Popular African Biography Books
Find biography books written by authors from Africa for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (71)
1.
A Long Way Gone : Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah EN
Country: Africa / 
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Description:
My new friends have begun to suspect I haven’t told them the full story of my life. “Why did you leave Sierra Leone?” “Because there is a war.” “You mean, you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?” “Yes, all the time.” “Cool.” I smile a little. “You should tell us about it sometime.” “Yes, sometime.” This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them... continue
2.
A Woman of Firsts by Edna Adan Ismail EN
SomaliaDescription:
'The Muslim Mother Teresa' Huffington Post Imprisonment. Mutilation. Persecution. Edna Adan Ismail endured it all - for the women of Africa.
3.
Adolfo Kaminsky : A Forger's Life by Sarah Kaminsky EN
AlgeriaDescription:
The gripping true story of a life-long forger working for the French Resistance and clandestine organizations, told to his daughter.
4.
Aman : The Story of a Somali Girl by Aman EN
Description:
This is the extraordinary first-person account of a young woman's coming of age in Somalia and her struggles against the obligations and strictures of family and society. By the time she is nine, Aman has undergone a ritual circumcision ceremony; at eleven, her innocent romance with a white boy leads to a murder; at thirteen she is given away in an arranged marriage to a stranger. Aman eventually runs away to Mogadishu, where her beauty and rebellious spirit leads her to the decadent demimonde of white colonialists. Hers is a world in which women are both chattel and freewheeling entrepreneurs... continue
5.
Appelez-moi Cize : Conversations avec Stéphane Boudsocq by Cesaria Evora FR
Country: Africa / 
Cape Verde
Cape Verde
Description:
Cesaria Evora, c'est un talent, une sincérité, l'ambassadrice d'un style musical et d'un peuple. Cesaria, c'est une carrière et une vie que, pour la première fois, la chanteuse raconte. Elle se remémore ses années d'enfance au Cap-Vert dans les quartiers pauvres de la capitale. Sans fard, elle en évoque les moments difficiles, lorsqu'elle est placée chez des religieuses ou sa relation avec l'alcool. Avec la simplicité qui la caractérise, Cesaria raconte dans ces pages sa carrière musicale, ses succès immenses et sa philosophie d'une vie à la fois riche et simple.
6.
Black Spartacus : The Epic Life of Toussaint Louverture by Sudhir Hazareesingh EN
MauritiusDescription:
A biography of the Haitian revolutionary leader Toussaint Louverture.
7.
Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah EN
Country: Africa / 
South Africa
South Africa
Description:
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • More than one million copies sold! A “brilliant” (Lupita Nyong’o, Time), “poignant” (Entertainment Weekly), “soul-nourishing” (USA Today) memoir about coming of age during the twilight of apartheid “Noah’s childhood stories are told with all the hilarity and intellect that characterizes his comedy, while illuminating a dark and brutal period in South Africa’s history that must never be forgotten.”—Esquire Winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor and an NAACP Image Award • Named one of the best books of the year by The New York Time, USA Today, San Francisco... continue
8.
Brief aan Cooper en de wereld by Dalilla Hermans NL
RwandaDescription:
Ik wil je meenemen in mijn levensverhaal, zodat je je eigen verhaal beter
zult snappen en zult kunnen plaatsen. Ik wil met de wereld delen wat het
doet met een mens, opgroeien in een zee van wit als een wolkje bruin.
Ik schrijf deze verhalen voor jou en voor mezelf. Voor de samenleving en
voor mijn zoon.'
9.
Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani EN
NigeriaDescription:
Based on interviews with young women who were kidnapped by Boko Haram, this poignant novel by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani tells the timely story of one girl who was taken from her home in Nigeria and her harrowing fight for survival. Includes an afterword by award-winning journalist Viviana Mazza. A new pair of shoes, a university degree, a husband--these are the things that a girl dreams of in a Nigerian village. And with a government scholarship right around the corner, everyone can see that these dreams aren't too far out of reach. But the girl's dreams turn to nightmares when her village is att... continue
Lesotho