This Child Will Be Great: Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa’s First Woman President by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

In January 2006, after the Republic of Liberia had been racked by fourteen years of brutal civil conflict, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf — Africa’s “Iron Lady” — was sworn in as president, an event that marked a tremendous turning point in the history of the West African nation. In this stirring memoir, Sirleaf shares the inside story of her rise to power, including her early childhood; her experiences with abuse, imprisonment, and exile; and her fight for democracy and social justice.

The House at Sugar Beach: A Lost African Childhood by Helene Cooper

Helene Cooper is “Congo,” a descendant of two Liberian dynasties — traced back to the first ship of freemen that set sail from New York in 1820 to found Monrovia. Helene grew up at Sugar Beach, a twenty-two-room mansion by the sea. Her childhood was filled with servants, flashy cars, a villa in Spain, and a farmhouse up-country. It was also an African childhood, filled with knock foot games and hot pepper soup, heartmen and neegee.

Don’t Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood by Alexandra Fuller

Alexandra Fuller is the daughter of white settlers in 1970s war-torn Rhodesia. This book is a memoir of that time when a schoolgirl was as likely to carry a shotgun as a satchel. Fuller tells a story of civil war, a battle against nature and loss, and of her family’s bond with the African continent.

These memoirs are available in print, Kindle, NOOK Book, and audiobook formats.