Buzz for African Lives 11 Aug 2013 | 01:47 am

It’s great to see my African Lives anthology gaining traction! Back in May (though I didn’t notice it until now), the Social Science Collective of Tamil Nadu mentioned the book and reprinted my essay...

African Lives: Joshua Nkomo 14 Jul 2013 | 01:58 am

Joshua Nkomo, born in 1917, was the founder of leader of the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU), which led the early stages of the struggle for an independent Zimbabwe. As the leaders of two separ...

Thoreau’s pencils revisited 1 Jul 2013 | 04:00 am

A few years ago I was pleased to see details about the Thoreau family’s pencil business in the novel Woodsburner. More details are in Henry Petroski’s 400-page history of the pencil industry, The Penc...

Made my day 23 Jun 2013 | 12:53 am

Irrational exuberance? 12 Jun 2013 | 12:57 pm

Do I read reviews of my work? Only the good ones! Fortunately, the Publishers Weekly review is very good indeed. I’m especially pleased that the book seems to have the strong emotional impact that I...

Professor Rummel’s course 7 Jun 2013 | 09:50 am

Thank you, Professor Rummel of Marlboro College! You’re the first professor so far (that I know of) to adopt African Lives as a classroom text. I’m delighted and grateful, and hope that this is only ...

African Lives: The dark side 13 May 2013 | 01:43 am

Being a nice person was not a requirement for being included in my new anthology African Lives. In his book Machete Season, the French reporter Jean Hatzfeld presented a perspective on the Rwandan ge...

African Lives: Ruth First 5 May 2013 | 01:07 am

The daughter of Latvian Jewish immigrants, Ruth First was born in Johannesburg in 1925 and studied at the University of the Witwatersrand, where fellow students included Nelson Mandela and Eduardo Mon...

On the radio 30 Apr 2013 | 01:19 pm

Look! There! On the stack of books on the right! That’s my book! African Lives was one of the nonfiction books discussed on a recent episode of Mindy Todd’s program The Point on WCAI. Thanks to my lo...

African Lives: Kenneth Kaunda 29 Apr 2013 | 12:30 am

Happy birthday, Kenneth Kaunda! Kenneth Kaunda was born in 1924, the youngest of eight children of a Church of Scotland minister. He became a teacher and headmaster before involving himself in nation...