Books 4

Ellingtonia Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: the Complete RCA Victor Recordings (1927-1973) RCA 09026-63386-2 (24 discs) Limited Edition.

Harmonically the equal of Stravinsky says reviewer Rob Cowan in the Friday Review of The Independent 11 June 1999. Duke's music was the"other" great American music - darker, more "gutsy" and more mysterious...a force on its own: urban, original, and vaguely threatening."

The Black Handbook. The people, history and politics of Africa and the African diaspora. By E.L.Bute and H.J.P.Harmer. London and Washington: Cassell (1997).

Hundreds of questions are asked and answered in this handy guide. Who were Black Moses and the Black Pimpernel? Why was a Jamaican the last man to be beheaded in Britain? Who were the Mangrove Nine?

This book aims "to assemble, in a single volume, the key events, personalities, ideas, facts and figures of historical and contemporary Africa and the African Diaspora".
Entries may be found for a range of subject areas:

• People, places and events
• Movements and ideas
• Countries and chronology of Africa and the African Diaspora
• Political parties and leaders
• Intergovernmental organisations and treaties
• Rebellion, emancipation and civil rights

Curacao-born Evangeline Bute is a trained librarian and founder member of the National Afro-Caribbean Library Association. Harmer specialises in reference books on historical and contemporary developments in major world regions.

This book is a welcome addition to home, student bookshelves and specialist libraries. However, one major flaw illustrates the limited scope of the resources surveyed by the authors: the lack of reference to peoples of African descent in Latin America. Making good this omission and contributing a working definition of the term "African Diaspora" would add to the value and authority of future editions. (See article on Afro-Latin Americans in the Share the Dream section of The Chronicle).

No Longer Invisible: Afro-Latin Americans Today. Edited by Minority Rights Group, London (1995).

This book breaks new ground in voicing the concerns of the diverse ethnicities, yet similar experiences of Afro-Latin Americans. Their existence - from Central America and Mexico to the foot of the continent - has received little recognition until now. But today there is a growing movement of people voicing pride in their Afro-Latin heritage, asserting common identities, and working to defend and advance their collective rights. This book reflects that process of rediscovery and renewal. (See also "Afro-Latin Americans: One-Third of a Continent Breaking Free", in section Share the Dream in this volume of The Chronicle).

Further information from
Minority Rights Group,
379 Brixton Road, London SW9 7DE;
tel.: 0171-738-6265;
fax: 0171-978-9498.
E-mail: minority.rights@mrgmail.org; web site minorityrights.org

Amma Darko, The Housemaid. London:Heinemann (1998).

Accra-based tax inspector Ms. Darko offers her contribution to the 'country-girl goes to the city theme' in modern African writing. In this one, Efia, a Ghanaian village girl, is the figure around whom the plot revolves. Sara Wajid in Pride magazine says, "The Housemaid is a wry, critical take on city life in Ghana". Originally from Tamale, Ghana, Ms. Darko has lived in Germany and has authored other titles in the Heinemann African Writers series, including Beyond the Horizon (1995). Ms. Darko was a victim of neo-Nazi attacks in east Germany during her recent book reading and lecture tour. (See "Flawed press coverage of race-hate attacks in east Germany," in the Media section of this volume of The Chronicle).