Boo,hiss to Penguin Books (Rating 3 of 5)
» Franz Bieberkopf
Not a dig at Mr.K-the material in the book is great-but Penguin didn't mention that it's all in "The Shadow Of The Sun".There's no original material in it at all!!
Buy "Shadow Of The Sun" instead-it's far better as you see the material in this in it's proper context.Indeed,buy anything by Mr.K,but avoid this
Not the best value (Rating 5 of 5)
» Sally Wilton
I give this 5 Stars for the content but all of it and much much more can be read in Shadow of the Sun and this was not made clear. Shadow of the Sun has many more stories in it so don't be fooled into thinking this is a different book. PS Ryszard Kapuscinski is an excellent writer and I highly recommend him
Sample a great travel writer (Rating 4 of 5)
» Siriam
An interesting concept by Penguin entitled "Great Journeys" ranging from Ancient Times via the Age of Discovery to 19th and 20th century adventurers which in a short set of extracts from the longer original work, follows the current trend of "quick reads" whereby authors efectively get "sampled" in helping the reader test if they are willing to follow up and buy the longer original. While older readers may baulk at this approach it will be interesting to see what response it creates.
This particular example from the great Polish travel writer on the Third World, Ryszard Kapuscinski probably works so well because all his books are effectively a series of mini essays with each chapter's topic and country continuously changing even where they have a general theme. This choice from the longer "The Shadow of the Sun" is a series of essays over the years on his visits to Africa that range from Ghana the first African colony to win independence in the 1950s through to an encounter with black magic in Western Uganda post Idi Amin taking power. Kapuscinski's main attraction as a writer is that he has always sought out the underclass and the underbelly of the locations he has visited as well as mixing with the leaders of the chosen location plus brings a practical political analysis to the issues, especially bearing in mind he was visiting as a journalist from a Communist country.
A very easy read and introduction which will hopefully make any new readers want to go and read his now many longer tomes on subjects ranging from the fall of the Shah in Iran to post Cold War Russia
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