Author: Gianni Giansanti
Publisher: White Star Publishers
ISBN: 9788854404724
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
For anyone interested in primitive cultures and field photography as high art, this stunning volume by Gianni Giansanti, the renowned author of Vanishing Africa, provides an exceedingly intimate and sympathetic portrait of indigenous peoples in their most purposeful aspect. Trekking ever deeper into the mysterious heart of undocumentedand endangeredaboriginal Africa, the birthplace of humanity, Giansanti captures the extraordinary masks, plumage, and adornment used by warriors in the remotest regions to invoke martial magic. Each photo is a masterpiece of abstract art that demonstrates how the natives use their bodies as canvases, painting their scarified flesh with pigments made from powdered volcanic rock and adorning themselves with flowers, leaves, grasses, shells, and animal horns. Giansanti employs virtuoso techniques of chiaroscuro, stark contrasts of texture and color, and jarring juxtapositions of the primordial and the modern to produce a rare and surreal glimpse into an eerily exotic and timeless way of life.
Last African Warriors
Author: Gianni Giansanti
Publisher: White Star Publishers
ISBN: 9788854404724
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
For anyone interested in primitive cultures and field photography as high art, this stunning volume by Gianni Giansanti, the renowned author of Vanishing Africa, provides an exceedingly intimate and sympathetic portrait of indigenous peoples in their most purposeful aspect. Trekking ever deeper into the mysterious heart of undocumentedand endangeredaboriginal Africa, the birthplace of humanity, Giansanti captures the extraordinary masks, plumage, and adornment used by warriors in the remotest regions to invoke martial magic. Each photo is a masterpiece of abstract art that demonstrates how the natives use their bodies as canvases, painting their scarified flesh with pigments made from powdered volcanic rock and adorning themselves with flowers, leaves, grasses, shells, and animal horns. Giansanti employs virtuoso techniques of chiaroscuro, stark contrasts of texture and color, and jarring juxtapositions of the primordial and the modern to produce a rare and surreal glimpse into an eerily exotic and timeless way of life.
Publisher: White Star Publishers
ISBN: 9788854404724
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
For anyone interested in primitive cultures and field photography as high art, this stunning volume by Gianni Giansanti, the renowned author of Vanishing Africa, provides an exceedingly intimate and sympathetic portrait of indigenous peoples in their most purposeful aspect. Trekking ever deeper into the mysterious heart of undocumentedand endangeredaboriginal Africa, the birthplace of humanity, Giansanti captures the extraordinary masks, plumage, and adornment used by warriors in the remotest regions to invoke martial magic. Each photo is a masterpiece of abstract art that demonstrates how the natives use their bodies as canvases, painting their scarified flesh with pigments made from powdered volcanic rock and adorning themselves with flowers, leaves, grasses, shells, and animal horns. Giansanti employs virtuoso techniques of chiaroscuro, stark contrasts of texture and color, and jarring juxtapositions of the primordial and the modern to produce a rare and surreal glimpse into an eerily exotic and timeless way of life.
African Warriors
Author: Thomasin Magor
Publisher: Harvill Press
ISBN:
Category : Kenya
Languages : en
Pages : 264
Book Description
In the rugged terrain of Northern Kenya, virtually isolated from civilization, lives one of the last surviving warrior peoples of Africa. Renowned for their extraordinary physical beauty and grace as much as for their independence and pride, the Samburu are semi-nomadic pastoralists whose lives and intricate social system, with its age-sets, cattle-wealth, circumcision and marriage rituals, have been shaped over time by the fierce climate, by inter-tribal rivalry and by the never-ending search for grazing and water.
Publisher: Harvill Press
ISBN:
Category : Kenya
Languages : en
Pages : 264
Book Description
In the rugged terrain of Northern Kenya, virtually isolated from civilization, lives one of the last surviving warrior peoples of Africa. Renowned for their extraordinary physical beauty and grace as much as for their independence and pride, the Samburu are semi-nomadic pastoralists whose lives and intricate social system, with its age-sets, cattle-wealth, circumcision and marriage rituals, have been shaped over time by the fierce climate, by inter-tribal rivalry and by the never-ending search for grazing and water.
