Africa Is Not A Country

Oct 20, 2024 1:39 AM

Author:Dipo Faloyin,Dipo Faloyin

Brought to you by Penguin.

Africa Is Not A Country is a kaleidoscopic portrait of modern Africa, that pushes back against harmful stereotypes to tell a more comprehensive story.

You already know these stereotypes. So often Africa is depicted simplistically as an arid red landscape of famines and safaris, uniquely plagued by poverty and strife. In this funny and insightful book, Dipo Faloyin offers a much-needed corrective, creating a fresh and multifaceted view of this vast continent.

To unspool this inaccurate narrative, Africa Is Not A Country looks to a wide range of subjects, from chronicling urban life in Lagos and the lively West African rivalry over who makes the best Jollof rice, to the story of democracy in seven dictatorships and the dangers of white saviourism and harmful stereotypes in popular culture.

It examines how each African country was formed, by white European explorers who turned up with loose maps and even looser morals, and how 90% of Africa's material cultural legacy was stolen during the colonial era, and the fight to get those artefacts back.

By turns intimate and political, Africa Is Not A Country brings the story of the continent towards reality, celebrating the energy and fabric of its different cultures and communities in a way that has never been done before.

Reviews

An exhilarating journey through the myths, misconceptions and stereotypes of modern Africa. This book is the history lesson that we all need, to understand the damage that has been done by legacies of white supremacy affecting African nations and the whole world.

—— Jeffrey Boakye , Guardian

Warm, funny, biting and essential reading.

—— Adam Rutherford, author of How To Argue With A Racist

Powerful and heartfelt... A long-overdue and compelling corrective... Faloyin has written a book inspired by love and hope for a much-abused and maligned continent, whose future, he insists, is filled with promise.

—— Guardian

For curious minds... a truly revelatory read... a book that will stay with you long after you've finished - and one that opens a new chapter on the way you'll think about Africa.

—— Mail on Sunday

Impossible not to relish.

—— New York Times

This book should be on the curriculum.

—— Nikki May, author of Wahala

A necessary book that deserves its place in the canon as essential reading.

—— Sally Hayden , Irish Times

A masterpiece in historical journalism, bristling with insights and perspective widening truths. Anyone seeking enlightenment needs to read this.

—— Jeffrey Boakye, author of I Heard What You Said

Hilarious, ferocious, generous and convincing.

—— Oliver Bullough, author of Moneyland and Butler to the World

Incisive, thought-provoking and, above all, beautifully written - effortlessly blends memoir, political analysis and historical nonfiction to create something genuinely compelling and new

—— Zing Tsjeng, author of Forgotten Women

A triumph of a book...charismatic and hugely enjoyable...You'd be doing yourself a disservice if you didn't read this.

—— Nels Abbey, author of Think Like a White Man

A brilliant, prescient exploration of a richly complex continent. An antidote for our times.

—— Irenosen Okojie, author of Nudibranch

Impeccably researched...brimming with humor and intellect. A necessary read.

—— JK Chukwu, author of The Unfortunates

A vital book that offers us new, complex narratives to view African countries and their relationships to Europe and the Global North. Faloyin's stylish, propulsive prose blends history, memoir and opinion, so that reading him has the impression of being at the knee of a great storyteller.

—— Jonathan Nunn, editor of Vittles

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