As the African National Congress moves into its centenary year, author and journalist Heidi Holland has written a fluid and accessible history of South Africa's liberation movement.

In Crossbones Naruddin Farah completes a trilogy that submerges us into the fragile society of Somalia, putting civilians under the might of warlords. 

Better known for its military regimes and power outages than its luxurious rainforests and diverse cultural heritage, Nigeria is not widely considered a tourist hotspot.

This year bring the renaissance of the African Writers Series (AWS), now run by Pearson's publishing arm Longman after the original publisher, Heinemann Educational Books, stopped issuing new works because of financial problems.

Thanks to a remarkable research, historian Julien Fargettas retraces the day-to-day life of colonial forces during World War II.

The Africa Report gives you its favourite books from last year.