African literature is increasingly getting the acclaim it deserves. Experts we've interviewed have selected the best African fiction-highlighting classic books and must-read recent publications-from a rich and sprawling literature, as well as thought-provoking African nonfiction book recommendations, including on African history and economics.
- Most recently Glory by Zimbabwean NoViolet Bulawayo was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize.
- The Promise, by South African author Damon Galgut, won the 2021 Booker Prize.
- Abdulrazak Gurnah, the Tanzanian writer, won the 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature.
It’s time to cast a little light into the darkness. That label is still apt, but not for the same reason. In the 19th century, as the nations of Europe rushed to grab ever-larger expanses of territory there, Africa was known as the Dark Continent. Everywhere else-Europe, Asia, the Americas-understanding of Africa and Africans is limited, and far too often wildly distorted.
Africa today is a richly diverse place. Its ethnic mix, the more than 1,500 languages spoken there, and even the genetic origins of its 1.2 billion people are more varied than on any other place on Earth. Politically and economically, too, Africa is a patchwork, encompassing a wide range of political systems and economic realities. The continent-the world’s second largest by land area-houses 54 nations, from the predominantly Arab Mahgreb of the Mediterranean coast to the resource-rich lands of southern and western Africa. Half of the ten poorest countries in the world are African; six of the fifteen fastest-growing economies on the planet, including the top two, are in Africa, too.
Listed below you’ll find titles and capsule descriptions of the top books about Africa in two lists: the top nonfiction books, and the top novels. I’ve recently read and reviewed nearly all these books; in each such case you’ll also see the review’s headline and a link. Each of the two lists is arranged in alphabetical order by the authors’ last names. I’ve awarded each title I’ve reviewed a rating of ★★★★☆ or ★★★★★ in each of the two lists. The West has long recognized the abundant literary riches in Africa. South African writers have been celebrated in Europe and the US for decades, from Alan Paton, Chinua Achebe, and Nadine Gordimer to Athol Fugard and J. M. Coetzee. (Two of them-Gordimer and Coetzee-have won the Nobel Prize for Literature.) Their Nigerian contemporaries, Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka, have received comparable praise; Achebe won the Man Booker Prize and Soyinka the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Fiction
Elsewhere in fiction, African fantasy and sci-fi are increasingly making their mark.
Read also: Literature and African History
- Nigerian-German author Efua Traoré talks us through the best West African fantasy for teenagers.
- Rosewater, by British-born Yoruba writer Tade Thompson, is a good example of Afrofuturism. One of our best sci fi books of 2019, it is set in 2066 Nigeria.
The emphasis in new African writing is away from politics towards how the individual responds to events, says South African novelist Mphuthumi Ntabeni, author of The Broken River Tent and The Wanderers. "We are connected to the spirit and it's an active connection. It's not somewhere that’s only in the afterlife, it's here in the present as well. That, I think, is endemic across all African cultures and traditions," says Zimbabwean novelist and poet Blessing Musariri.
What Is Afrofuturist Literature? - Art Across Cultures
Examples of must-read fiction books:
- Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe: Easily one of the most famous African novels of all time. First published in the 1950s, it sketches a world in which violence, war, and suffering exist, but are balanced by a strong sense of tradition, ritual, and social coherence. A balance the world needs to understand. Written by a literary master.
- Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: A love story, but also the story of two young Nigerians growing up, leaving Africa for “greener pastures”, and not finding what they expected. Having recommended this particular book, I’ll also say that pretty much EVERY book by this author is worth reading. She will open your eyes to every day life in Nigeria, through recent history.
- The Promise by Damon Galgut: As Rachel Swart lies dying in 1986 after a long bout with cancer, she coaxes a promise from her husband, Manie. He agrees to deed to their long-suffering Black house servant, Salome, the house she’s been living in all her life. Their younger daughter, Amor, overhears the exchange and presses her father at the funeral to fulfill the promise. But he denies having made it. As the title of Damon Galgut’s South African saga suggests, this conflict is the central thread in a story that will span four decades. And it symbolizes the dominant fault line in South African society as it emerges from apartheid less than a decade later.
