Gabon Books

Out of My Life and Thought (The Albert Schweitzer Library)

Albert Schweitzer, Antje Bultmann Lemke

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Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Historical -> General AAS
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Leaders & Notable People -> Religious

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Out of My Life and Thought is the autobiography of Albert Schweitzer, the theologian, musician, scientist, and medical missionary who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952 (and donated his prize to build a leper colony). Schweitzer's autobiography is a masterful and motley blend of confession, narrative, adventure, and philosophy. The chapters about how he came to write The Quest for the Historical Jesus and The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle are indispensable summaries of and apologies for those books; the chapter called "I Resolve to Become a Jungle Doctor" is a model of Rilke-style life-changing decision; and the chapters on Bach and on organs are full of fascinating historical and mechanical detail. For contemporary readers, Out of My Life and Thought may be most compelling for its epilogue, which describes the ethical mysticism that Schweitzer called "Reverence for Life," which he achieved in his later years. The epilogue is full of stirringly Germanic passages such as the following: "Once man begins to think about the mystery of his life and the links connecting him with the life that fills the world, he cannot but accept, for his own life and all other life that surrounds him, the principle of Reverence for Life. He will act according to this principle of the ethical affirmation of life in everything he does. His life will become in every respect more difficult than if he lived for himself, but at the same time it will be richer, more beautiful, and happier. It will become, instead of mere living, a genuine experience of life." Because Schweitzer believed Christianity implied such world-encompassing reverence, he had the confidence and faith to "demand from Christianity that it reform itself in the spirit of sincerity and with thoughtfulness, so it may become conscious of its true nature." --Michael Joseph Gross

Black, Blanc, Beur: Rap Music and Hip-Hop Culture in the Francophone World

Alain-Philippe Durand

Amazon Price: $29.50 List Price: $29.50 Usually ships in 24 hours By: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Amazon Marketplace: 24 new & used starting at $9.74

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Subjects -> Entertainment -> Music -> Musical Genres -> Rap

Editorial Review:

Black, Blanc, Beur is about the emergence and growing notoriety of rap music and hip-hop culture in the French-speaking world (France, Quebec, and Western Africa). It provides an introduction to many forms of expression of hip-hop cultures (rap music, hip-hop dance, and graffiti/tagging). In addition to a foreword by Adam Krims, a noted rap authority, this volume has contributions by some of the most renowned hip-hop scholars on both sides of the Atlantic and addresses hip-hop from the perspective of various disciplines.

A Workman Is Worthy of His Meat: Food and Colonialism in the Gabon Estuary (France Overseas: Studies in Empire and D)

Jeremy Rich

Amazon Price: $36.52 List Price: $45.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: University of Nebraska Press Amazon Marketplace: 22 new & used starting at $26.99

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Subjects -> History -> Africa -> Gabon

Editorial Review:

In Libreville, the capital of the African nation of Gabon, the colonial past has evolved into a present indelibly marked by colonial rule and ongoing French influence. This is especially evident in areas as essential to life as food. In this complex, hybrid culinary culture of Libreville, croissants are as readily available as plantains. Yet this same culinary diversity is accompanied by high prices and a scarcity of locally made food that is bewildering to residents and visitors alike. A staggering two-thirds of the country’s food is imported from outside Gabon, making Libreville’s cost of living comparable to that of Tokyo and Paris. In this compelling study of food culture and colonialism, Jeremy Rich explores how colonial rule intimately shaped African life and how African townspeople developed creative ways of coping with colonialism as European expansion threatened African self-sufficiency. From colonization in the 1840s through independence, Libreville struggled with problems of food scarcity resulting from the legacy of Atlantic slavery, the violence of colonial conquest, and the rise of the timber export industry. Marriage disputes, racial tensions, and worker unrest often centered on food, and townspeople employed varied tactics to combat its scarcity. Ultimately, imports emerged as the solution and have had a lasting impact on Gabon’s culinary culture and economy. Fascinating and informative, A Workman Is Worthy of His Meat engages a new avenue of historical inquiry in examining the culture of food as part of the colonial experience and resonates with the questions of globalization dominating culinary economics today.

(20080901)

Gabon: Beyond the Colonial Legacy (Westview Profiles Nations of Contemporary Africa)

James F. Barnes

List Price: $56.50 By: Westview Pr (Short Disc) Amazon Marketplace: 4 new & used starting at $24.95

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African Notebook (Albert Schweitzer Library (Syracuse, N.Y.).)

Albert Schweitzer, Lachlan, M.D. Forrow

Amazon Price: $15.56 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Syracuse University Press Amazon Marketplace: 20 new & used starting at $8.00

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Editorial Review:

Albert Schweitzer was already world famous when he was first persuaded to share with the public these candid reminiscences of early days at Lambaréné, Gabon, Africa. The multitude of brief entries in the book capture the flavor of Schweitzer's mission in vignettes and philosophical musings on the history of the land, the culture and rituals of the native people, and his medical practice.

Historical Dictionary of Gabon (African Historical Dictionaries/Historical Dictionaries of Africa)

David E. Gardinier

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Subjects -> History -> Africa -> West Africa

Editorial Review:

Presents the results of new research on the period between 1914 and 1940. Also synthesizes data about the transformations that have occurred since 1967 under President Omar Bongo, including the upheavals of 1990-91.

Gabon: Development of a Nation

Marc Aicardi De Saint-Paul

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Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Popular Economics -> General
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Popular Economics -> General AAS

Editorial Review:

This book provides an essential introduction to Gabon. It covers the geography, history, sociology, economics and politics of the country in detail, assessing Gabon's achievements and the political and economic dangers it still faces. This book should be of interest to lecturers and students in international politics, African studies, business.