Ethiopia, is juxtaposed to complementing contexts of explored realities of 19th and 20th centuries’ remarkable natural and cultural heritages of Ghana.
    The plot of the novel is lucid, but subtly woven and couched in varying intricate and intriguing circumstances and contexts that essentially frame the novel, characterized by exquisite historical allusions, sharp satirical inferences, fabulous natural history expositions and architectural analytical references, aligned with profoundly scholarly and philosophical reflections.
    The novel is a literary masterpiece, crafted in a non-pedigreed genre, full of fascinating nuances and spectacles, besides spiking the narration with conscious allusions to the significance of the role of the Black African race in human history, aspersions to the trans-Sahara and trans-Atlantic Slave Trades, employment of the poetic power of dualism, highlighting usage of Latin and Ga words in the text to accentuate the classical and cultural orientation of the novel.
    It is a novel that proclaims a robust and a compelling message of hope for Black African youth and children.

  • Abusua Pa Jigsaw Puzzle: Fufu Dish (1000 Puzzle Pieces)

    Fufu is a popular staple food in Ghana made from starchy root vegetables like cassava, yams, or plantains, boiled and pounded into a dough-like/pasty consistency.

    It is a versatile dish, served with a variety of soups and plays a significant cultural role, symbolizing communal dining and togetherness. Regional variations of Fufu may exist.

    Fufu offers energy and it is a cultural experience, making it a beloved and nutritious part of Ghanaian cuisine.

  • Woman: What The Bible Really Says about Her-Story and Human Dignity

    WOMAN interrogates the different layers in the two creation stories of the Bible, its impact on gender relations, the personhood, womanhood and dignity of women.

    “WOMAN takes a focused approach, and Edem’s ability to delve into the multiple layers of the Genesis narrative is truly captivating.

     

    Rather than simply reciting existing beliefs, Edem guides readers towards nuanced interpretations, which underpins the core themes of the book.

     

    Through its thought-provoking pages, Woman invites us to re-examine our long-held beliefs, assumptions, and prejudices, and to consider God’s intention.

    The Genesis account in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) provides two different creation stories.

     

    The first, the Priestly (Elohim) story (Genesis 1:1-2:4a), emphasizes that God created humans as both male and female at the same time (en masse). The second, the Yahwist story (Genesis 2:4b-25) describes the creation of man and woman separately, with the woman being created as a companion for the man….

    Woman stimulates contemplation about God’s purpose for humanity, particularly women, womanhood, human dignity, marriage, and its origins…” -Excerpt from FOREWORD by Prof. Mercy Amba Oduyoye, First African Woman Theologian, Educator and Poet

  • She: The Feminine Enigma

    SHE is a groundbreaking book with important contributions to the ongoing conversation about gender relations, equality, and human dignity.

    This book explores the complex issues emanating from the relations between males and females, and the place of the woman in society, from a fresh perspective that is informed by research, nuance, and illumination.

    The author’s critical, provocative, and spiritually awakening writing calls for shift in Beliefs, challenging readers to unlearn unhealthy narratives about women that are often attributed to the Bible. Ultimately, this book aims to liberate people to fully realise their human potential and to create healthy space for all persons to fulfil their God-given Purpose.

     

    “For many Christians who have grappled with trying to understand issues of equality, complementarity, hierarchy, and subordination in relations between men and women, husbands and wives, you may well find answers from this book that decisively settle your questions.” – Excerpts from FOREWORD by Angela Dwamena-Aboagye, PhD, Christian Lawyer, Theologian and Counsellor

     

  • Manuwa Street

    “Lagos brings you alive. Lagos kills you. Here, you’ll be wrong about everything. Here, you won’t have anything to worry about. Lagos creates as many millionaires as it sends poor people to the mat. Here, Nature abounds as much as it self-destructs. And never, you humans, despite your beliefs and certainties, have you ever wanted to live so much. In the midst of this overflow, this too many people, this too much waste, injustices, parties and excesses. Of everything you’ve tried to ignore until now.”

    French journalist Sophie Bouillon documents living in Lagos in 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown. As a journalist, she gets out of her night to go and write the dispatch that will announce to the world that Africa, in turn, is affected by this “white virus” that is bringing the West to its knees.

    In this thoughtful narrative non-fiction, Bouillon explores everyday life in Lagos through experiences from her career and personal life. In one unforgettable year, the city was rocked by explosions, evictions and protests. A city that never sleeps put to bed by the pandemic. Manuwa Street is the impressive story of a year that will end with the uprising of a people. It is also and above all a hypnotic and luminous dive into a city that never lets up, meeting men and women struggling with the din of the world.

    But Manuwa Street isn’t just a disinterested documentation of a foreigner’s impression of Lagos; it is about love, uncertainty, hope and survival.

    Manuwa Street

    75.00
  • Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir

    In three critically acclaimed novels, Akwaeke Emezi has introduced readers to a landscape marked by familial tensions, Igbo belief systems, and a boundless search for what it means to be free. Now, in this extraordinary memoir, the bestselling author of The Death of Vivek Oji reveals the harrowing yet resolute truths of their own life. Through candid, intimate correspondence with friends, lovers, and family, Emezi traces the unfolding of a self and the unforgettable journey of a creative spirit stepping into power in the human world. Their story weaves through transformative decisions about their gender and body, their precipitous path to success as a writer, and the turmoil of relationships on an emotional, romantic, and spiritual plane, culminating in a book that is as tender as it is brutal.

