Category Archives: Africa

Book Notes: Alexandra Fuller, The Legend of Colton H. Bryant

Posted on February 6, 2009 by Timothy Burke

My students know that I really like the work of Alexandra Fuller about her childhood and later experiences in southern Africa. I appreciate her aggressively unsentimental vision. She doesn’t tell the usual story of rising to self-awareness, rejecting her society, … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Books, Politics | 1 Comment

Creative Destruction, Destruction of Creativity

Posted on December 10, 2008 by Timothy Burke

Right about now, a lot of North American colleges and universities, rich and poor, public and private, are realizing that the economic foundations of their enterprise have shifted rather dramatically. Historians love to argue and argue about whether there are … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Africa | 30 Comments

So You Want to Know About…the Luo

Posted on November 12, 2008 by Timothy Burke

Another thing that came up in a recent email exchange was a request for “starter scholarship” on a particular African nation. For most contemporary African countries, I really feel that there is not a single great “done-in-one” book that is … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa | 9 Comments

On Its Stomach

Posted on November 7, 2008 by Timothy Burke

The news from eastern Congo is, as it has long been, not good. I understand why outside mediators and observers want to keep trying to patch up old cease-fires or broker new ones between the ever-shifting array of combatants in … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa | 52 Comments

Not Even Wrong

Posted on September 23, 2008 by Timothy Burke

I missed this story when it first appeared, but apparently Rush Limbaugh has been saying that Barack Obama’s father was actually an Arab from “an Arab part of Africa”. Look, why bother with real places at all, if you’re comfortable … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Production of History | 4 Comments

Chickens Not Counted

Posted on September 16, 2008 by Timothy Burke

I don’t see any reason for enthusiasm about the signing of a Zimbabwean power-sharing agreement. Whether it will be at all meaningful not only remains to be seen, but depends very much on changes that are very much below the … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa | 4 Comments

Horn of Africa Redux

Posted on September 10, 2008 by Timothy Burke

Matthew Yglesias has a polite “I told you so” up regarding the current situation in Somalia and Ethiopia. I’ll have one of what he’s having, bartender.

Posted in Africa | Comments Off

One-A-Day: Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, Pathfinders: A Global History of Exploration

Posted on July 31, 2008 by Timothy Burke

I’m going to start trying again to write comments on the reading I’ve been doing over the last six months. It hasn’t been quite one-a-day, but there’s a lot of books and articles in my backlog to talk about. Pathfinders … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Africa, Books, The Mixed-Up Bookshelves | 4 Comments

The Revolution of Letting Go

Posted on July 22, 2008 by Timothy Burke

I’m a little late in my remarks on Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday, but it’s the thought that counts. It has been fascinating to watch Mandela’s name becoming the synonym for the best combination of political power and ethical commitment, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Politics | 9 Comments

The People Are The Enemy

Posted on June 24, 2008 by Timothy Burke

There’s not a lot to say about Zimbabwe that I have not already said. Things are bad, they don’t look to get better, they have the potential to get even worse, hard as that is to imagine. It’s not about … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa | 34 Comments