THE AFRICANS

For four years David Lamb traveled the continent, interviewing presidents and guerrilla chieftains, exploring the myths of the past just as they were fading into history. Runger's reading is animated and lively, but it respects the need for order in such a vast and often contradictory panorama. He reads slowly and carefully, juxtaposing ironies--for example, the hope for a civilized African culture that Uganda once was and the ravages of Idi Amin's later rule there. Part travelogue and part history, Lamb's study is far from exhaustive. However, it is a necessary first step toward understanding the Africa that will emerge out of its colonial past. P.E.F. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 98]