# Books about Somalis and Somalia

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/books/
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

- [Black Hawk Down (1999) by Mark Bowden: the book on the 1993 battle of Mogadishu](https://calankii.com/en/books/black-hawk-down-bowden.md): Mark Bowden's Black Hawk Down (1999): how it was researched, what it covers about the 1993 battle in Mogadishu, its reception and the 2001 film.
- [From a Crooked Rib (1970): Nuruddin Farah's first novel](https://calankii.com/en/books/from-a-crooked-rib-farah.md): Nuruddin Farah's From a Crooked Rib (1970): the story of Ebla, how it was written, the 1972 ban, how critics read it and its Somali translation Feedh Qalloocan.
- [City of Thorns (2016) by Ben Rawlence: nine lives in the Dadaab camps](https://calankii.com/en/books/city-of-thorns-rawlence.md): Ben Rawlence's City of Thorns (2016) on the Dadaab camps in Kenya: the nine Somali lives it follows, its main argument and how reviewers received it.
- [The Fortune Men (2021) by Nadifa Mohamed: the story of Mahmood Mattan](https://calankii.com/en/books/the-fortune-men-mohamed.md): Nadifa Mohamed's The Fortune Men (2021): the true story of Mahmood Mattan, hanged in Cardiff in 1952 and cleared in 1998; Booker shortlist and reviews.
- [Black Mamba Boy (2010) by Nadifa Mohamed: a Somali boy's journey, 1935 to 1947](https://calankii.com/en/books/black-mamba-boy-mohamed.md): Nadifa Mohamed's Black Mamba Boy (2010): Jama's journey from Aden to Wales, based on her father's life, the title's story, and its prizes.
- [Maps (1986) by Nuruddin Farah: a novel of the Ogaden war](https://calankii.com/en/books/maps-farah.md): Nuruddin Farah's Maps (1986): Askar, Misra and the Ogaden war, its unusual narrative voice, the Blood in the Sun trilogy and how critics have read it.
- [Desert Flower (1998) by Waris Dirie: from nomad girl to model and campaigner](https://calankii.com/en/books/desert-flower-dirie.md): Waris Dirie's Desert Flower (1998): her nomad childhood, escape, modelling career and campaign against FGM; its publication, translations and the 2009 film.
- [Infidel (2006) by Ayaan Hirsi Ali: the memoir, its story and its reception](https://calankii.com/en/books/infidel-hirsi-ali.md): Ayaan Hirsi Ali's memoir Infidel (Mijn Vrijheid, 2006): what it covers from Somalia to the Dutch parliament, sales, praise, criticism and later books.
- [The Orchard of Lost Souls (2013) by Nadifa Mohamed: three women in Hargeysa, 1987](https://calankii.com/en/books/the-orchard-of-lost-souls-mohamed.md): Nadifa Mohamed's The Orchard of Lost Souls (2013): Deqo, Kawsar and Filsan in Hargeysa in 1987 to 1988, its setting, and how reviewers received it.
- [Getting Somalia Wrong? (2012) by Mary Harper: faith, war and hope in a shattered state](https://calankii.com/en/books/getting-somalia-wrong-harper.md): Mary Harper's Getting Somalia Wrong? (2012): its argument about the 'failed state' label, business and telecoms without a state, and how reviewers responded.
- [Becoming Somaliland (2008) by Mark Bradbury: how Somaliland built a state after 1991](https://calankii.com/en/books/becoming-somaliland-bradbury.md): Mark Bradbury's Becoming Somaliland (2008): what it covers from Somali history to Somaliland's peace conferences, elections and recognition, and how reviewers read it.
- [The Pirates of Somalia (2011) by Jay Bahadur: inside the pirate world of Puntland](https://calankii.com/en/books/the-pirates-of-somalia-bahadur.md): Jay Bahadur's The Pirates of Somalia (2011): months in Puntland with pirates and the pirate leader Boyah, what he found in Eyl, and how reviewers responded.
- [Inside Al-Shabaab (2018) by Harun Maruf and Dan Joseph: the history of the movement](https://calankii.com/en/books/inside-al-shabaab-maruf.md): Harun Maruf and Dan Joseph's Inside Al-Shabaab (2018): who wrote it, its sources, what it covers from 2006 on, and what academic reviewers said.
