In Walkingwith Abel, Anna Badkhen embedsherself with a family of Fulani cowboysnomadic herders in Malis Sahelgrasslandsas they embark on their annual migration across the savanna. Its acycle that connects the Fulani to their past even as their present isincreasingly under threatfrom Islamic militants, climate change, and theever-encroaching urbanization that lures away their young. The Fulani, though,are no strangers to uncertaintybrilliantly resourceful and resilient, theyvecontended with famines, droughts, and wars for centuries.DubbedAnna Ba by the nomads who embrace her as one of their own, Badkhen narrates theFulanis journeys and her own with compassion and keen observation,transporting us from the Neolithic Sahara crisscrossed by rivers and abundantwith wildlife to obelisk forests where the Fulanis Stone Age ancestors paintedtributes to cattle. Together they cross the Sahelthe savanna belt that stretches from theIndian Ocean to the Atlanticwith Fulani music they download to their cellphones and tales infused with the myths that ground their past, make sense oftheir identity, and safeguard their future.