 | Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Capetown by Paul Theroux
Buy new: $10.85 / Used from: $1.93 Paul Theroux is predictably crotchety, but his insights on the African condition are reliable and sound. Well worth reading.
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 | My Traitor's Heart: A South African Exile Returns to Face His Country, His Tribe, and His Conscience by Rian Malan
Buy new: $10.20 / Used from: $3.71 Not merely one of the best books on Africa, but one of the best books I've read in a long time. Rian Malan does more than provide insight into the psychology of an Afrikaner on the better end of apartheid; he also highlights just how alien the African psyche can be, especially after years of oppression.
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 | We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch
Buy new: $10.20 / Used from: $0.93 The utterly indispensable work on the Rwandan genocide. A must-read.
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 | In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu's Congo by Michela Wrong
Buy new: $11.69 / Used from: $4.37 A great narrative on the tragedy of the Congo -- and a good look at the follies of post-colonial governance in too much of Africa.
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 | The Scramble for Africa: White Man's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876-1912 by Thomas Pakenham
Buy new: $16.31 / Used from: $6.13 This is the book to read for an understanding of the formation of modern Africa. Gripping and comprehensive -- Pakenham's best work.
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 | West Africa (Multi Country Guide) by Anthony Ham
Buy new: $21.11 / Used from: $0.94 Outside of South Africa, Egypt, and the big safari spots (Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana), guidebooks on Africa are of limited use. Far better to find someone who knows the area. But Lonely Planet really shines in this region. Recommended.
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 | Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood by Alexandra Fuller
Buy new: $10.20 / Used from: $0.01 I can't say it helps much for the modern traveler, but Alexandra Fuller's memoir of growing up in the vanished Rhodesia is so tragic and moving, it's worth reading.
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 | They Poured Fire On Us From The Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan by Alphonsion Deng
Buy used from: $10.06 A moving recollection by three southern Sudanese young men, of their vanished life, and their experience as refugees in one of Africa's worst corners.
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 | Africa: A Biography of the Continent by John Reader
Buy new: $12.89 / Used from: $6.50 Don't buy this for its utility as a history book -- it's almost worthless for that. What this is, though, is an excellent exposition on the effects of geography on Africa and its people. Well worth the insights on that count.
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 | Tsotsi
Buy new: $19.99 / Used from: $4.40 A well-reviewed fictional look at the problems and desperation of urban Africa, as seen in Johannesburg.
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 | National Geographic - Africa
Buy new: $47.49 / Used from: $34.75 A MUST-WATCH series. Fascinating and comprehensive. If you're going to Africa, grab it and spend a weekend watching every episode.
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 | The Lords of Poverty: The Power, Prestige, and Corruption of the International Aid Business by Graham Hancock
Buy new: $11.90 / Used from: $4.25 There are several good books on the failure of foreign aid in Africa, but this is still the definitive volume, and is worth a look.
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 | Things Fall Apart: A Novel by Chinua Achebe
Buy new: $7.92 / Used from: $1.00 I can't tell you that this is the best Chinua Achebe novel, but it is the one that everyone reads -- especially when the professor decides to assign an African work of fiction to the class. Useful for its look into tribal life.
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