I selected the ten books on this Ferris wheel among Africa bestsellers at Amazon.com. For Amazon's latest Africa list, updated hourly, click here

100 Best African Books of the 20th Century

This list was an initiative of the Zimbabwe International Book Fair, with the encouragement of African scholar Ali Mazrui. It was organized in conjunction with the African Publishers Network, the Pan-African Booksellers Association, and other groups. A jury of scholars selected the 100 books in 2002 from over 1,500 nominations (more information).

The books highlighted in the images below are those available at Amazon.com, including cover images. 28 books were not available at Amazon.com as of August 2008. For a complete list, including all available to order in the United Kingdom, see the listing by the Africa Book Centre, in Brighton.

The jury was chaired by Professor Njabulo Ndebele, of South Africa. Other members included Dr. Adotey Bing, Kassahun Checole, Ms. Wangui wa Goro, Professor Eldred Jones, Dr. Fatoumata Keita, Mr. Bernard Magnier, Professor Ali Mazrui, Professor Fatima Mendonça, Dr. Zifikile Mguni-Gambahaya, Professor Alois S. Mlambo (ex-officio), Dr. Alastair Niven, Professor Bankole Omotoso, Dr. Ato Quayson, Professor Helge Ronning, Mr. Samir Saad Khalil, and Dr. Nana Wilson-Tagoe.