African Samurai
Author: Thomas Lockley
Publisher: Harlequin
ISBN: 1488098751
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 518
Book Description
This biography of the first foreign-born samurai and his journey from Africa to Japan is “a readable, compassionate account of an extraordinary life” (The Washington Post). When Yasuke arrived in Japan in the late 1500s, he had already traveled much of the known world. Kidnapped as a child, he had ended up a servant and bodyguard to the head of the Jesuits in Asia, with whom he traversed India and China learning multiple languages as he went. His arrival in Kyoto, however, literally caused a riot. Most Japanese people had never seen an African man before, and many of them saw him as the embodiment of the black-skinned Buddha. Among those who were drawn to his presence was Lord Nobunaga, head of the most powerful clan in Japan, who made Yasuke a samurai in his court. Soon, he was learning the traditions of Japan’s martial arts and ascending the upper echelons of Japanese society. In the four hundred years since, Yasuke has been known in Japan largely as a legendary, perhaps mythical figure. Now African Samurai presents the never-before-told biography of this unique figure of the sixteenth century, one whose travels between countries and cultures offers a new perspective on race in world history and a vivid portrait of life in medieval Japan. “Fast-paced, action-packed writing. . . . A new and important biography and an incredibly moving study of medieval Japan and solid perspective on its unification. Highly recommended.” —Library Journal (starred review) “Eminently readable. . . . a worthwhile and entertaining work.” —Publishers Weekly “A unique story of a unique man, and yet someone with whom we can all identify.” —Jack Weatherford, New York Times–bestselling author of Genghis Khan
Publisher: Harlequin
ISBN: 1488098751
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 518
Book Description
This biography of the first foreign-born samurai and his journey from Africa to Japan is “a readable, compassionate account of an extraordinary life” (The Washington Post). When Yasuke arrived in Japan in the late 1500s, he had already traveled much of the known world. Kidnapped as a child, he had ended up a servant and bodyguard to the head of the Jesuits in Asia, with whom he traversed India and China learning multiple languages as he went. His arrival in Kyoto, however, literally caused a riot. Most Japanese people had never seen an African man before, and many of them saw him as the embodiment of the black-skinned Buddha. Among those who were drawn to his presence was Lord Nobunaga, head of the most powerful clan in Japan, who made Yasuke a samurai in his court. Soon, he was learning the traditions of Japan’s martial arts and ascending the upper echelons of Japanese society. In the four hundred years since, Yasuke has been known in Japan largely as a legendary, perhaps mythical figure. Now African Samurai presents the never-before-told biography of this unique figure of the sixteenth century, one whose travels between countries and cultures offers a new perspective on race in world history and a vivid portrait of life in medieval Japan. “Fast-paced, action-packed writing. . . . A new and important biography and an incredibly moving study of medieval Japan and solid perspective on its unification. Highly recommended.” —Library Journal (starred review) “Eminently readable. . . . a worthwhile and entertaining work.” —Publishers Weekly “A unique story of a unique man, and yet someone with whom we can all identify.” —Jack Weatherford, New York Times–bestselling author of Genghis Khan
A Cry to War
Author: E.O. Odiase
Publisher: Ghagerian Publishing
ISBN: 1916222013
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 297
Book Description
The authors would love you to join them on this enchanting journey of discovery; journeying through ancient African Kingdoms, a mythical forest, treacherous mountains, an arid desert and mysterious seas. Allow yourself to enjoy this immersive and enthralling tale set in medieval West Africa where Kings and Queens duel for power while mysterious creatures sent by the gods prepare to wage war upon them all. A generation has passed, and the devastation of war is slowly fading away but the scars remain, lingering in the hearts and minds of many. In an era of peace, King Ewuare remains conflicted, torn between opening closed wounds or allowing his reign of peace and prosperity to continue. As the King tries to resolve his moral conflict, the gods have a different agenda. Sinister and supernatural forces amass on the summit of the Agbon mountains, deep into the clouds, where no man dare stray, where the wind bites cold and the forest stays forever frozen. Within, lies a tale of Kings and Queens, warriors and commoners, slaves and sorcerers, and the consequences of their hurried actions. African tribes head to battle with swords forged of bronze and steel, wild beasts bending to the will of man and fighting side by side. A boy travels across the known world, through treacherous lands, in search of a hidden treasure. All amid betrayal of love, friendship and family. As a result, the survival of a people, culture and history hangs perilously in the balance. Book Background: A Cry to War is an African Fantasy set in 13th century West Africa and it’s loosely based on historical events, although it has been dramatised for the enjoyment of the reader. Through a fictional lens, you will feel part of the political alliances, conflicts and triumphs of several real-life ancient West African Kingdoms, such as the Benin Kingdom, the Ghanaian empire, the Malian Kingdom and the Fulani people. The story stretches across countries, continents and seas, showing a great variation in language, customs and traditions of several tribes but also the unity displayed by different characters to overcome adversity.