- [Al-Shabaab in Somalia (2013) by Stig Jarle Hansen: history and ideology, 2005 to 2012](https://calankii.com/en/books/al-shabaab-in-somalia-hansen.md): Stig Jarle Hansen's Al-Shabaab in Somalia (2013): its argument that the group is a hybrid of nationalism and jihadism, its structure, and how reviewers received it.
- [The Invention of Somalia (1995), edited by Ali Jimale Ahmed: essays that question the standard story](https://calankii.com/en/books/the-invention-of-somalia-ahmed.md): Ali Jimale Ahmed's edited volume The Invention of Somalia (1995): who edited it, its main essays, its argument about the 'one nation' picture, and how it has been read.
- [Unraveling Somalia (1999) by Catherine Besteman: race, class and the Jubba valley](https://calankii.com/en/books/unraveling-somalia-besteman.md): Catherine Besteman's Unraveling Somalia (1999): her fieldwork in the Jubba valley, her argument about race and class beyond clan, the Gosha farmers, and how reviewers read it.
- [Keeping Hope Alive (2013) by Hawa Abdi: a doctor's memoir of the war years](https://calankii.com/en/books/keeping-hope-alive-abdi.md): Hawa Abdi's memoir Keeping Hope Alive (2013): her training, the clinic and camp on her family's land, the attack of 2010, and how reviewers received it.
- [Sweet and Sour Milk (1979) by Nuruddin Farah: a novel of Mogadishu under dictatorship](https://calankii.com/en/books/sweet-and-sour-milk-farah.md): Nuruddin Farah's Sweet and Sour Milk (1979): its story of twin brothers in 1970s Mogadishu, its place in his dictatorship trilogy, its award and where to read it.
- [A Pastoral Democracy (1961) by I. M. Lewis: politics among the northern Somali](https://calankii.com/en/books/a-pastoral-democracy-lewis.md): I. M. Lewis's A Pastoral Democracy (1961): his fieldwork in British Somaliland, the diya-paying group and lineage politics, its 1998 reissue, and how it shaped later writing about Somalis.
- [Links (2003) by Nuruddin Farah: a return to Mogadishu in the years of conflict](https://calankii.com/en/books/links-farah.md): Nuruddin Farah's Links (2003): its story of a return to Mogadishu in the 1990s, the Dante quotations that frame it, its trilogy, and how reviewers received it.
- [Madre piccola (2007) by Ubah Cristina Ali Farah: Little Mother, a novel of the Somali diaspora in Italy](https://calankii.com/en/books/madre-piccola-ali-farah.md): Ubah Cristina Ali Farah's Madre piccola (2007), in English Little Mother (2011): its three narrators, the cousins Domenica Axad and Barni, its themes of exile and identity, and how reviewers read it.
- [Adua (2015) by Igiaba Scego: a father, a daughter and Italy's colonial past](https://calankii.com/en/books/adua-scego.md): Igiaba Scego's novel Adua (2015): its three voices, Adua's life in Rome since the 1970s, her father Zoppe's past under Italian fascism, and how reviewers read it.
- [Saints and Somalis (1998) by I. M. Lewis: popular Islam in a clan-based society](https://calankii.com/en/books/saints-and-somalis-lewis.md): I. M. Lewis's Saints and Somalis (1998): its essays on Somali saints, Sufi orders and spirit possession, its argument about the cult of saints, and where to read it.
- [Secrets (1998) by Nuruddin Farah: a family mystery on the eve of the civil war](https://calankii.com/en/books/secrets-farah.md): Nuruddin Farah's Secrets (1998): its story of Kalaman, Sholoongo and his family on the eve of the war, its narrators, its trilogy and how reviewers read it.
- [The Shaping of Somali Society (1982) by Lee V. Cassanelli: Somali history from 1600 to 1900](https://calankii.com/en/books/the-shaping-of-somali-society-cassanelli.md): Lee V. Cassanelli's The Shaping of Somali Society (1982): its fieldwork and sources, its chapters on the Ajuran, Islam and trade, and how historians reviewed it.
- [A House in the Sky (2013) by Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett: a memoir of captivity in Somalia](https://calankii.com/en/books/a-house-in-the-sky-lindhout.md): Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett's A House in the Sky (2013): the 2008-2009 kidnapping it describes, its reception and the debate around it, and where to read it.
