The Lonely African

Turnbull uses interviews with Africans and whites to illuminate how Western Civilization traded material prosperity for the soul of the African. The book doesnt condemn the West, it simply demonstrates how things have different meanings to different people, and how easy it is to misconstrue good intentions as evil. The book also illustrates how people pay attention to what you do and say...and judge you from the comparison. You rule people from fear or respect. This book ought to be required reading in high school or college.

I was introduced to this text through a xerox of the chapter entitled "Ibrahimo," the true story of a convert to Christianity who, due to a priest's misunderstanding, is rendered forever unable to undergo initiation and join his ancestors as a man.The book is composed of similar stories from several villages with which Turnbull had contact, interspersed with his illuminating commentary. What is shown in great clarity, through powerful stories of people who experienced it, are the psychic hardships faced by colonial and postcolonial Africans who are essentially without culture, as well as how strong culture shock was for white missionaries in the late colonial period. Turnbull also does much to give the reader an appreciation of old traditions including initiations and secret societies.A reader who is not already an expert on the subject will come away from this text with a far better understanding of both postcolonial Africa and the human condition. It is beautifully written--engrossing, even--as well.