My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Penguin Group Penguin Classics for an advance copy of a book on Africa written in almost 500 years, recently reissued in a new translation.

There was a time when the what was behind the next mountain was as mysterious as what lay beyond the sea. People didn't really travel much, why should they. Merchants did, famous ones like Marco Polo who traveled to China. Diplomats of course, to keep peace, and of course armies when peace failed. For others, even scholars, travel was expensive, dangerous, and inconvenient. That famous line of where we go there are no roads, well that was true in many ways. The Cosmography and Geography of Africa written by Johannes Leo Africanus, was one of the first books to deal with the continent of Africa, written by a person whose life was almost as fascinating as the story he told, as are the many stories of its printing. This versions translated from as close to the original manuscript as possible, the first in 400 years by Anthony Ossa-Richardson and Richard Oosterhoff.

al-Hasan Muhammad al-Wazzan was born in Granada who was working as a diplomat when he was seized by pirates and taken to the Island of Rhodes. A man of rare intelligence, and with a gift to make friends, al-Wazzan was presented to Pope Leo X, who kept him as a scholar in residence, where al-Wazzan soon took the Catholic fate and baptized as Johannes Leo Africanus. Seeing the interest in Africa that many in the papal court had, Leo began a book detailing his travels, with his uncle, or calling on many books and shared knowledge that he had picked up. Also Leo wasn't shy about printing the legend, as there are many doubts about some of the information he presented. Leo broke the continent up into four separate parts, detailing what he knew about them, Barbary, Numidia, Libya, and the Black Lands. Leo went into detail about the rites, the religions, the merchants, food and how many survived in wastes and deserts. Leo discussed the slave trade, and also a bit about LQBT people, which was surprising for the time.

Reading this was not as difficult as I thought this could be. Considering the age, and the amount of well feathering that Leo might have done to fill his story, I found myself quite riveted most of the way through. The translation might have a lot to do with this, just as a section starts to get a little long one is off to another part with new people to read. al-Hasan Muhammad al-Wazzan was the real revelation. That man lived a life. Pirates, to meeting the Pope, converting, writing some books, and maybe even returning to his faith, no one is really sure. The introduction gives a better telling of his story, and the many steps this books has gone through in history. I enjoyed the Prester John reference, always have to play to the religious people on that one. A very interesting book, and that should be better known.

Recommended for history fans, and those who like their travel stories with a little bit of, hmm that sounds odd. Also this would be an interesting book for fantasy writers, or role players to read as the descriptions that Leo gives along with a lot of the lore, could make for some interesting stories and role playing adventures.