DK Eyewitness Books: Africa

Book excerpt: Here is a spectacular and informative guide to the peoples of a vast and mysterious continent. Superb color photographs offer a unique "eyewitness" view of the people, houses, tools and artifacts of African cultures and civilizations. See the gold of King Kofi-Karikari of the Asante, a priest''scostume made of bird''s feathers, a traveler''s magic charm, the flywhisks and crowns of the Obas of Nigeria and the incredible distorted masks of the Bamileke of Cameroon. Learn how bronzes were made by the lost-wax process, about the journey of a slave from Africa to North America, how elephants were trapped by hunter-gatherers, what life in a compound is like and how much metal would buy a wife.Discover what ulani warriors and their horses wore into battle, how a thatched house is built, the mysteries of the secret societies and how gourds are carved.And much, much more!