- [Gifts (1992) by Nuruddin Farah: a Mogadishu nurse, a foundling and the politics of aid](https://calankii.com/en/books/gifts-farah.md): Nuruddin Farah's Gifts (1992): its story of Duniya and Bosaaso, the theme of foreign aid, its place in the Blood in the Sun trilogy, its awards and reviews.
- [This Is What America Looks Like (2020) by Ilhan Omar: from refugee to Congress](https://calankii.com/en/books/this-is-what-america-looks-like-omar.md): Ilhan Omar's memoir This Is What America Looks Like (2020): her childhood in Mogadishu, the refugee years, life in the US and politics, and how reviewers from different sides received it.
- [Aqoondarro Waa U Nacab Jacayl (1974) by Faarax M. J. Cawl: Ignorance is the Enemy of Love](https://calankii.com/en/books/ignorance-is-the-enemy-of-love-cawl.md): Faarax M. J. Cawl's Aqoondarro Waa U Nacab Jacayl (1974): the love story of Calimaax and Cawrala, its place as an early Somali-language novel, its English translation and its author.
- [Shabeelnaagood by Hassan Sheikh Mumin: Leopard Among the Women, a Somali play](https://calankii.com/en/books/shabeelnaagood-mumin.md): Hassan Sheikh Mumin's play Shabeelnaagood (Leopard Among the Women): its story and themes, the 1974 Oxford edition translated by B. W. Andrzejewski, and its author.
- [Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head (2022) by Warsan Shire: poems](https://calankii.com/en/books/bless-the-daughter-shire.md): Warsan Shire's poetry collection Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head (2022): its poems and themes, its prizes and reviews, and its author's earlier work.
- [A Man of Good Hope (2015) by Jonny Steinberg: one Somali refugee's journey to South Africa](https://calankii.com/en/books/a-man-of-good-hope-steinberg.md): Jonny Steinberg's A Man of Good Hope (2015): Asad Abdullahi's journey from Mogadishu through Kenya and Ethiopia to South Africa, how the book was made, and how reviewers received it.
- [The Girl with Three Legs (2011) by Soraya Miré: a memoir against female genital cutting](https://calankii.com/en/books/the-girl-with-three-legs-mire.md): Soraya Miré's memoir The Girl with Three Legs (2011): her childhood in Somalia, female genital cutting, her journey abroad and the film Fire Eyes, and how reviewers received it.
- [The World's Most Dangerous Place (2013) by James Fergusson: reporting from Somalia and its diaspora](https://calankii.com/en/books/the-worlds-most-dangerous-place-fergusson.md): James Fergusson's The World's Most Dangerous Place (2013): where he reported, what the book covers, its Orwell Prize shortlisting, and the debate over its title.
- [Me Against My Brother (2000) by Scott Peterson: a reporter in Somalia, Sudan and Rwanda](https://calankii.com/en/books/me-against-my-brother-peterson.md): Scott Peterson's Me Against My Brother (2000): his reporting from Somalia during the UN intervention, the 12 July 1993 raid he witnessed, the book's sections on Sudan and Rwanda, and its reviews.
- [Yesterday, Tomorrow (2000) by Nuruddin Farah: voices from the Somali diaspora](https://calankii.com/en/books/yesterday-tomorrow-farah.md): Nuruddin Farah's Yesterday, Tomorrow (2000): his interviews with Somali refugees in Africa and Europe, the questions it asks about exile and identity, and how it was read.
- [Clan Cleansing in Somalia (2013) by Lidwien Kapteijns: the violence of 1991 and its legacy](https://calankii.com/en/books/clan-cleansing-in-somalia-kapteijns.md): Lidwien Kapteijns's Clan Cleansing in Somalia (2013): its sources in poetry and survivor accounts, its argument about the violence of 1991, its call for reconciliation, and the debate it caused.
- [Somalia: Economy Without State (2003) by Peter D. Little: trade and livestock after 1991](https://calankii.com/en/books/somalia-economy-without-state-little.md): Peter D. Little's Somalia: Economy Without State (2003): its research in the Lower Jubba borderlands, its chapters on livestock, trade and money, its argument and its reviews.
