This book is essentially a fable, beginning in the vague mists of time with the Kikuyu creation myth and progressing through the formation and eventual collapse of its resulting society. Many of its elements resonate in creation myths worldwide. Gikuyu and Mumbi serve in very much the same capacity as do Adam and Eve.The symbolic warrior, manifested as Macharia, becomes an inquiring spirit. What he is going to learn is that he must look on himself as a man of the world, not as someone who is always looking back to his origins in the primeval cave. He turns into a man, which means that he must stop thinking of himself simply as a Kikuyu. In this way, as in many others, his story mirrors our own...Discover the fascinating culture of the Kikuyu, lyrically and beautifully narrated in From Beneath the Tree of Life. In doing so, you may deepen your understanding of your self, your people and the world we live in.Reuel Mugo Gatheru, M.A., J.D., originally from Kenya, was a Professor at California State University, Sacramento, where he taught the history of Africa and the Middle East from 1969 until his retirement in 2002. His previous book, A Child of Two Worlds, was published in London in 1964 by Routledge. He and his wife live in Sacramento, California and have two daughters and two granddaughters.