1. For the geography, history, economy, and politics of Equatorial Guinea, I generally used the following texts: Aproximación a la historia de Guinea Ecuatorial by Justo Bolekia Boleká (2003); El laberinto Guineano by Emiliano Buale Borikó (1989); Macías, víctima o verdugo by Agustín Nze Nfumu (2004), a revealing tale on the atrocities of the Macías dictatorship; Fernando el africano by Fernando García Gimeno (2004), an essential, moving, and detailed account of his twenty years in Guinea until shortly before independence; Fernando Poo: Una aventura colonial Espa?ola en el áfrica Occidental 1 (1778—1900) by Dolores García Cantús (2004); De la trata de negros al cultivo de cacao: Evolución del modelo colonial espa?ol in Guinea Ecuatorial de 1778 a 1914 by Juan José Díaz Matarranz (2005); Apuntes sobre el estado de la costa occidental de áfrica y principalmente de las posesiones espa?olas en el Golfo de Guinea by Joaquin J. Navarro, naval lieutenant, secretary of the government of Fernando Po and its dependencies (this document was written in 1859 at the request of Queen Isabel II in order to get trustworthy information on the possessions in the Gulf); and Cronología de Guinea Ecuatorial: De la preindependencia (1948) al jucio contra Macías (1979) by Xavier Lacosta, a clear, interesting, and complete work that allowed me to order the dates correctly of the events narrated in the book.
Articles from the magazine La Guinea Espa?ola, edited by the Claretian Fund, from 1904 until 1969, whose issues can be read at www.raimonland.net. In fact, the magazine that Kilian was reading on his first trip by sea in 1953 is real, and the article he mentions on the Bubi linguistics was written by Father Amador del Molino of the Claretian mission, who researched the history of Guinea for years. I also found very useful the illustrations of the African botanist and chair of natural sciences Emilio Guinea, author of the books En el país de los pámues (1947) and En el país de los bubis (1949), and the documentary Memoria Negra by Xavier Montanyà (2007).
Of all the articles read in the last ten years, I would like to mention “La dictadura de las tinieblas” by Juan Jesús Aznárez (2008); “Guinea Ecuatorial: De colonia a estado con derecho” and “Guinea Ecuatorial: Vídeos y bibliografía” by Miguel ángel Morales Solís (2009); the essay “Guinea Ecuatorial” by Max Liniger-Goumaz and Gerhard Seiber for the New Enciclopedia de áfrica (2008); “Guinea Ecuatorial Espa?ola en el contexto de la Segunda Guerra Mundial” by José U. Martínez Carreras (1985); “Guinea Ecuatorial: La ocasión perdida” by Juan M. Calvo (1989); articles published in La Gaceta de Guinea Ecuatorial that can be seen at www.lagacetadeguinea.com; and articles in Historia 16 and the online newspaper libraries such as those of ABC and Diario del AltoAragón (formerly Nueva Espa?a), not only in searching for news about Guinea from the beginning of the twentieth century, but also for news about Spain.
Of all the encyclopedias, websites, magazines, forums, blogs, and travel reviews to be found on numerous webpages, I found the following invaluable: www.raimonland.net, a marvelous meeting point, a place for news, and a historical review by and for all those who lived in Guinea or those who want to know more about the country; www.asodegue.org, the webpage of the Asociación para la Solidaridad Democrática con Guinea Ecuatorial, where political and economic news along with various articles on Equatorial Guinea can be found; www.revistapueblos.org, website of the Pueblos magazine, with numerous articles on African subjects; www.guinea-ecuatorial.org, official webpage of the government in exile of Equatorial Guinea; www.guinea-ecuatorial.net, where a wide collection of information on Guinea can be found; the Fundación Espa?a-Guinea Ecuatorial; the magazine of the association of Equatorial Guinean women living in Barcelona, E’Waiso Ipola; and the Malabo.SA. magazine.
Last, in order to explain the sections given over to the growing of cocoa, I used different manuals and, more specifically, the article “Un buen cacao que se llama Sampaka,” which appeared in 1957 in the special issue Nuestra Guinea of La Actualidad Espa?ola magazine, where my father appears in nearly all the photos.
2. For the Bubi history, culture, religion, and traditions, I found especially useful the book Los bubis en Fernando Poo by Father Antonio Aymemí, who lived on the island as a Claretian Fathers Catholic missionary from 1894 until his death in 1941. It was published in 1942 as a collection of a series of articles that he wrote for the La Guinea Espa?ola magazine. As copies of the book are not to be found, I have used Colleen Truelsen’s 2003 translation in English, titled The History and Culture of an Endangered African Tribe, for the setting of the fictional village of Bissappoo. As the 2003 edition explains, the second generation of Bubis in exile have found their way from Spain to the United States, and that is why I decided for my novel that Fernando Laha would work in California, a place I know well. Truelsen recognizes that without knowing Spanish, it is very difficult to find information on the cultural history of the Bubis.
Other texts consulted were the following: A través de la magia bubi: Por las selvas de Guinea by José Manuel Novoa (1991); Los bubis, ritos y creencias by Father Amador Martín del Molino (1989), a Claretian missionary who lived with the Bubis for twenty-four years; the aforementioned magazine La Guinea Espa?ola, published by the Claretian Fund; and the official webpage of the Movement for Self-Determination for Bioko Island, where information appears on the history of the Bubis.
Finally, the previously mentioned books Aproximación a la historia de Guinea Ecuatorial by Justo Bolekia Boleká (2003) and El Laberinto Guineano by Emiliano Buale Borikó (1989) were especially useful in helping me focus on the political aspects directly related to the island of Fernando Po and the Bubis.