Zanzibar to Timbuktu;

'Africans, I discovered, have a unique talent for finding happiness where others would find only misery.'

While working in Tanzania in the 1980s, British doctor Theodore Dalrymple hatched a plan to cross Africa using only public transport. Avoiding planes, his journey took him by bus, lorry, train, boat and canoe. Along the way he encountered corruption, poverty and oppression as well as pragmatic and cheerful travelling companions and the result is this humorous, beautifully-written and sharply-observed travelogue.

Theodore Dalrymple is the author of many books including: 'If Symptoms Persist', 'Second Opinion' and 'The Policeman and the Brothel'.