First published 2008
Rupert Isaacson grew up hearing African stories from his South African mother and Rhodesian father. The tales filled him with wonder about the continent's ancient cultures. Now he travels into the Kalahari Desert, stretching across South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia, searching for the remaining Bushmen. What he discovers shatters romantic myths. These hunter-gatherers face extinction after years of genocide and forced displacement from their ancestral lands. Isaacson meets men and women who still hunt and gather as their ancestors did for thousands of years. They struggle to preserve one of humanity's oldest cultures while their identity comes under assault. Their shamans claim the power to transform into lions and leopards. Sacred songs carry mysterious abilities. Yet survival trumps spiritual tradition as outside forces threaten to erase their way of life forever. Isaacson's journey becomes both personal transformation and witness to a people's fight for existence.
Genres: biography, historical-fiction, social-issues, anthropology, non-fiction, ethnicity, africa, cultural-studies
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: cultural-conflict, personal-transformation, witness-to-history
Setting: Botswana, Kalahari Desert, Namibia, South Africa
Period: 21st Century
320 pages · Paperback · ALBIN MICHEL