Book cover of The Weekenders: Travels in the Heart of Africa

Book description

What would happen if you took some of Britain's best writing talent, put them on a plane and flew them to one of the most extraordinary and inaccessible places on the planet? What would happen if you took Irvine Welsh from the streets of Edinburgh and showed him a remote,…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Weekenders as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This is a collection of short stories by well-known writers—Irvine Welsh and Alex Garland among others—whom The Daily Telegraph newspaper assembled and flew to Africa in 2000, with an open brief to write one short story each; the book’s proceeds went to famine relief. One story in particular, by Telegraph editor W.F. Deedes, resonated in particular with me. The British government, responding to concerns that a UK-based oil companyPhoenix—is contributing to human rights abuses committed in the context of the Sudanese civil war, establishes A Small Mission of Inquiry” (the title of the story).…

From Nicholas' list on how it all went wrong for South Sudan.

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Book cover of Living the Dream in Rural Ireland

Living the Dream in Rural Ireland by Nick Albert,

Nick and Lesley Albert yearn to leave the noise, stress and pollution of modern Britain and move to the countryside, where the living is good, the air sweet, with space for their dogs to run free.

Suddenly out of work and soon to be homeless, they set off in search…

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