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Africa Is Not A Country

Africa Is Not A Country

Breaking Stereotypes of Modern Africa

Summary

A bright portrait of modern Africa that pushes back against harmful stereotypes to tell a more comprehensive story.

'Warm, funny, biting and essential reading.' Adam Rutherford

'An exhilarating journey through the myths, misconceptions and stereotypes of modern Africa. This book is the history lesson that we all need.' Jeffrey Boakye, Guardian


You already know these stereotypes. So often Africa is depicted simplistically as an arid red landscape of famines and safaris, uniquely plagued by poverty and strife.

In this funny and insightful book, Dipo Faloyin offers a much-needed corrective. He examines each country's colonial heritage, and explores a wide range of subjects, from chronicling urban life in Lagos and the lively West African rivalry over who makes the best Jollof rice, to the story of democracy in seven dictatorships and the dangers of stereotypes in popular culture.

By turns intimate and political, Africa Is Not A Country brings the story of the continent towards reality, celebrating the energy and fabric of its different cultures and communities in a way that has never been done before.

'Hilarious, ferocious, generous and convincing. It made me reconsider almost everything I thought I knew about Africa.' Oliver Bullough

'This book should be on the curriculum.' Nikki May, author of Wahala

Reviews

  • An exhilarating journey through the myths, misconceptions and stereotypes of modern Africa. This book is the history lesson that we all need, to understand the damage that has been done by legacies of white supremacy affecting African nations and the whole world.
    Jeffrey Boakye, Guardian

About the author

Dipo Faloyin

Dipo Faloyin is a senior editor and writer at VICE, where his work has a specific focus on culture, race and identity across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. His writing has also featured in the Guardian, Esquire, Newsweek, Dazed, i-D, Refinery 29, Prospect and others. He was born in Chicago, raised in Lagos and currently lives in London.
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