South Africa Books

This is the first detective story I've read in a LONG time. I was intrigued by the scene - South Africa, 1950s. Emmanuel Cooper, a detective, is assigned to the case of murdered Police Captain Pretorius in Jacob's Rest. At the same time, the Special Branch agents are sent to Jacob's Rest to flush out black communist radicals. Cooper is told to investigate a "lesser" crime of a molester/peeping tom in the black community and forget about investigating the murder. Cooper refuses to do so. During his investigations, he encounters many different characters in the black and Afrikaner communities. As he unravels the story of Captain Pretorius, he is met with death threats and bullying/physical threats from the deceased Captain's sons who are used routinely to coerce confessions out of suspects.

Although I found it difficult in the beginning to discern who was responsible for the peeping tom/molestations, it became quite evident and was easy to figure out once a crucial part of the evidence is revealed. But I had no idea who the murderer was nor was I aware of a hidden relationship of a mixed race family.

The author's style was fluid and easy to read and follow. I enjoyed reading this book. The beginning was a little slow, but after the first 1/3 of the book, I couldn't put it down. After finishing the story, I actually was annoyed at the Special Branch characters. I didn't find them to be unique characters, actually more stereotypical of violent "law enforcement" officers. At one point, the Special Branch turns on Detective Cooper and he spends lots of the time hiding and trying to evade them. At this point, I think the book read more like a screen play than a novel.

Overall, I gave it 4 stars. It was still an enjoyable read, but not the best I've read.

I was unable to get past Chapter 3. I think the writing style of the author was good if you are interested in the culture or Africa. Knowing nothing about the culture of Africa left me lost as to what was happening. You really need to know something about the politcial system, culture, and police of Africa to follow the storyline.

Well written historical mystery set in South Africa in the 1950. New apartheid laws have been passed creating more racial tensions and fear. A white policeman is found dead at a border town with Mozambique. The police detective sent to investigate has his own secrets to keep and the Secret Police are willing to bully everyone to find their communist plot and gain political advantage. The pleasures of control, delusions of superiority, guilt, fear of punishment and retribution, love, ghosts of the past, and the need to survive all get in the way of finding the truth. Can he keep his secrets, solve the murder and protect the innocent?

A good read. I look forward to more by the same author.

A Beautiful Place To Die is an outstanding murder mystery set in 1952 South Africa. The author is an excellent writer and the story is very interesting and keeps you turning the pages. Honestly I didn't care for the ending but it was probably realistic. Because this is Malla Nunn's first book I would recommend you buy a first edition which could increase in value.

This story is set in 1952 newly apartheid South Africa and opens with the discovery of the body of a popular, well loved police captain. Detective Sergreant Emmanuel Cooper takes charge of the case and becomes caught in a deluge of suspects, possible motives, puzzling clues and threats to his own life. The popular murdered police captain has been leading a shocking double life, his dark secrets now exposed. This is a fast-paced work charged with racial tension, violence and many twists and turns sure to satisfactorily entertain the reader. Murder mystery fans, don't pass this one by. It's an exciting worthwhile read.

Antjie Krog is a South African writer and poet who covered the South African Truth and Reconciliation commission hearings. She wrote this book about the experience, from the particular point of view of a South African of Afrikaner background.

I found this book both difficult to read, and difficult to put down. Krog chooses extremely compelling stories to highlight, and the impact is visceral. She asks some very smart and difficult questions about what truth and reconciliation can possibly mean in a country burdened with such a history. The Country of My Skull does an excellent job in providing possible answers to these hard questions, while acknowledging that she may not be the person to either have an opinion or have an answer. She seems to continually ask who are judges and who are victims, given the situation.

While I liked that she shared her own experience of the Commission honestly, there were times when I felt that the focus on her personal life weakened the book. Made it overly poetic, somehow. When she discusses the Death Fugue of Celan, she makes the point that there are some subjects that poetry cannot and perhaps should not touch. I sympathize with the desire to use that kind of precise and metaphoric language, but it increases the distance.

This seems to me an important book. Four and a half stars.

A. Krog writes an amazing piece revolving around the events pertinent to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the emergence of the African National Congress in the politics of South Africa. Graphic descriptions of militant and counterinsurgent armed activity in the apartheid government, and first person testimony to the TRC of human rights violations from many parties. Krog's recollections are necessarily emotionally derived and sometimes difficult for this reason to follow analytically, particularly to one not immersed in South African history and cultures. Extensive use of indigenous languages with helpful translations and a glossary of common local parlance included, which makes the reading much more interpretable. The book is written assuming the reader is familiar with the political events immediately prior to the institution of the TRC and the dissolution of apartheid politics. An excellent piece for any world history or political science student.

