The Cobra's Heart

This book in the Penguin Great Journeys series is an excerpt (or excerpts) from Kapuscinski's The Shadow of the Sun. It reads more like a number of separate essays rather than a cohesive narrative, but that is likely a result of the excerpt selection.

I was impressed with the writing which I found articulate and insightful - which credits the translation from Polish to English as well as the original writing.

Covering events in the 1950s and 60s in Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda and Nigeria, it covers a topic in each chapter, although they all revolve around the end of colonialism and independence (of a sort) of the various countries.

Sections included the independence of Ghana, the districts and separations of Dar Es Salam, the story of the book title - involving an Egyptian cobra, contracting and surviving cerebral malaria, a description of being in Nigeria during the 1966 coup, Idi Amin's bloody rise to power, and a section of wizards (both types - the wizard-devil (or witch), and the sorcerer).

General themes of ‘Africanism', such as the corruption of the typical politicians and leaders run through the stories.

Well recommended, and I must read the full book - which is sitting on the shelf waiting...