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The Shadow of the Sun
The Shadow of the Sun
Nov 17, 2024 7:44 PM

Author:Ryszard Kapuscinski,Klara Glowczewska

The Shadow of the Sun

'Only with the greatest of simplifications, for the sake of convenience, can we say Africa. In reality, except as a geographical term, Africa doesn't exist'. Ryszard Kapuscinski has been writing about the people of Africa throughout his career. In astudy that avoids the official routes, palaces and big politics, he sets out to create an account of post-colonial Africa seen at once as a whole and as a location that wholly defies generalised explanations. It is both a sustained meditation on themosaic of peoples and practises we call 'Africa', and an impassioned attempt to come to terms with humanity itself as it struggles to escape from foreign domination, from the intoxications of freedom, from war and from politics as theft.

Reviews

I love that woman so much, she is just so great

—— Rylan Clark-Neal, BBC Radio 2

A gut-wrenchingly honest account. This book isn't about dust-busting, it's myth-busting

—— Mail on Sunday

Takes you through her highest of highs and her heart-breaking lows, keeping you hooked from the very first word

—— Hello!

An inspirational read whether you're a casual hincher or a die-hard fan

—— Ideal Home

Candid

—— Glamour

Gripping

—— Mirror

A great gift . . . a candid memoir, so you can stop cleaning, and get reading

—— Real Homes

Gentle, all-observant Tom is the perfect guide for this exploration of London's nooks and crannies, places I thought I knew well and places I didn't even know existed. His beguiling mix of history, geology, folklore and memoir captivated me from the first page.

—— Lara Maiklem, author of Mudlarking

An absorbing and poetic psycho-geology of London ... an immersive deep trawl among the city's many layers, unearthing medieval Essex rebels, contemporary mudlarks of the lower Thames, lost rivers of silt and sewage, the Shard as Sauron's Dark Tower, and the existential angst of living in the Anthropocene epoch ... Fascinating.

—— Christopher Somerville , The Times walking correspondent

A delightful narrative of the deep city...a multitude of revelations brought to light.

—— Jules Stewart , Geographical Magazine

A seriously compelling book, full of powerful, overlooked history, supressed emotion - moving, entertaining and a significant addition to the London canon.

—— Tom Bolton, author of London's Lost Rivers: A Walker's Guide

London re-enchanted. From the heart of the old city to the distant edgelands, London Clay is a wonderfully multi-layered meander through a landscape at once familiar and strange. A portrait of a haunted, mysterious city and a moving work of personal memoir.

—— Helen Gordon, author of Notes from Deep Time.

Chivers traces London's hidden landscape armed only with his curiosity and a home-made geology map. His poet's knack of sensing unlikely connections makes this one of the most original books about the capital in years. Like Iain Sinclair with a trowel. Spellbinding.

—— Matt Brown , Londonist

This is London from the ground up, filled with a sense of wonderment at the strangeness of the city, from its earliest origins to the present day. 'London Clay' digs into the bedrock, soil, water and stone roots of London in a fascinating exploration that's part memoir, part geological survey.

—— Christopher Fowler, author of the Bryant & May mysteries

London Clay is a gift of a book, one to give to yourself, to friends and those who have curious minds about what makes a city. It speaks to the urban explorer in us all providing a practical guide as well being filled with a plethora of great stories.

—— Sharon Ament, Director of the Museum of London

A lyrical meditation on landscapes and cities, vivid reportage and a memoir. And also a beautifully realised and moving read.

—— Dzifa Benson , Financial Times

A delightful narrative of the deep city...a multitude of revelations brought to light.

—— Jules Stewart , Geographical Magazine

One of the hottest books of the year ahead

—— Irish Independent

Reading Oded Galor's upbeat book I...[was] taken aback by his imagination and verve... great sections of Galor's book are to be applauded... his optimism about humanity shines through

—— Observer

The Journey of Humanity is a good summary of growth theories and is an elegantly written and accessible book

—— Irish Times

Galor argues that climate policy should not be restricted to cutting carbon but should also involve "pushing hard for gender equality, access to education and the availability of contraceptives, to drive forward the decline in fertility". India will do well to heed that advice

—— New Indian Express

The Journey of Humanity stretches from the emergence of Homo sapiens to the present day, and has a lot to say about the future, too. In just over 240 pages it covers our migration out of Africa, the development of agriculture, the Industrial Revolution and the phenomenal growth of the past two centuries. It takes in population change, the climate crisis and global inequality ... There will be inevitable comparisons with Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens ... If you need an evidence-based antidote to doomscrolling, here it is ... Galor builds his case meticulously, always testing his assumptions against the evidence, and without the sense of agenda-pushing that accompanies other boosterish thinkers - the Steven Pinkers or Francis Fukuyamas of this world

—— Guardian

Incredibly wide-ranging and detailed historical and even anthropological examination of the myriad factors that have brought success and failure to nations ... Lively and learned

—— Tim Hazledine, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of Auckland , Inerest.co.nz

An optimist's guide to the future ... Oded Galor's 'Sapiens'-like history of civilisation predicts a happy ending for humanity

—— Guardian

Enjoyable and intriguing

—— Steven Poole , Guardian

An antidote to doomscrolling

—— Guardian, *Summer Reads of 2022*

A great historical fresco

—— Le Monde

Breathtaking. A new Sapiens

—— L'Express

Ambitious and deep ... the product of genuine scholarship

—— Jason Furman, economics professor at Harvard, former advisor to Barack Obama , #1 Best Economics Book of 2022, FiveBooks.com
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