Publisher: Ghagerian Publishing
ISBN: 1916222013
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 297
Book Description
The authors would love you to join them on this enchanting journey of discovery; journeying through ancient African Kingdoms, a mythical forest, treacherous mountains, an arid desert and mysterious seas. Allow yourself to enjoy this immersive and enthralling tale set in medieval West Africa where Kings and Queens duel for power while mysterious creatures sent by the gods prepare to wage war upon them all. A generation has passed, and the devastation of war is slowly fading away but the scars remain, lingering in the hearts and minds of many. In an era of peace, King Ewuare remains conflicted, torn between opening closed wounds or allowing his reign of peace and prosperity to continue. As the King tries to resolve his moral conflict, the gods have a different agenda. Sinister and supernatural forces amass on the summit of the Agbon mountains, deep into the clouds, where no man dare stray, where the wind bites cold and the forest stays forever frozen. Within, lies a tale of Kings and Queens, warriors and commoners, slaves and sorcerers, and the consequences of their hurried actions. African tribes head to battle with swords forged of bronze and steel, wild beasts bending to the will of man and fighting side by side. A boy travels across the known world, through treacherous lands, in search of a hidden treasure. All amid betrayal of love, friendship and family. As a result, the survival of a people, culture and history hangs perilously in the balance. Book Background: A Cry to War is an African Fantasy set in 13th century West Africa and it’s loosely based on historical events, although it has been dramatised for the enjoyment of the reader. Through a fictional lens, you will feel part of the political alliances, conflicts and triumphs of several real-life ancient West African Kingdoms, such as the Benin Kingdom, the Ghanaian empire, the Malian Kingdom and the Fulani people. The story stretches across countries, continents and seas, showing a great variation in language, customs and traditions of several tribes but also the unity displayed by different characters to overcome adversity.
