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. Some of our African book recommendation lists are country specific, and others consider the continent as a whole.
African literature is increasingly getting the acclaim it deserves. 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 and Abdulrazak Gurnah, the Tanzanian writer, won the 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature. His most recent book is Afterlives.
Elsewhere in fiction, African fantasy and sci-fi are increasingly making their mark. 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. We have a wealth of recommended historical fiction set in Africa.
If you're looking for nonfiction Africa book recommendations, we have quite a few journalistic recommendations on Africa, Nigeria, South Africa as well as recommendations on the Rwandan genocide and memoirs from Zimbabwe.
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. Further back in time, historians recommend books on Ancient Egypt and the time of the pharaohs.
The Best African Novels, recommended by Blessing Musariri
“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. Here she recommends some of the best African novels, books that had a big personal impact and have stayed with her.
-
1
Invisible Users: Youth in the Internet Cafés of Urban Ghana
by Jenna Burrell -
2
Digital Entrepreneurship in Africa: How a Continent Is Escaping Silicon Valley's Long Shadow
by Mark Graham, Michel Wahome & Nicholas Friederici -
3
China Africa and the Future of the Internet
by Iginio Gagliardone -
4
Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics: How the Internet Era is Transforming Politics in Kenya
by Nanjala Nyabola -
5
Africa's Information Revolution
by James Murphy & Padraig Carmody
The best books on Digital Africa, recommended by Mohammad Amir Anwar
The best books on Digital Africa, recommended by Mohammad Amir Anwar
The internet and digital technology are transforming not only the way African countries trade and conduct business but also how they cohere socially and politically. Mohammad Amir Anwar, Lecturer in African Studies and International Development at the University of Edinburgh, recommends books that investigate the opportunities for Africa from the growth of technology—but focus on specifics and avoid the hype.
The best books on The Nile, recommended by Dan Morrison
Journalist and author of The Black Nile, who spent six months travelling the famous river, discusses some of the turbulent times that the Nile has witnessed – and praises its extraordinary beauty.
The best books on Africa through African Eyes, recommended by George Ayittey
The Ghanaian economist George Ayittey denounces the failure of leadership and Western policy in Africa and explains what “African solutions to African problems” would mean in practice.
The best books on Sudan, recommended by Richard Cockett
The Economist’s Africa editor chooses histories of Sudan, Africa’s biggest country, as well as the very personal stories of a child slave and a child soldier who was committing atrocities only a decade ago
The best books on African Politics, recommended by Evan Lieberman
Despite their enormous variety, the countries of sub-Saharan Africa share some common challenges when it comes to politics and governance. Here, political scientist Evan Lieberman talks about the struggles for democracy in the continent and some of the specific obstacles African countries face in state-building and administration.
The Best Recent Novels from Francophone Africa, recommended by Mutt-Lon
The award-winning Cameroonian novelist Mutt-Lon selects five of the best recent novels from Francophone Africa, including Mohamed Mbougar Sarr’s Prix Goncourt-winning La plus secrète mémoire des hommes. These novels, he notes—as with many others from West and Central Africa—are united by a common search for identity in post-colonial Africa.
The best books on Africa, recommended by Michela Wrong
Long-time foreign correspondent Michaela Wrong, the author of books on Zaire, Eritrea, Kenya and Rwanda, tells us where to turn for engaging foreign perspectives on Africa. She recommends five of her favourite books on Africa, by anthropologists, journalists and one US president.
The Best Historical Fiction, recommended by Tendai Huchu
What is historical fiction? Does it have to be historically accurate? Zimbabwean novelist Tendai Huchu talks us through five important examples of historical novels, including three set in Africa.
-
1
Golden Trade of the Moors: West African Kingdoms in the Fourteenth Century
by E.W. Bovill -
2
Ancient Ghana and Mali
by Nehemiah Levtzion -
3
Social History of Timbuktu: The Role of Muslim Scholars and Notables 1400-1900
by Elias Saad -
4
Sunjata: A West African Epic of the Mande Peoples
by David C. Conrad -
5
Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire: Al-Sa'di's Ta'rikh Al-Sudan down to 1613 and Other Contemporary Documents
by John Hunwick
The best books on The Ghana, Mali and Songhai African Empires, recommended by Michael Gomez
The best books on The Ghana, Mali and Songhai African Empires, recommended by Michael Gomez
Long before the Europeans arrived in the 16th and 17th centuries, sub-Saharan West Africa saw the emergence of a series of African empires that lasted for centuries and stretched over vast swathes of the continent. They were known as the Ghana, Mali and Songhai Empires. Here, historian Michael Gomez discusses what led to their greatness, what sustained them and why they fell.
-
1
Njinga of Angola: Africa’s Warrior Queen
by Linda Heywood -
2
Cross-Cultural Exchange in the Atlantic World: Angola and Brazil during the Era of the Slave Trade
by Roquinaldo Ferreira -
3
Slave Trade and Abolition: Gender, Commerce, and Economic Transition in Luanda
by Vanessa Oliveira -
4
Lourenço da Silva Mendonça and the Black Atlantic Abolitionist Movement in the 17th Century
by José Lingna Nafafé -
5
A History of West Central Africa to 1850
by John Thornton
The best books on The History of Angola (pre-20th century), recommended by Mariana Candido
The best books on The History of Angola (pre-20th century), recommended by Mariana Candido
West Central Africa was involved in the transatlantic slave trade from its inception in the fifteenth century until it ended in the late nineteenth century. It’s the region that lost the largest number of enslaved people to the transatlantic slave trade, with over 5.6 million people taken away. And yet Angola, where three of the five main slaving ports were located, is little studied in English. Here, Mariana Candido, a professor at Emory University, introduces us to some of the best books (available in English) on this era of Angolan history, from the biography of one ruler, Njinga Mbandi, to a survey of the entire period.
