South Africa Books

Simply Stunning photography and the text is very interesting. A delightful depiction of Africa!

This is a profound exploration of an otherwise unnoticed topic in South African history. Well done!

You've seen the usual atlas that shows a map of the world or a country.

This book takes flat, boring columnar data related to health and the causes of disease and turns it into fascinating color maps. They show the world, based on life expectancy, violence, impact of global warming, illnesses like cancer, respiratory disease, HIV/AIDS, tobacco, alcohol use, unhealthy diet, access to health care...

And the images show surprising, enlightening findings.

This book is pure fact and data, yet it kept me up the night I received it, reading just one more page.

Seeing the data visualized in color maps makes it so clear just how brutally the industrialized world is inflicting the death and illness causes by climate change upon the third world.

We see how the US is one of the most violent nations in the world, at least when it comes to murders of males. The safest places for males, in terms of murdered men per 100,000 are France, Switzerland and Japan. We can see that China is addicted to tobacco more than almost any other nation. And the most suicidal nations are Russia and Eastern Europe.

This is an obvious gem for people doing international work-- not just in health. It's good to know where the violence is in the world, where the life expectancy is under 40 years, where the doctors available per 10,000 people is a tiny fraction of what it is in most of the world.

It makes sense that a book that displays health measures would measure the use of health measures. In this case, it displays a map of world, displaying which countries count what percentage of deaths. The US, Europe, Australia, Argentina, Syria, Israel, Lebanon and Uruguay measure 100%. Much of the world records less than 25%, including, not suprisingly, if I may get political, Iraq.

I can even see this book as useful to marketers seeking to identify markets for products and services.

The planet is overflowing with numbers and raw data. If all of it could be displayed in such meaningful, insightful ways, we would understand the world and each other much better.

Unlike many in academia, this author takes the role of religion seriously in evaluating politics and society. When this expertise is brought to the history and current events in South Africa, the result is wonderful and enlightening. A must buy for those interested in South Africa!!

This book is an in-depth study of survival/bushcraft skills as they pertain to Southern Africa (primarily Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, and Angola). The book is authored by the world famous founding commander of the Selous Scouts, Rhodesia's elite combat trackers and pseudo-terrorist unit. Reid-Daly (also authored "Pamwe Chete - The Legend Of The Selous Scouts") shares extensive bushcraft secrets taken from years of operational experience in the Rhodesian "Bush War". This book was the brainchild of Al Venter (Author of "The Chopper Boys: Helicopter Warfare In Africa" and "War In Angola") who saw a need for a book on survival geared to the Southern African scene. Other experts who assisted with this book was, Brian Robinson former commanding officer of the Rhodesian SAS and a founding member of the Rhodesian Tracking and Bush Survival School and John Ashburner former tracking instructor from the Selous Scouts, who made a major contribution to the tracking and bushcraft section of the book. The "Staying Alive" covers all the typical skills associated with this type of book but shines in certain sections. For example the section on water explains how to locate indigenous water bearing plants, methods that can only be applied in that location of the world. The food section information on local plants is extensive as well as the information on edible game. A high light of the section is the information on parboiling as well as cooking and consumption of rotten meat (Any one familiar with the Selous Scouts selection process is familiar with this technique. During the selection course the scouts were given a baboon to kill but were not allowed to eat or quarter it, it was hung out for all to see, as the days went on the scouts were not allowed to eat, then after a week or so, the scouts were given the rotten carcass to eat, after proper instruction on handling and cooking the rotten meat.). The medical and navigation section also have extensive information on local factors to take into account. Finally I think the high light of this book is the tracking section which covers animal tracking and human tracking the later being prevalent. This section is as close as one will get to the tracking skills employed by the Rhodesian Security Forces. The section is basically a revamped military program of instruction. I cannot say enough about this section of the book, other then outstanding. The book is heavily illustrated with quality line drawings. I provided the contents:

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Acknowledgment
Introduction - Staying Alive
ONE - Survival
TWO - Water
THREE - Food
FOUR - Construction Of Shelters
FIVE - Finding Your Way
SIX - Tracking
SEVEN - Improvised Weapons
EIGHT - First Aid
NINE - General Points
TEN - Home And Personal Security
ELEVEN - Medical Survival Notes
(Total pages - 269. Size 9 ½" x 6")

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I read Sheila Kohler's novel Cracks about five years ago and was mesmerized by the author's dark, lurid language. I had waited for the paperback release of Stories from Another World for over a year, but it never came out. Alas, I decided to pick up the hardcover at the library. I am glad I did. This is one incredible short-story collection. The style is similar to Cracks, but unlike the aforementioned novel, the stories within this book have no particular setting. The subject matters in Another World vary from child abuse to infidelity. There are tons of short stories with those exact subjects, but Kohler's work is truly unique. I loved "Baboons." It shows just what an amazing storyteller Kohler is. It didn't even bother me that the story was very vague in some areas and was told in parts. "Underworlds" and "Death in Rome" were also excellent. I cannot believe it took me this long to give this collection a whirl. Some books are worth the hardcover price, and this is one of them. I won't hesitate to read another Sheila Kohler book in the future.

