Board of Trustees, Boston University

Peoples of North Africa. Peoples of East Africa. Peoples of West Africa. Peoples of CentralAfrica. Peoples of Southern Africa. Nations of AfricaReview by: John M. CinnamonThe International Journal of African Historical Studies, Vol. 31, No. 3 (1998), pp. 647-648Published by: Boston University African Studies CenterStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/221492 .

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BOOK REVIEWS 647

Werner's book is valuable for those interested in Namibian history under German and South African rule, and in the social and economic changes in rural African society during the past century. It also provides a crucial background to understanding the genesis of the war of liberation.

WAZHA G. MORAPEDI

University of Botswana

PEOPLES OF NORTH AFRICA. PEOPLES OF EAST AFRICA. PEOPLES OF WEST AFRICA. PEOPLES OF CENTRAL AFRICA. PEOPLES OF SOUTHERN AFRICA. NATIONS OF AFRICA. The Diagram Group. Peoples of Africa series. New York: Facts on File, 1997. Pp. 112 per volume; illustrated. $19.95 per volume.

This six-volume collection is intended for secondary school students who seek fact- laden synopses of African geographies and climates, dates and events, cultural practices and material culture, nations, ethnic groups, and important individuals. Combined with more focused, in-depth sources, Peoples of Africa will also serve as a valuable reference source for teachers and librarians. Moreover, the series implicitly raises important pedagogical questions about how to introduce Africa to middle and secondary school students.

The series consists of five regional volumes and a single volume supplement, Nations of Africa. This latter volume contains one-page almanac-like profiles of African countries and surrounding island nations. Disputed Western Sahara appears on continental maps and has one line on the Morocco page, but merits no country entry. Nations of Africa also contains a cumulative index and over three hundred paragraph-long biographies of historical and recent leaders and cultural figures- from Nefertiti to Sanni Abacha and novelist Bessie Head. Due to shifting political configurations aiid boundaries, and the continual emergence and death of political and cultural figures, this volume will require regular updates if it is to remain current.

Of more enduring interest are the five regional volumes on Peoples of Africa. Each contains between ten and sixteen articles on ethnic groups, from the Arab and Berber peoples in the north to the Xhosa and Zulu peoples in the south, and from the Afars and Falashas in the northeast to the Yoruba (but not the Wolof) in the west. In spite of their brevity, these articles suggest the staggering cultural diversity and vitality of the continent. Each four- to six-page illustrated ethnic sketch presents sections on history, ways of life, social and political structure, and culture and religion. For example, the section on Kongo culture and religion mentions the Portuguese introduction of Catholicism, the careers of the prophets Beatrice Kimpa Vita and Simon Kimbangu (who, curiously, are not profiled in the biographical section), and contains two illustrations of nkisi "power figures" from the early colonial period.

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648 BOOK REVIEWS

Each regional volume has a lengthy geographical introduction that contains maps and sections on land, climate, vegetation, wildlife, chronology, pictorial history, and distribution of profiled ethnic groups. Each volume also contains "A Word about Ethnic Groups" that suggests the authors'/editors' uneasiness with such "difficult-to-define terms." They reject the terms "tribe" and "race" and use "'ethnic group' ... to describe people who have a common language, history, religion, and cultural and artistic heritage." This uneasy adoption of "ethnic groups" (or "peoples")-which along with "nations" forms the series' key organizing concept-raises important questions at a time when many Africanist scholars increasingly challenge the "tribal" or "ethnic" paradigm. In Peoples of North Africa, the authors also present a caveat on the use of the term "traditional." They note that although they describe "'traditional' ways of life, ... neither tradition nor culture is static," but rather "changes to reflect new circumstances or absorb new influences." As the concepts of "tradition," "ethnic group," and "nationality" (a term that "describes only the national boundaries within which a person is born or lives") become increasingly problematic, how is it possible to organize accessible reference collections on Africa? In other words, how can middle and secondary students begin to make some sense of the enormous cultural diversity and historical richness of the African continent?

While remaining rooted in both "ethnic groups" and nations, the collection itself provides a partial answer. Together, the regional volumes contain over thirty articles on a broad range of historical, social, and cultural themes. These include articles on Nubian temples, trans-Saharan travel, and the symbolism of hairstyles in North Africa; "the birthplace of humanity" and the impact of tourism in East Africa; medieval empires, slavery, and food and drink in West Africa; art, disappearing rain forests, and refugees in Central Africa; and Great Zimbabwe, apartheid, and musical styles in Southern Africa. Finally, each volume contains dozens of maps, line drawings, and brown and black illustrations. This cost-effective, two-color measure allows for numerous illustrations of people, places, and objects, but the brown-ink drawings lack clarity and the flag illustrations in the Nations of Africa volume require legends to indicate color.

Limitations aside, the illustrations, cultural articles, and ethnic portraits provide, as the authors put it, "a memorable snapshot of Africa as a place of rich heritage, far-reaching influence, and ongoing cultural diversity." Whether or not this collection adds up to more or less than the sum of its parts will depend on how teachers, librarians, and students use it in conjunction with others sources on Africa. Students, in particular, will need buoyancy if they are not to drown in the deluge of free-flowing facts. One can imagine, however, that classes studying Things Fall Apart, the Sundiata legend, or current events might make productive use of relevant entries.

JOHN M. CINNAMON

Pacific Lutheran University

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