Best West African Fantasy Books for Teenagers, recommended by Efua Traoré
Fantasy inspired by West Africa is taking the literary scene for teens and young adults by storm. These books have strong world-building and all the usual fantasy ingredients. At the same time, drawing on rich seams of mythology and magical traditions such as juju, they bring something entirely fresh to the genre. Author Efua Traoré talks us through her pick of West African fantasy novels for teenagers.
The best books on Nigeria, recommended by Helon Habila
The award-winning Nigerian writer, Helon Habila, picks his favourite books about Nigeria.
The best books on Ancient Egypt, recommended by Toby Wilkinson
The Cambridge Egyptologist discusses his favourite works on Ancient Egypt, from the first book he bought on the subject to an authoritative coffee-table tome.
Best Contemporary Egyptian Literature, recommended by Humphrey Davies
One of the leading translators of contemporary Egyptian literature, Humphrey Davies, gives us his top choices.
The best books on The Rwandan Genocide, recommended by Philip Gourevitch
The journalist and author of We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families, an account of the Rwandan genocide, explores five books on the events that left 800,000 dead in 100 days.
-
1
Wildlife of Madagascar
by Keith Barnes & Kenneth Behrens -
2
Lost People: Magic and the Legacy of Slavery in Madagascar
by David Graeber -
3
Vanilla Landscapes: Meaning, Memory, and the Cultivation of Place in Madagascar
by Sarah Osterhoudt -
4
A World Like Our Own: Man and Nature in Madagascar
by Alison Jolly -
5
Conservation and Environmental Management in Madagascar
by Ivan Scales (editor)
The best books on Madagascar, recommended by Alison Richard
The best books on Madagascar, recommended by Alison Richard
With its range of unique wildlife, Madagascar has been likened to a floating evolutionary laboratory. To Yale biological anthropologist Alison Richard, it’s simply a magical place. Here, she recommends five books on the island she has visited for the past five decades and explains why she wrote her own book, The Sloth Lemur’s Song.
-
1
Death and Salvation in Ancient Egypt
by Jan Assmann -
2
Visual and written culture in ancient Egypt
by John Baines -
3
The Chapel of Ptahhotep
by Paolo J. Scremin & Yvonne M. Harpur -
4
Village Life in Ancient Egypt
by Andrea McDowell -
5
The Tale of Sinuhe and other ancient Egyptian poems
by Richard Parkinson
The best books on Ancient Egypt, recommended by Elizabeth Frood
The best books on Ancient Egypt, recommended by Elizabeth Frood
Egyptologist Elizabeth Frood recommends books that take us away from the elite context of Egyptian history and focus on the ‘normal’ lives of Egyptians.
The best books on Nelson Mandela and South Africa, recommended by John Carlin
Nelson Mandela was a most unusual and unusually astute leader, says journalist and author of Playing the Enemy, John Carlin. He chooses the best books to understand Nelson Mandela, who used forgiveness as a political tool, and South Africa, the country he brought peacefully out of apartheid.
The best books on Being White in Africa, recommended by Justin Cartwright
The award-winning novelist thinks Africans want to know how it is that white men have got their hands on all the money. He picks five books on what it means and meant to be white in Africa
The best books on Egypt and America, recommended by Lloyd Gardner
The historian reflects on the past 60 years of American involvement in Egypt and tells us, after the Arab Spring, what may make the coming years different
The Best South African Fiction, recommended by Imraan Coovadia
The South African novelist gives us an unvarnished view of the writer’s life, and explains how literature told the story of apartheid and why comedy is the easiest way to talk about race
The best books on Identity in South Africa, recommended by Jonny Steinberg
The journalist and author discusses five books with strikingly different interpretations of what it means to be South African today, whether black or white
The best books on Post-Apartheid Identity, recommended by Kevin Bloom
The award-winning South African writer Kevin Bloom discusses five books that bring light to post-apartheid South Africa with focus on the predicament of the white South African. Do whites ‘deserve’ to feel at home in their country?
The best books on Nigeria, recommended by Michael Peel
The FT‘s former West Africa correspondent talks us through five books that helped him to understand Nigeria.
The best books on Colonial Africa, recommended by Sam Kiley
‘Wherever you go today in the Congo, you will find monstrous warlords. But you will find far more volunteer nurses and Red Cross workers and teachers who haven’t been paid for 20 years but are still doing their job, not allowing things to fall apart.’
The best books on African Religion and Witchcraft, recommended by Jean Fontaine
The emeritus professor of social anthropology at the London School of Economics and author of Speak of the Devil says the Dinka and the Nuer are famous in anthropology for not being preoccupied with misfortune
Georgina Godwin on Memoirs of Zimbabwe
Via five engrossing memoirs, the Zimbabwe-born journalist Georgina Godwin talks wistfully about her country; amongst the older generation, she says, there is a feeling that Rhodesia was sold down the river by Britain and things needn’t have turned out the way they did.
The best books on South Africa, recommended by Alec Russell
World News Editor at the FT and Pulitzer Prize nominee discusses the struggles and triumphs of South Africa – the colonial scramble, the end of apartheid, Mbeki, Mandela and rugby, ANC corruption and more