    Electrifying and inspiring, animated by the same voracious intelligence that distinguishes their fiction, Dear Senthuran is a revelatory account of storytelling, self, and survival.

  • A Possible Future: An Anthology of the Best Nigerian Writing (1789 – 2018)

    Spanning two hundred years and multiple genres, A Possible Future uses gorgeous excerpts from over eighty literary works to showcase the inventiveness in Nigerian letters and the various zeitgeists—colonialism, despotism, Afropolitanism, postcolonialism, race and sexuality—that have defined it throughout the country’s history. The writers whose works are represented here—A. Igoni Barrett, Taiye Selasi, Gbenga Adesina, Helen Oyeyemi, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, Niyi Osundare, and many more—remind the world of our fraught yet rich literary backstory and point towards the immense possibilities awaiting us in its future.

    120.00245.00
  • Voice of America

    Set in Nigeria and America, Voice of America moves from boys and girls in villages and refugee camps to the disillusionment and confusion of young married couples living in America, and back to bustling Lagos. It is the story of two countries and the frayed bonds between them.

    In ‘Waiting’, two young refugees make their way through another day, fighting for meals and hoping for a miracle that will carry them out of the camp; in ‘A Simple Case’, the boyfriend of a prostitute gets rounded up by the local police and must charm his fellow prisoners for protection and survival; and in ‘Miracle Baby’, the trials of pregnancy and mothers-in-law are laid bare in a woman’s return to her homeland.

    Written with exhilarating energy and warmth, the stories in Voice of America are full of humour, pathos and wisdom, marking the debut of an immensely talented new voice.

  • Freshwater

    An extraordinary debut novel, Freshwater explores the surreal experience of having a fractured self. It centers around a young Nigerian woman, Ada, who develops separate selves within her as a result of being born “with one foot on the other side.” Unsettling, heartwrenching, dark, and powerful, Freshwater is a sharp evocation of a rare way of experiencing the world, one that illuminates how we all construct our identities.

    Ada has always been unusual. As an infant in southern Nigeria, she is a source of deep concern to her family. Her parents successfully prayed her into existence, but she becomes a troubled child, prone to violent fits of anger and grief, developing separate selves within her. Ada is more than just volatile – she is an ogbanje, born “with one foot on the other side.” When Ada travels to America for college, a traumatic event crystallizes her selves into something more powerful.

    Based in the author’s realities and narrated by these selves, Freshwater maps how Ada’s life spirals in a dangerous direction as her alters – now protective, now hedonistic – move into control.

    Freshwater dazzles with ferocious energy and serpentine grace, heralding the arrival of a fierce new literary voice.

    Freshwater

    115.00
  • Beem Explores Africa

    Age Range: 7 – 14 years

    Beem Explores Africa follows a young Nigerian girl, Beem, as she explores the continent of Africa, meets its people and animals, and visits its key geographical and historical sites.

    The book introduces children to the physical and human geography of Africa. It has easy-to-read text, a glossary to explain key geographical terms, and vivid hand-painted illustrations.

    Beem Explores Africa also encourages in children a sense of adventure, tolerance of cultural difference, and responsibility for nature.

  • Rose and the Burma Sky

    A gripping and intimate historical novel of a black soldier’s experience in the Second World War – a rare and moving tale of love and sacrifice.

    One war, one soldier, one enduring love

    1939: In a village in south-east Nigeria on the brink of the Second World War, young Obi watches from a mango tree as a colonial army jeep speeds by, filled with soldiers laughing and shouting, their buttons shining in the sun. To Obi, their promise of a smart uniform and regular wages is hard to resist, especially as he has his sweetheart Rose to impress and a family to support.

    Years later, when Rose falls pregnant to another man, his heart is shattered. As the Burma Campaign mounts, and Obi is shipped out to fight, he is haunted by the mystery of Rose’s lover. When his identity comes to light, Obi’s devastation leads to a tragic chain of unexpected events.

    In Rose and the Burma Sky, Rosanna Amaka weaves together the realities of war, the pain of first love and how following your heart might not always be the best course of action. Its gritty boy’s-eye view brings a spare and impassioned intensity, charging it with universal resonance and power.

  • An African Abroad: A Travel Memoir

    When Ajala is not escaping an assassination attempt and dodging the bullets of eager security agents around the Duke of Edinburgh in Sydney, he is crashing his scooter, amid a hail of gunfire, through a border between Jordan and Israel—or he is cutting through security to shake the hands of Nikita Khrushchev. And when Ajala is not trying ‘African ju-ju’ on pretty Russian girls, he is enjoying a tense audience with Golda Meir in Israel and hobnobbing with Fúnmiláyọ̀ Ransome-Kútì in Moscow.

    The Original One-Man Daredevil-Traveller, Moshood Ọlábísí Àjàlá saw it all, did it all, and lived to tell the tale. Now back in print for the first time since 1963, here are the travel stories of his trips around Europe, the Middle East, and Australia as told by the man himself. This new edition comes with a preface by Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún and a foreword by Joane Àjàlá.

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