91É«ÇéƬ

Media chaos seeps too from George Alagiah’s A Passage to Africa (TimeWarner, £7.99). Alagiah, a Sri Lankan raised in West Africa and now a news anchor at the BBC in London, rises above journalism’s desire for the simple, straightforward and unambiguous in this autobiography of his time reporting Africa. It is full of people he can’t quite believe, truths he’s none too sure about and optimism he can’t quite sustain. About as honest a take on both the continent and the business of reporting as you’ll find. And among the most readable.