The Masque Of Africa: Glimpses Of African Belief
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Very good
Pages: Tanning and foxing
Markings: Ex-library with usual markings
In his final work of travel writing, Nobel Prize-winning author V. S. Naipaul embarks on an unflinching journey across the African continent — from Uganda to Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Gabon, and South Africa — to uncover the deep, often hidden world of indigenous African belief. The Masque of Africa chronicles his encounters with animist rituals, ancestral worship, and the complex interplay between ancient spiritual traditions and the modern forces of Christianity, Islam, and political power that have sought to suppress or reshape them. Naipaul presents these landscapes and their peoples with his characteristic precision, capturing both the sacred ceremonies performed under the cover of darkness and the fragile memories of traditions teetering on the edge of extinction. As with all of Naipaul's non-fiction, this work is animated by a restless, probing intelligence that refuses easy sentiment or romanticisation. His prose — spare, observational, and at times controversially detached — argues that to understand Africa, one must reckon honestly with the spiritual forces that have shaped its identity long before colonial modernity arrived. Rich in vivid encounter and moral complexity, The Masque of Africa leaves the reader with a profound and unsettling question: what is lost when the oldest beliefs of a civilization are finally extinguished?
Author: V. S. Naipaul
Format: Hardback
Genre: African history
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Very good
Pages: Tanning and foxing
Markings: Ex-library with usual markings
In his final work of travel writing, Nobel Prize-winning author V. S. Naipaul embarks on an unflinching journey across the African continent — from Uganda to Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Gabon, and South Africa — to uncover the deep, often hidden world of indigenous African belief. The Masque of Africa chronicles his encounters with animist rituals, ancestral worship, and the complex interplay between ancient spiritual traditions and the modern forces of Christianity, Islam, and political power that have sought to suppress or reshape them. Naipaul presents these landscapes and their peoples with his characteristic precision, capturing both the sacred ceremonies performed under the cover of darkness and the fragile memories of traditions teetering on the edge of extinction. As with all of Naipaul's non-fiction, this work is animated by a restless, probing intelligence that refuses easy sentiment or romanticisation. His prose — spare, observational, and at times controversially detached — argues that to understand Africa, one must reckon honestly with the spiritual forces that have shaped its identity long before colonial modernity arrived. Rich in vivid encounter and moral complexity, The Masque of Africa leaves the reader with a profound and unsettling question: what is lost when the oldest beliefs of a civilization are finally extinguished?