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This highly accessible translation of the classic story of Sundiata, a real king who ruled the empire of Mali just south of the Sahara desert from 1235-55, engages readers while introducing African culture and oral tradition used in Africa. Historian D. T. Niane received this version of the Sundiata epic from Djeli (griot) Mamoudou Kouyate. It has been twice translated, from Malinke (or Mandingo) into French, and then into English. The result is a prose novel, with explanatory endnotes. This Revised Edition…

This highly accessible translation of the classic story of Sundiata, a real king who ruled the empire of Mali just south of the Sahara desert from 1235-55, engages readers while introducing African culture and oral tradition used in Africa. Historian D. T. Niane received this version of the Sundiata epic from Djeli (griot) Mamoudou Kouyate. It has been twice translated, from Malinke (or Mandingo) into French, and then into English. The result is a prose novel, with explanatory endnotes. This Revised Edition includes additional material that enhances the story and helps readers better understand the context in which this popular story is set: Background information (geography, religion, society and politics); Oral Tradition, Pronunciation, and Spelling; and a Who's Who of Characters / Glossary of Places. Fascinating and accessible to all, this is an epic story which should rank with the Iliad and the Odyssey as one of the world's great adventure stories.