What a good book. As a young man the author travelled in a relatively small region of West Africa in southern Senegal, Guinea Bissau and Guinea Conakry. He had been there once before with a friend. This time he went back to meet up with a Senegalese friend from his first trip and to spend a few months in search of West African traditional magic. He went in search of a charm said to make the wearer invisible. At the time Mr Green was an aspiring travel writer. But this trip changed his life. He went on to study for a Phd in West African history and is now a professor at Kings College London. As a travel book it is deceptively naively written. It follows the plot of a mission to find a powerful marabout who can produce the magical charm and prove that it works. But underlying the apparent transparency and naivety is a a radical, subtle approach. The author tells us almost nothing about himself and his background. He travels in the region just as anyone else would travel. By local transport and staying with friends, in guest houses or with whoever will provide them with a space to sleep. He spends much time in small rural villages and tells us of waiting days for the marabouts to work on their charms. These days are passed in fatalistic, impatient, leisurely hours. But far from comfort. These villages are poor. No electricity, poor housing, poor and little food, no jobs. Nothing to do but drink tea and watch time pass by in desultory but meaningful conversation. He eventually finds his marabout and his charm. Which works. The experience pushes him into considering the history and life of the region from the point of view of those who live there. Not a western educated social and political elite but people who have never had and will never have the chance to travel. He tries to see the world through their eyes. ( )