- [Understanding the Somalia Conflagration (2010) by Afyare Abdi Elmi: identity, political Islam and peacebuilding](https://calankii.com/en/books/understanding-the-somalia-conflagration-elmi.md): Afyare Abdi Elmi's Understanding the Somalia Conflagration (2010): its arguments on clan identity, political Islam, federalism and foreign policy, its peacebuilding proposals, and its reviews.
- [Women's Voices in a Man's World (1999) by Lidwien Kapteijns: women in northern Somali oral literature](https://calankii.com/en/books/womens-voices-in-a-mans-world-kapteijns.md): Lidwien Kapteijns's Women's Voices in a Man's World (1999): its study of women's voices in northern Somali poetry and song from 1899 to 1980, its two parts and its reviews.
- [Between Somaliland and Puntland (2015) by Markus Virgil Hoehne: the contested borderlands of Sool, Sanaag and Cayn](https://calankii.com/en/books/between-somaliland-and-puntland-hoehne.md): Markus Virgil Hoehne's Between Somaliland and Puntland (2015): its fieldwork, its chapters on the Sool, Sanaag and Cayn borderlands from 2002 to 2014, the author's stated perspective, and where to read it free.
- [Transnational Nomads (2006) by Cindy Horst: how Somalis cope with life in the Dadaab camps](https://calankii.com/en/books/transnational-nomads-horst.md): Cindy Horst's Transnational Nomads (2006): her fieldwork in Dadaab, its chapters on the nomadic heritage, camp life, remittances and buufis, and how it was received.
- [We Do Not Have Borders (2017) by Keren Weitzberg: Somalis and belonging in Kenya](https://calankii.com/en/books/we-do-not-have-borders-weitzberg.md): Keren Weitzberg's We Do Not Have Borders (2017): its question about Somali belonging in Kenya, its sources, its argument about colonial and postcolonial categories, and how reviewers received it.
- [Captured at Sea (2019) by Jatin Dua: piracy and protection in the Indian Ocean](https://calankii.com/en/books/captured-at-sea-dua.md): Jatin Dua's Captured at Sea (2019): its fieldwork, its chapters on piracy, counter-piracy, ransom and captivity, the prizes it won and how reviewers read it.
- [The Prophet's Camel Bell (1963) by Margaret Laurence: a Canadian writer in British Somaliland](https://calankii.com/en/books/the-prophets-camel-bell-laurence.md): Margaret Laurence's The Prophet's Camel Bell (1963): her stay in British Somaliland in 1951 and 1952, what the memoir covers, how it answers Richard Burton, and how critics have read it since.
- [Warriors (1971) by Gerald Hanley: a British officer among Somali herders in the Second World War](https://calankii.com/en/books/warriors-hanley.md): Gerald Hanley's Warriors (1971): his wartime posting in the Somali interior, what the memoir describes, its reissue by Eland, and how reviewers have read it.
- [Africa's First Democrats (2016) by Abdi Ismail Samatar: Aden Abdulle Osman and Abdirizak Haji Hussein](https://calankii.com/en/books/africas-first-democrats-samatar.md): Abdi Ismail Samatar's Africa's First Democrats (2016): its chapters on Aden Abdulle Osman, Abdirizak Haji Hussein, the Somali Youth League and the civilian republic, its argument about leadership, and its mixed reception.
- [My Role in the Foundation of the Somali Nation-State (2017): the memoir of Abdirizak Haji Hussein](https://calankii.com/en/books/my-role-in-the-foundation-of-the-somali-nation-state-hussein.md): Abdirizak Haji Hussein's political memoir (2017): what its chapters cover from childhood to exile, how it was edited and published after his death, and how it sits beside other accounts of the 1960s.
- [Elusive Jannah (2015) by Cawo M. Abdi: Somalis in Dubai, South Africa and the United States](https://calankii.com/en/books/elusive-jannah-abdi.md): Cawo M. Abdi's Elusive Jannah (2015): its three field sites, what each chapter finds about Somali life in the Emirates, South Africa and the United States, and how reviewers read it.
- [Somali, Muslim, British (2017) by Giulia Liberatore: Somali women in London](https://calankii.com/en/books/somali-muslim-british-liberatore.md): Giulia Liberatore's Somali, Muslim, British (2017): her London fieldwork, its chapters on first- and second-generation Somali women, faith, dress and culture, and how it was reviewed.