- Abyssinian Chronicles: A Novel by Moses Isegawa: An epic, sweeping story of Uganda, as it recovered from the oppressive Idi Amin regime. No matter how tough life gets (and it does get tough), Ugandans have an uncanny ability to keep positive and stay the course.
Non-Fiction
On African history, we have historian Michael Gomez of NYU recommending books on the great African empires of the medieval and early modern periods. A Fistful of Shells, a prizewinning book by Toby Green of King's College London, also covers the period before European colonialism wreaked havoc on the continent. In his book, A Man With No Title, Xavier Le Clerc tells the story of his father, who was born in extreme poverty in the mountains of Algeria and emigrated to France to give his children a better life.
Examples of must-read non-fiction books:
- Born in Blackness: Africa, Africans, and the Making of the Modern World, 1471 to the Second World War by Howard W. French: In fact, for centuries, historians have been telling us that everything changed because explorers from Spain and Portugal set out across the unknown reaches of the seas to establish new trade routes to what we know today as China, Indonesia, and India. We’ve been taught that the modern world dawned when Christopher Columbus arrived in the Caribbean in 1492 in search of a route to the riches of “India.” Without question, the ensuing Columbian Exchange played a large role in setting off the Great Divergence between East and West. But in Born in Blackness, a compelling new revisionist history, Howard W.
- The Shadow of the Sun by Ryszard Kapuschinsky: Written by a Polish journalist, he chronicles a continent that is joyous, connected, traditional, and so deeply human. Every African I know who has read this book cannot believe it was written by a European - he’s profoundly non-judgemental. The Shadow of the Sun is a treasure-chest of incisive reporting by a 27-year veteran of Africa about the continent’s recent past, featuring vivid and disturbing accounts of the antecedents of Liberia’s ghastly civil wars, the origins of the Rwandan genocide, and the roots of recurring famine in the nations of the Horn.
- Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela: No African book list would be complete with out this autobiography. As head of South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement, he was instrumental in moving the nation out of institutional white oppression, toward majority rule. He is revered worldwide for his work in human rights and racial justice.
- Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa by Dambisa Moyo: This book offers a road map for international development that denies the efficacy of traditional humanitarian aid efforts.
Other recommended books
Here are some other books that are worth exploring:
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- The Shackled Continent, Africa’s Past, Present, and Future by Robert Guest.
- The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel by Barbara Kingsolver.
- 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa by Stephanie Nolen.
- King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild.
- What is the What? by Valentino Achek Deng and Dave Eggers.
- Murambi, The Book of Bones by Boubacar Boris Diop.
- Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila.
Travel and Culture Guides
For those planning a trip to Africa, these guides can be invaluable:
- Lonely Planet East Africa (Travel Guide)
- Rough Guide Swahili Phrasebook
- Luganda in 15 Easy Lessons by Stephen Nsubuga
- Uganda Culture Smart: The Essential Guide to Customs and Culture by Ian Clarke
Corruption and Economics
Misconceptions abound in the public perception of corruption in Africa. Tom Burgis’ incisive new analysis of corruption on the continent, The Looting Machine, dispels these dangerous myths. For starters, corruption is mistakenly believed to reign supreme in every country on the African continent. (There are 48 nations in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a combined population of more than 1.1 billion as of 2019.) Two Sub-Saharan African nations-Somalia and Southg Sudan-ranked lowest of the 179 countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) as of 2019. But Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Venezuela weren’t much better.
No view of contemporary sub-Saharan Africa is complete without taking official corruption into account. This story, which focuses on one courageous Kenyan man who tried to expose some of the most blatant examples of embezzlement by senior government officials, brings to light the complexity of the issue and its impact on African society.
Here is a table summarizing the corruption perception index:
| Country | Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) Rank |
|---|---|
| Somalia | Lowest |
| South Sudan | Lowest |
| Syria | Low |
| Yemen | Low |
| Afghanistan | Low |
| Venezuela | Low |
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