- Decalo, S. Malawi. 1995. Malawi: Clio press. 188 pages. Malawi is a poor, landlocked country in Central Africa. This book explores how Malawi came to be prominent, and attributes this to slavery and uprisings during pre-colonial times. The slavery made Malawi prominent due to anti-slavery pleas and explorations of Dr Livingstone. The uprisings, according to the author, were led by Dr Hastings Banda’s nationalist movement. They involved civil disobedience that finally bore fruit and Malawi got independence. The author further provides the reader with a list of recent articles and books that examine Malawi, in order to get further information about this country.
- Kelly, R. C., Youngblood, D., Doyle, S. 1999. Country review: Malawi. California: CountryWatch. 60 pages. The authors of this book analyse Malawi and the facts about this country. They give the size of Malawi as 118480 sq.km and explain that it borders Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania. The authors also give the life expectancy rates, which they note are low due to the prevailing HIV/AIDS phenomenon. They also give the language, educational levels, sources of income for the general population and the overall development levels. The authors give many facts about Malawi and this book is very useful for people who have never visited the country, who want to know its general overview.
- Briggs, P., Barlett, M. Malawi. 2006. Malawi: Bradt Travel Guides. 248 pages. These authors take a different approach in studying Malawi. They briefly examine the history of Malawi, and then dwell on the tourist attraction sites. The book views Malawi as having reasonably priced tourist attraction sites. It further describes Malawi as the most affordable and explorable African country and names some of the physical features present as game reserves, forests, lakes and mountains. The book names national parks, wildlife viewing areas, conservation areas, and also gives planning itineraries. This book is especially useful for tourists or visitors who want to visit Malawi.
- Englund, H., Mapanje, J. 2002. A democracy of chameleons: Politics and culture in the new Malawi. Malawi: Nordic Africa Institute. 208 pages. This book takes an in depth view of the politics and culture that exist in Malawi. It highlights the major political events, including introduction of multi party democracy which brought hope to a country that had high levels of injustice and poverty. It covers many issues ranging from hunger and poverty, hate speech, judiciary, clergy activism, ethnic revival, HIV/AIDS and other issues that affect Malawi. The book also further scrutinises the behavior of donors and leaders, who it views as not honest to ordinary people’s needs.
- McCathy, S. 1994. Africa: The challenge of transformation. Ghana: Tauris. 314 pages. The author analyzes the disasters that happen in Africa, which include tribal and ethnic conflicts, civil war, climatic and natural catastrophes, disease, famine and others. He further says that shanties are present in all African cities and they disfigure it. However, the author says that business people and journalists often wonder how Africans survive despite having all these problems. He tries to be empathetic to the suffering and suggests solutions. It focuses on the present progress already made, such as civil society growth and democratisation, and uses it to give hope to Africans.
- Appiah, A. 1993. In my father’s house: Africa in the philosophy of culture. Oxford: Oxford university press. 256 pages. This book tries to define what being African entails. The author examines the different views of creative writers, politicians, philosophers and others people on the issue. He further looks at the European and American perception of Africa’s traditions. The author is a Ghanaian in the diaspora and he analyses writings of both African-American and African thinkers. He also provides his vision of pitfalls and possibilities for a unique identity for Africa and tries to remove the obstacle that differentiates Africa from the West. Finally, he ends by saying that Africans should explore our culture in relation to to this modern world.
- Homewood, K. M. 2005. Rural resources and local livelihoods in Africa. London: James Currey. 212 pages. The author examines the views of top scholars in relation to changes in the environment in Africa. The author further looks at the impact of such change to the lives of African people, especially the ones who reside in rural areas. The main issues that are discussed include biodiversity, conservation, land use, environment, policies for development and conservation and livelihoods. The book further analyses the resource use in rural areas, control and access of these resources and institutions that affect these issues. The book also looks at the economic and social questions raised on these issues.
- Mohan, G., Brown, E. Structural adjustment: Theory, Practice and Impacts. London: Routledge. 215 pages. The authors examine the impact of aid agencies in relation to development in Malawi. Such agencies analyzed include the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The book also examines the Structural Adjustment Programs, and their effects on development. The authors critically analyse the negative impacts that affects countries which rely on donor aid for their development needs, such as Malawi, and the way that these donor agencies manipulate such countries. The authors finish by saying that donor aid has an overall impact on Malawi’s overall development.
- Spoor, M. 2004. Globalisation, poverty and conflict. Springer. 339 pages. The book analyses the relationship that exists between poverty, globalisation and conflict. The authors question if it is globalisation that complements the growth of the economy, or if it is the other way around. It also questions whether the increase of global markets will reduce poverty. It also views the development needs of Malawi, and the prospects of achieving the Millennium Development Goals. They further assess the role of the civil society and increase in democracy on the reduction of poverty in Malawi. This book is interesting for social science students.
- Jafari, J. 2003. Encyclopedia of tourism. London: Routledge. 720 pages. The author looks at the different impacts that tourism has on leisure, the environment and transport. He further says that tourism has grown to be a worldwide industry and provides benefits to political, cultural and economic aspects of less developed countries. The book further researches the benefits that tourism brings to the less developed countries and its negative impact. This book has been written by very many competent authors and provides different perspectives of tourism. This book is useful for people who have interest in the field of economics, geography, education, anthropology, political science, and other social sciences.
- Higman, J. 2007. Critical issues in Ecotourism: Understanding a complex tourism phenomenon. Washington:Butterworth-Heinemann. 439 pages. This book analyses the critical issues that concern tourism in less developed countries. It provides research done by prominent scholars, and their views on the issues. It features a collection of works done by several scholars and has an international appeal. The book also focuses on less developed countries and the problems that they face in relation to tourism. These scholars also provide suggestions that these countries can use to boost their levels of tourism, and the benefits that tourism provides. This book is appealing for people who have interests in natural and social science.
- Weaver, D. 2006. Sustainable tourism: Theory and Practice. Washington: Butterworth-Heinemann 240 pages. This book takes a global perspective and analyses sustainable tourism. It uses case studies of less developed countries drawn from various continents in order to give an accurate view. It starts by analysing small scale tourism, moves to mass tourism, and finally to sustainable tourism. It also gives the benefits and costs of all these types of tourism. It analyzes tourist attractions globally, and further gives suggestions on how the less developing countries can increase tourism. The book is ideal for students since it has real life examples that everyone can relate with.