The Fiddler on Pantico Run
Author: Joe Mozingo
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451627610
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 368
Book Description
In this gorgeously written and “vividly fascinating” (Elle) account, a prize-winning journalist digs deep into his ancestry looking for the origins of his unusual last name and discovers that he comes from one of America’s earliest mixed-race families. “My dad’s family was a mystery,” writes journalist Joe Mozingo, having grown up with only rumors about where his father’s family was from—Italy, France, the Basque Country. But when a college professor told the blue-eyed Californian that his family name may have come from sub-Saharan Africa, Mozingo set out on an epic journey to uncover the truth. He soon discovered that all Mozingos in America, including his father’s line, appeared to have descended from a black man named Edward Mozingo who was brought to America as a slave in 1644 and, after winning his freedom twenty-eight years later, became a tenant tobacco farmer, married a white woman, and fathered one of the country’s earliest mixed-race family lineages. Tugging at the buried thread of his origins, Joe Mozingo has unearthed a saga that encompasses the full sweep of America’s history and lays bare the country’s tortured and paradoxical experience with race. Haunting and beautiful, Mozingo’s memoir paints a world where the lines based on color are both illusory and life altering. He traces his family line from the ravages of the slave trade to the mixed-race society of colonial Virginia and through the brutal imposition of racial laws.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451627610
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 368
Book Description
In this gorgeously written and “vividly fascinating” (Elle) account, a prize-winning journalist digs deep into his ancestry looking for the origins of his unusual last name and discovers that he comes from one of America’s earliest mixed-race families. “My dad’s family was a mystery,” writes journalist Joe Mozingo, having grown up with only rumors about where his father’s family was from—Italy, France, the Basque Country. But when a college professor told the blue-eyed Californian that his family name may have come from sub-Saharan Africa, Mozingo set out on an epic journey to uncover the truth. He soon discovered that all Mozingos in America, including his father’s line, appeared to have descended from a black man named Edward Mozingo who was brought to America as a slave in 1644 and, after winning his freedom twenty-eight years later, became a tenant tobacco farmer, married a white woman, and fathered one of the country’s earliest mixed-race family lineages. Tugging at the buried thread of his origins, Joe Mozingo has unearthed a saga that encompasses the full sweep of America’s history and lays bare the country’s tortured and paradoxical experience with race. Haunting and beautiful, Mozingo’s memoir paints a world where the lines based on color are both illusory and life altering. He traces his family line from the ravages of the slave trade to the mixed-race society of colonial Virginia and through the brutal imposition of racial laws.
The Last Maasai Warriors
Author: Jackson Ntirkana
Publisher: Greystone Books
ISBN: 1927435013
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 190
Book Description
How two young Maasai tribesmen became warriors, scholars, and leaders in their community and to the world. They are living testament to a vanishing way of life on the African savannah. Wilson and Jackson are two brave warriors of the Maasai, an intensely proud culture built on countless generations steeped in the mystique of tradition, legend and prophecy. They represent the final generation to literally fight for their way of life, coming of age by proving their bravery in the slaying of a lion. They are the last of the great warriors. Yet, as the first generation to fully embrace the modern ways and teachings of Western civilization, the two warriors have adapted — at times seamlessly, at times with unimaginable difficulty -- in order to help their people. They strive to preserve a disappearing culture, protecting the sanctity of their elders while paving the way for future generations. At this watershed moment in their history, the warriors carry the weight of their forbearers while embracing contemporary culture and technology. While their struggle to achieve this balance unfolds exquisitely in this story, their discoveries resonate well beyond the Maasai Mara.
Publisher: Greystone Books
ISBN: 1927435013
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 190
Book Description
How two young Maasai tribesmen became warriors, scholars, and leaders in their community and to the world. They are living testament to a vanishing way of life on the African savannah. Wilson and Jackson are two brave warriors of the Maasai, an intensely proud culture built on countless generations steeped in the mystique of tradition, legend and prophecy. They represent the final generation to literally fight for their way of life, coming of age by proving their bravery in the slaying of a lion. They are the last of the great warriors. Yet, as the first generation to fully embrace the modern ways and teachings of Western civilization, the two warriors have adapted — at times seamlessly, at times with unimaginable difficulty -- in order to help their people. They strive to preserve a disappearing culture, protecting the sanctity of their elders while paving the way for future generations. At this watershed moment in their history, the warriors carry the weight of their forbearers while embracing contemporary culture and technology. While their struggle to achieve this balance unfolds exquisitely in this story, their discoveries resonate well beyond the Maasai Mara.
