Mr Bigstuff and the goddess of charm - Fiona Sax Ledger

'From a sanctimonious Kenneth Kaunda to a wily old freedom fighter in 1980s Sierra Leone, sexy barmen, stuck-up aid workers, French legionnaires and ageing prostitutes, everyone is depicted with enough verve to come alive . . . The equal of anything by Patrick Marnham or Paul Theroux, this is one of the best books on Africa for a long time' Spectator

'Insightful and timely . . . An editor and producer on the BBC African Service since 1980, Fiona Sax Ledger has her own hugely well-informed take on life on this extraordinary continent. Surreal, observant and touching in equal measure' Scotsman

'A very amusing book by a writer who really knows Africa . . . Fiona Sax Ledger shows the diversity of a continent whose countries and peoples are too often thrown, all done for, into the same bag' Giles Foden