Banning Eyre has been documenting and studying African guitar techniques for decades, including months of study under the Super Rail Band legend Djelimady Tounkara. My sole complaint about this book was the brevity. Considering how much there is to learn, the reader will probably feel there's far too few exercises here. There's also not a lot of background theory and history here, despite featuring some superb writing about African artists and music.
In a field with so few available works, however, Guitar Atlas: Africa is an indispensable guide, for now. It will probably remain so long into the future, thanks to Banning Eyre's infectious love for the sound and his far-ranging approach. The roadmap he provides here may be sparse but in the Youtube era, intelligent readers can flesh it out into a fuller education.
VERDICT: 8/10 - Flawed but essential, sparse but ambitious, good writing and solid teaching.
