Goodbye, Dr Banda: Lessons for the West From a Small African Country

Malawi, a small African country, has a complex relationship with the West, having been visited by David Livingstone, early missionaries, British colonialists, tourists, aid workers, and Madonna. This has led to an extraordinary meeting of worlds, between one of the continent's most fascinating indigenous cultures and the best and worst of our own. The story is full of unexpected and exhilarating moments, as well as edifying and uncomfortable ones, with tribal ritual colliding with Ancient Greek theatre, roving classicists with ancestral spirits, poets and pop stars with missionary-explorers, hippies and kleptocrats with long-suffering peasants, and Dr Banda at the center of it all.

Format: Hardback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 04 May 2023
Publisher: Birlinn General

Malawi, a small and impoverished country in Africa, has a fascinating relationship with the West. From the early missionaries to British colonialists to today's tourists, aid workers, and even Madonna, Malawi has been a melting pot of Westerners seeking to connect. This has resulted in an extraordinary meeting of worlds, between one of the continent's most fascinating indigenous cultures and the best and worst of our own. The story is full of unexpected and exhilarating moments, as tribal ritual collides with Ancient Greek theatre, roving classicists with ancestral spirits, poets and pop stars with missionary-explorers, hippies and kleptocrats with long-suffering peasants, and a tumultuous masquerade around the enigmatic Dr Banda. Malawi's story is a valuable lesson for our age of identity crisis and multi-cultural faltering, as it highlights the importance of understanding and appreciating different cultures.

Weight: 474g
Dimension: 216 x 138 x 28 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781846976278