Reviews tagging 'War'

Africa Is Not A Country: Breaking Stereotypes of Modern Africa by Dipo Faloyin

11 reviews

beancamille's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Rape, Slavery, Police brutality, Colonisation, and War

notthatcosta's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

4.5

A truly brilliant book - it covers a lot of ground (literally) in its geographies, time periods and topics without fucking around but also in a way that shows a tremendous amount of care and respect. It beautifully eulogises the losses inflicted during colonial barbarism whilst highlighting histories and emerging narratives that contradict monolithic ideas about the continent.

I learned so much - from looted artefacts to the origins of Nollywood and various youth-led movements defining the future of the continent. To feature such unflinching accounts of some of the most depraved acts in global history but close the book with such a hopeful and triumphant note is a massive achievement. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, Colonisation, and War

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

funny hopeful informative medium-paced

4.0

i want to see a heist movie targeting the british museum (or a documentary, for motivated individuals)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Xenophobia, Blood, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

emily_koopmann's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

bloodmaarked's review

funny hopeful informative medium-paced

4.5

this taught me so much (there's still so much more to learn though)

✧ full review on my tumblr ✧

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation

Moderate: Cursing, Genocide, Racism, and War

Minor: Slavery and Cannibalism

catriona176's review against another edition

challenging funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Colonisation

Moderate: Xenophobia and War

kayschwe's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Slavery, Police brutality, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and War

questingnotcoasting's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

4.0

This was a fascinating read. Africa is thought of as a monolith in a way that other continents aren't and this does a brilliant job in dismantling myths and stereotypes to counteract that view. It was engaging and accessible throughout and I really loved Faloyin's tone, which is so informative while also being funny. The topics it covers are very wide ranging and include the Scramble For Africa, dictatorships, depictions of Africa in Hollywood and white saviourism. I've previously studied and read about Europe's colonisation of Africa but still learnt a lot from this and it's made me look out for more books on related topics. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, and Colonisation

Moderate: Death, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, and War

caidyn's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

4.25

Excellent read. This book looks at a wide variety of issues. Racism, misconceptions, dictatorships, colonialism. It's wide reaching and very easy to get into.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Colonisation

Moderate: War

solaria's review against another edition

challenging funny informative medium-paced

Prior to reading, I had very limited knowledge about the African continent. Whatever knowledge I did possess was informed through school fundraisers and throwaway comments about how disadvantaged the "country" was. This book was a match made in heaven, as it targets that exact rhetoric that was drilled into me during school. 

This book is bursting at the seams with personality. It's packed with witty humour, insightful personal reflections from Faloyin as a Nigerian person and cracking analyses of the stereotypes surrounding Africa that disadvantage the people within it. This book sets the record straight - Africa is not a homogenous continent filled with "primitive" people destined for poverty and suffering. Africa is a continent that was devastated by oppressive colonial regimes that saw thousands of ethnic groups merged into 54 poorly-designed countries and left to deal with the effects of colonisation. I loved how it compared the historical (which for some of these countries is less than 50 years ago) and the modern-day context within these countries. One might assume that covering 54 countries in one book is a very big task, but Faloyin doesn't bite off more than he can chew. He focuses on specific examples and case studies that he's clearly researched thoroughly and well-versed in to ensure that he doesn't cover the politics or history of specific countries he's not familiar with. 

My favourite parts of this book were the focus on the white-saviour complex in television, film and charities. The creative liberties that were taken, such as the intro to Chapter 2 being written like a screenplay or a later chapter providing a satirical guide on "how to make a movie about Africa" were brilliant! I can't wait to see what Faloyin writes next because this is an absolutely phenomenal debut novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Violence, Police brutality, Colonisation, and War