The Last Lions of Africa
Author: Anthony Ham
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1760874965
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 379
Book Description
'Bravely pursued, acutely observed and elegantly told.' John Vaillant, author of The Tiger 'Urgent and important. This moving tale with a heroic cast of characters, leonine and human, is a must-read for anyone passionate about wildlife and wild places.' Tony Park, author of Last Survivor This is the riveting and illuminating story of Australian writer Anthony Ham's extraordinary journey into the world of lions. Haunted by the idea that they might disappear from the planet in our lifetime, he ventured deep into the African wilderness, speaking to local tribespeople and activists as well as to rangers, scientists and conservationists about why lions are close to extinction and what can be done to save them. In The Last Lions of Africa, we walk alongside Anthony as he reveals the latest extraordinary science surrounding the earth's dwindling lion populations and their often surprising relationship to mankind. As he uncovers heartbreaking and astonishing accounts of individual lions, prides and habitats, each chapter unfolds as both gripping campfire story and deeply researched exploration of larger mysteries in the natural world. Anthony's vivid storytelling weaves together natural history, ancient lore and multidisciplinary science to show us a world in which human populations are growing and wild lands are shrinking; where lions and indigenous peoples fight not for sovereignty over the land but for their very existence. In this gripping and crucial book, Anthony Ham brings Africa, its people and its endangered lions to magnificent life and shows the surprising ways those last lions might be saved.
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1760874965
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 379
Book Description
'Bravely pursued, acutely observed and elegantly told.' John Vaillant, author of The Tiger 'Urgent and important. This moving tale with a heroic cast of characters, leonine and human, is a must-read for anyone passionate about wildlife and wild places.' Tony Park, author of Last Survivor This is the riveting and illuminating story of Australian writer Anthony Ham's extraordinary journey into the world of lions. Haunted by the idea that they might disappear from the planet in our lifetime, he ventured deep into the African wilderness, speaking to local tribespeople and activists as well as to rangers, scientists and conservationists about why lions are close to extinction and what can be done to save them. In The Last Lions of Africa, we walk alongside Anthony as he reveals the latest extraordinary science surrounding the earth's dwindling lion populations and their often surprising relationship to mankind. As he uncovers heartbreaking and astonishing accounts of individual lions, prides and habitats, each chapter unfolds as both gripping campfire story and deeply researched exploration of larger mysteries in the natural world. Anthony's vivid storytelling weaves together natural history, ancient lore and multidisciplinary science to show us a world in which human populations are growing and wild lands are shrinking; where lions and indigenous peoples fight not for sovereignty over the land but for their very existence. In this gripping and crucial book, Anthony Ham brings Africa, its people and its endangered lions to magnificent life and shows the surprising ways those last lions might be saved.
Samurai
Author: John Man
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062202685
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 381
Book Description
The definitive history of the Samurai, by acclaimed author of Ninja: 1,000 Years of the Shadow Warrior “One could ask for no better storyteller or analyst than John Man.” —Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Jerusalem: The Biography The inspiration for the Jedi knights of Star Wars and the films of Akira Kurosawa, the legendary Japanese samurai have captured modern imaginations. Yet with these elite warriors who were bound by a code of honor called Bushido—the Way of the Warrior—the reality behind the myth proves more fascinating than any fiction. In Samurai, celebrated author John Man provides a unique and captivating look at their true history, told through the life of one man: Saigo Takamori, known to many as "the last samurai." In 1877 Takamori led a rebel army of samurai in a heroic "last stand" against the Imperial Japanese Army, who sought to end the "way of the sword" in favor of firearms and modern warfare. Man's thrilling narrative brings to life the hidden world of the samurai as never before.
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062202685
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 381
Book Description
The definitive history of the Samurai, by acclaimed author of Ninja: 1,000 Years of the Shadow Warrior “One could ask for no better storyteller or analyst than John Man.” —Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Jerusalem: The Biography The inspiration for the Jedi knights of Star Wars and the films of Akira Kurosawa, the legendary Japanese samurai have captured modern imaginations. Yet with these elite warriors who were bound by a code of honor called Bushido—the Way of the Warrior—the reality behind the myth proves more fascinating than any fiction. In Samurai, celebrated author John Man provides a unique and captivating look at their true history, told through the life of one man: Saigo Takamori, known to many as "the last samurai." In 1877 Takamori led a rebel army of samurai in a heroic "last stand" against the Imperial Japanese Army, who sought to end the "way of the sword" in favor of firearms and modern warfare. Man's thrilling narrative brings to life the hidden world of the samurai as never before.
