Meeting the Invisible Man: Secrets and Magic in West Africa

Toby Green weaves a mystical narrative of lore and tradition as he searches for, and finds, the secret power of invisibility. Exploring the extraordinarily vibrant spiritual world which underlies the surface of West Africa, this book examines the conflict between the traditional and the modern in a region whose culture is a melting pot of local, Islamic, and European influences. Engaging the reader with themes as diverse as the histories of the slave trade and the kingdoms of West Africa, the invisible men of H.G. Wells and Ralph Ellison, Plato's simile of the cave and Marco Polo's observations about Zanzibar, the book is by turns mysterious, hilarious, beautiful, and troubling.