Those Who Would Be King: The People's Prince

This powerful novel-full of tantalizing twists and turns, powerful heroes and heinous villains-is set in the fictional, impoverished African country of Maleziland and explores the corruption of power, the legacy of colonialism, and the putative integration of democracy in sub-Saharan Africa.

King Mabanda controls his country with a violent, omnipotent fist. The king's son, Mandebala, is a tyrant-in-training who has grown up with the opulence and privilege of an uber-wealthy prince. But when...