- [A Naked Needle (1976) by Nuruddin Farah: one day in revolutionary Mogadishu](https://calankii.com/en/books/a-naked-needle-farah.md): Nuruddin Farah's A Naked Needle (1976): how it was written and published, its story of Koschin's day in Mogadishu, its themes, how critics read it, and why it kept its author abroad for twenty years.
- [America Made Me a Black Man (2022) by Boyah J. Farah: a Somali refugee's memoir of race in the United States](https://calankii.com/en/books/america-made-me-a-black-man-farah.md): Boyah J. Farah's America Made Me a Black Man (2022): his journey from Somalia through Kenya to Boston, what the memoir describes about race in America, and its very mixed reviews.
- [Lontano da Mogadiscio (1994) by Shirin Ramzanali Fazel: Far from Mogadishu](https://calankii.com/en/books/lontano-da-mogadiscio-fazel.md): Shirin Ramzanali Fazel's Lontano da Mogadiscio (1994): who wrote it, what it recalls about Mogadishu and Italy, its later bilingual and English editions, and its place in Italian postcolonial writing.
- [Le pays sans ombre (1994) by Abdourahman Waberi: The Land Without Shadows](https://calankii.com/en/books/le-pays-sans-ombre-waberi.md): Abdourahman Waberi's Le pays sans ombre (1994): its seventeen stories of Djibouti, their sources in Somali oral tradition, the 2005 English translation and how readers have described it.
- [Piracy in Somalia (2019) by Awet Tewelde Weldemichael: illegal fishing, ransom and counter-piracy](https://calankii.com/en/books/piracy-in-somalia-weldemichael.md): Awet Tewelde Weldemichael's Piracy in Somalia (2019): its chapters, its argument that illegal fishing came before state collapse as a cause, its findings on ransom money and al-Shabaab, and how it was reviewed.
- [Understanding Somalia and Somaliland (2008) by I. M. Lewis: a short introduction to culture, history and society](https://calankii.com/en/books/understanding-somalia-and-somaliland-lewis.md): I. M. Lewis's Understanding Somalia and Somaliland (2008): its three parts on culture, history and society, its chapters on Somaliland and Puntland, and how reviewers received it.
- [Politics, Language, and Thought (1977) by David Laitin: the Somali script and how language shapes politics](https://calankii.com/en/books/politics-language-and-thought-laitin.md): David Laitin's Politics, Language, and Thought (1977): its account of the Somali script question before 1972, its experiments with bilingual students, where it came from and how it has been used since.
- [Oral Poetry and Somali Nationalism (1982) by Said S. Samatar: the poetry of Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan](https://calankii.com/en/books/oral-poetry-and-somali-nationalism-samatar.md): Said S. Samatar's Oral Poetry and Somali Nationalism (1982): its chapters on Somali oratory and verse, its account of the Sayid's poetry in the Dervish war, its chapter on the myths around him, and its place in Somali studies.
- [Renewers of the Age (2008) by Scott S. Reese: Sufi scholars of the Benaadir coast](https://calankii.com/en/books/renewers-of-the-age-reese.md): Scott S. Reese's Renewers of the Age (2008): its Arabic sources on the Benaadir ulama, its six chapters on Sufi leadership, crisis and the Qadiriyya, and Lidwien Kapteijns's review.
- [Culture and Customs of Somalia (2001) by Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi: a guide to Somali daily life](https://calankii.com/en/books/culture-and-customs-of-somalia-abdullahi.md): Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi's Culture and Customs of Somalia (2001): who wrote it, what each chapter covers, from faith and poetry to food, dress, camels and music, and how it was reviewed.
- [Mobile Urbanity (2019), edited by Neil Carrier and Tabea Scharrer: Somalis in the cities of East Africa](https://calankii.com/en/books/mobile-urbanity-carrier-scharrer.md): Mobile Urbanity (2019), edited by Neil Carrier and Tabea Scharrer: its ten chapters on Somalis in Nairobi, Kenyan towns, Johannesburg and Kampala, how it was reviewed, and where to read it free.
- [The Struggle for Land in Southern Somalia (1996), edited by Catherine Besteman and Lee Cassanelli: the war behind the war](https://calankii.com/en/books/the-struggle-for-land-in-southern-somalia-besteman-cassanelli.md): The Struggle for Land in Southern Somalia (1996), edited by Besteman and Cassanelli: its argument about land and resources as causes of the civil war, its local case studies of the farming south, and how it was received.