“The purpose of this book is to give a few pictures from the life and everyday life of a vast African continent, the life of which I was ‘listening in on’ from only two or three places—though, as it seems to me, I did ‘hear’ some things. Being in a quiet Arab village in Radés was an enormous revelation that broadened my horizons; from here, I traveled in my mind into the depths of Africa, into the centuries that shaped its modern life. We already feel this life—thousands of threads connect us to Africa. When, in 1911, my wife and I were in Tunisia and Egypt, we devoted all our time to understanding the scenes that unfolded before us; and, properly speaking, this book cannot be called ‘Travel Notes’. It’s more of an ‘African Diary’. At the same time, this book is naturally connected to another of mine, published in Russia under the title ‘Ofeyra’ and in Berlin under the title ‘Travel Notes’. And yet, this book stands on its own: it takes the theme of ‘Africa’ more broadly than ‘Travel Notes’. As such, as an independent book, I offer it to the reader’s attention…”