I sent for this book through the library and read it...I liked it so much that I kept it until the week it had to go back! I enjoyed reading about what South Africa's kids had to say. Some were very happy about the changes, and some went on living life the way before the changes occured. A lot of the kids seemed like very nice kids, but one of the girls--I think she was Afrikaner--seemed to have a big attitude problem. Other than that, the kids proved to be good writers and photographers. One kid included a picture of the teachers' toilets, because, as he said, he was a little afraid of them as they were so different from what he was used to using! I think every kid, South African or not, will see themselves in these children. The kids were also very good at portraying their cultures, and things that were important to them. I would recommend this book to anybody who has a strong interest in South Africa and any kid between the ages of 11 and 17.

This delightful book falls into the rare category of a personal memoir not about the person writing it but about two other people of talent.
The upshot is two main characters brought to vivid life by the minutiae of everyday living recorded over an almost epic period of time (forty plus years) and a third character, the author, thrown into equally stark relief by her interactions with, and reflection on, them. A further factor of great importance highlighted in the book is the fact of migration, the two main characters as well as the author all being British-born and living in South Africa for a fair spell. The complex interplay of all of the above makes for a fascinating read not encountered often these days with its tales of ready-made solutions to spuriously complex problems or, in fact, fairly shallow neuroses.
Overlying the innate complexity of the personal relationship of the three rounded characters referred to above is the many-splendoured realm of art in its guise of serious song taken to an even higher level of complexity in the spiritual sphere by the concurring of the author with Webster's opinion their, or at least his, best work was done in the field of oratorio.
The shifting scenario, from the U K and the U S A to Johannesburg, Knysna, Somerset West, and finally back to the U K and, in particular Wales, makes for exciting reading in that the style reflects the differing emphases in great and loving detail. Following the aforegoing subtleties of shifting aspects of reality the set of memories of Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth, adduced at the back, add a final lustre to a loving and complex portrait of several lives in vital and vibrant interplay.
All the foregoing aspects are made possible by a simple and direct prose style, which is one of the book's greatest attributes, somewhat along the stylistic pleasures of Gaius Julius Caesar describing the Gallic and Roman civil wars and Blaise Pascal analysing mathematical and social structures. A salient example, chapter 16 on the 1973 East London production of The Mikado, will suffice, representing the truly complex undercurrents between professional and amateur ardours about the same production in an almost offhand mode encapsulated in a simple style of stark statement pregnant with knowing innuendo.
Therefore, in summation, a marvellous book about a fascinating subject really intelligently written. Read it and dare to contradict the above views.

Johan Geldenhuys.

I saw a performance of this play in Minneapolis this past winter, and I have to say, it was one of the most amazing theatrical experiences of my life. Half is simply because I couldn't believe how good the actress was, and half because the script was just so beautiful. Even thinking about it months later, and it's still pretty jaw-dropping.

Great delivery of this item. Will use again and again

Today, there are many self-improvement books, as well as awareness techniques, available to spiritual seekers interested in change, growth, and new perspectives. However, there have not been any [books] to date that are as empowering and life-changing as this book can be.

I have worked with The Weiss Transformation Process for the last nine years and have experienced more shifts in attitude, beliefs, and the way I am able to experience myself, others, and life on the planet, than from any other technique I have worked with in the last 25 years. The process of living has become simpler, and a lot more fun. I am extremely sensitive and tend to experience everything in exquisite detail; sometimes it is painful. Jann's work and the processes taught in this book have shown me how to heal the things that have held me back in life, and the blocks and fears I experience on a day-to-day basis. Utilizing these techniques makes discharging painful experiences, emotions, and beliefs simple! You will find yourself utilizing these teachings throughout your daily life.

I have seen profound changes in myself and others using these processes. These processes are self-empowering, and show you how to support yourself without requiring the direct presence of a "teacher." Learn to empower yourself. If you wish to learn how to truly support others in your life, this book is for you.

There is a fascinating metaphor interwoven throughout the book! While you are learning the process, you also experience how others learn, and that, yes, monkeys CAN fly. It all depends on what you want to learn, become, and DO. It shares a little of the magic of this universe that we are a part of.

I would encourage you to read and learn the techniques taught in this book. Perhaps you will have an opportunity to work with Jann somewhere around the world in her travels, or one of the facilitators she has certified to teach these processes.

"Learning to fly" can be fun! I encourage you to "take the plunge," and let the wind fill your wings.