Expatriates who lived and worked on the West Coast of Africa in the last century became known as Old Coasters. Being of that breed myself - Nigeria, 1961 to 1966 - I got exceptional enjoyment from reading Donald MacIntosh's memoir of his sojourn there. He went out as a forestry official and stayed for over 25 years. His scene-setting is superb: the myriad colours, the seasonal outbursts when God beat his anvil in the sky, the proliferation of insect and animal life, the eccentricities of the people - all is conveyed in language appropriate to the shifting patterns of tone and resonance of the region. Ranging through the rainforests of Liberia, Ivory Coast, Gold Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon and Gabon, he conveys with a loving but far from rose-tinted eye his experiences with the indigenous people of the area, showing his regard for them while pointing out their foibles. He also comments on the depredations wreaked on the forests by the great lumber companies, with their greed for ever more swathes of irreplaceable timber. A colourful and flamboyant read, MacIntosh's memoir was short-listed for last year's Thomas Cook Travel Book of the Year Award.