This classic African novel is set during the Dakar-Nigeria railway strike of 1947-8 and is seen through the workers' eyes.

'Ever since they left Thies, the women had not stopped singing. As soon as one group allowed the refrain to die, another picked it up, and new verses were born at the hazard of chance or inspiration, one word leading to another and each finding, in its turn, its rhythm and its place. No one was very sure any longer where the song began, or if it had an ending. It rolled out over its own length, like the movement of a serpent. It was as long as a life.' In 1947-8 the workers on the Dakar-Niger railway came out on strike. Sembene Ousmane, in this vivid and moving novel, evinces all of the colour, passion and tragedy of those decisive years in the history of West Africa. Translated from the French by Francis Price.

This is one of the classic political novels. (I write about it in my A Basket of Leaves: 99 Books That Capture the Spirit of Africa.) —geoff