Njinga of Angola
Author: Linda M. Heywood
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674237447
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
“The fascinating story of arguably the greatest queen in sub-Saharan African history, who surely deserves a place in the pantheon of revolutionary world leaders.” —Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Though largely unknown in the West, the seventeenth-century African queen Njinga was one of the most multifaceted rulers in history, a woman who rivaled Queen Elizabeth I in political cunning and military prowess. In this landmark book, based on nine years of research and drawing from missionary accounts, letters, and colonial records, Linda Heywood reveals how this legendary queen skillfully navigated—and ultimately transcended—the ruthless, male-dominated power struggles of her time. “Queen Njinga of Angola has long been among the many heroes whom black diasporians have used to construct a pantheon and a usable past. Linda Heywood gives us a different Njinga—one brimming with all the qualities that made her the stuff of legend but also full of all the interests and inclinations that made her human. A thorough, serious, and long overdue study of a fascinating ruler, Njinga of Angola is an essential addition to the study of the black Atlantic world.” —Ta-Nehisi Coates “This fine biography attempts to reconcile her political acumen with the human sacrifices, infanticide, and slave trading by which she consolidated and projected power.” —New Yorker “Queen Njinga was by far the most successful of African rulers in resisting Portuguese colonialism...Tactically pious and unhesitatingly murderous...a commanding figure in velvet slippers and elephant hair ripe for big-screen treatment; and surely, as our social media age puts it, one badass woman.” —Karen Shook, Times Higher Education
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674237447
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
“The fascinating story of arguably the greatest queen in sub-Saharan African history, who surely deserves a place in the pantheon of revolutionary world leaders.” —Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Though largely unknown in the West, the seventeenth-century African queen Njinga was one of the most multifaceted rulers in history, a woman who rivaled Queen Elizabeth I in political cunning and military prowess. In this landmark book, based on nine years of research and drawing from missionary accounts, letters, and colonial records, Linda Heywood reveals how this legendary queen skillfully navigated—and ultimately transcended—the ruthless, male-dominated power struggles of her time. “Queen Njinga of Angola has long been among the many heroes whom black diasporians have used to construct a pantheon and a usable past. Linda Heywood gives us a different Njinga—one brimming with all the qualities that made her the stuff of legend but also full of all the interests and inclinations that made her human. A thorough, serious, and long overdue study of a fascinating ruler, Njinga of Angola is an essential addition to the study of the black Atlantic world.” —Ta-Nehisi Coates “This fine biography attempts to reconcile her political acumen with the human sacrifices, infanticide, and slave trading by which she consolidated and projected power.” —New Yorker “Queen Njinga was by far the most successful of African rulers in resisting Portuguese colonialism...Tactically pious and unhesitatingly murderous...a commanding figure in velvet slippers and elephant hair ripe for big-screen treatment; and surely, as our social media age puts it, one badass woman.” —Karen Shook, Times Higher Education
Amazons of Black Sparta, 2nd Edition
Author: Stanley B. Alpern
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 0814707726
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 309
Book Description
The only thoroughly documented Amazons in world history are the women warriors of Dahomey, an eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Western African kingdom. Once dubbed a 'small black Sparta,' residents of Dahomey shared with the Spartans an intense militarism and sense of collectivism. Updated with a new preface by the author, Amazons of Black Sparta is the product of meticulous archival research and Alpern's gift for narrative. It will stand as the most comprehensive and accessible account of the woman warriors of Dahomey.
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 0814707726
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 309
Book Description
The only thoroughly documented Amazons in world history are the women warriors of Dahomey, an eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Western African kingdom. Once dubbed a 'small black Sparta,' residents of Dahomey shared with the Spartans an intense militarism and sense of collectivism. Updated with a new preface by the author, Amazons of Black Sparta is the product of meticulous archival research and Alpern's gift for narrative. It will stand as the most comprehensive and accessible account of the woman warriors of Dahomey.