Founded in the early thirteenth century, the Mali Empire stretched from the Atlantic coast of West Africa across the savannah lands to Timbuktu and Gao. Comprised of multiple ethnics groups--the Soninke, the Mandenka, Fula, Sosso, Tuareg, Sonrai, Almoravids--Mali was politically dominated by the Mandenka people who developed a comprehensive, eloquent, and ennobling historical tradition that has garnered international recognition and praise. Combining music, poetry, drama, storytelling, genealogy, history, and philosophy, the Malinke griot or jeli interprets Mali's history both aesthetically...