A great book, telling a part of a nation's history, that must never been forgotten

Antjie Krog writes with a poet's power of observation both with inner feelings as well as to witness the outer complexities of people's pain and truth. Whose truth, which truth, and at what time? The Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings which she followed along with many other reporters, becomes a focal point for the process of hearing these complexities as well as offering the possibilityes for healing in a country struggling to understand the tensions between global change and the bonds of tribal and cultural loyalties and traditions. Krog offers us a chance to participate in this as well as to reflect on our own healing processes and sort out the complexities of many truths we live with.

As a British engineer living in South Africa for 15 years I obviously lived on another planet compared to this lady. Maybe because I worked in black townships and saw things as an outside observer I was not burdened by self loathing and idealistic fantasy that make up much of this work. Sure bad things happen in old wars in Africa or new ones like Iraq, but I can't help feeling that we have been here before. Atrocities happened in Rhodesia but despite the false dawn and liberal accolades that welcomed Mugabe in the same way them as they welcomed Mandela now, we ended up with worse country not a better one. I think that when we all look back on this period in years to come and unburdened by the current plague of political correctness that blights our times, we will realise that those who should ask for forgiveness are the liberal media elites who destroyed South Africa and the hopes of all its people both black and white.

It is hard to believe how somebody can describe such an exciting trip in such a boring way. Describing some of the marvels of Africa takes the author one or two paragraphs, the whining about his fellow passengers on the other had can go on for dozen and dozens of pages. Also, it is woefully out of date. Zaire hasn't been Zaire since 1997, Mozambique has not been in a Civil War since 1992. It is somewhat unclear whether the trip took place before then or whether the author didn't bother checking his facts (similar to the Caiman that showed up in Malawi). In short, annoying to read.

All through Brandon Wilson's Dead Men Don't Leave Tips: Adventures X Africa one idea kept coming to me. Parallax! That's not a word that comes to mind every day. In science, it means getting better or more complete information about displacement or movement by collecting data from two points of view that are not in a straight line with the thing you are examining or learning about.
"After all those months of struggle, doubts of sanity and infinite challenges," Wilson writes near the end of the book, "we'd fulfilled our dream. We'd crossed the length of Africa from Ceuta to the Cape." All along the rugged, often road-less road dotted with rare moments of genuine rest--sarcastically (?) called "pure luxxxurrry"--Wilson pursues the parallax view of everything everywhere at every opportunity. He studies his fellow travelers and their motivations and observations like Margaret Mead recording the lives of Papua New Guineans. That, however, is nothing but technical practice for the real work of genuinely absorbing dozens or hundreds of African cultures.
To get in touch with "real Africa" and to understand lives as they are lived, Wilson talks with people who are not in the business of guiding and informing (and even listens to those who are in the overland/travel business). Sometimes the informant is a person eking out an existence in, say, the Central African Republic. When it is, he inquires of two or more people in different situations and observes still more. Sometimes he collects information from a Peace Corps worker or an Embassy employee. And always, he reports his own direct observations and often those of his intrepid and obviously longsuffering wife as well.
Parallax, for Wilson, is clearly a method for chipping through individual biases and official "facts" toward the precious truth which, over and over, turns out to be that misery and joy, dreams and wishes, family feelings and love are the same for us all no matter where or how we live. Fortunately, Wilson never stops treasuring the differences from culture to culture in Africa, and he never becomes numb to the differences between African cultures and his everyday life on Maui.
We, the readers, have the added dimension of our own experience and ideas. With luck, we are able to hold our untested perspectives gently enough that, once disproved, they can be let go painlessly.
Wilson's trek "X Africa" is not all pain and gain. As Wilson puts it, "Often you run into weird, but welcome coincidences traveling." World travelers have long known that if you spend the day on the Champs Elysées in Paris, you're sure to meet someone you know. Apparently, if you spend several months crossing Africa the long way, you're going to run into both other travelers whose paths crisscross with your own and people removed from yourself by slight degrees. "One night... we happened to share a table and talk with two U.S. Marines... one of them came from my small childhood town and the other had attended my Southern alma mater."
Coincidences are everywhere in Dead Men Don't Leave Tips, but the tale moves forward and finds its depth in the triumphant surprises. Frequently, these scenes of human contact start with someone reaching out to help himself by "helping" Wilson, then saying, "Don't worry." Often enough, the phrase introduces a series of events about which someone really should have been worrying. Then there are the other moments: the aunty with a gracious guest house, the discovery that being white isn't always a handicap in South Africa so long as people know he's not an Afrikaner, the magic of one kind of "pole-pole" travel hold-up meshing seamlessly with another.
Africa's pole-pole is a real-life opposite of Hawai`i's never very serious wiki-wiki, it means at the speed of... well, Africa.
I was swept away by the drama and the storytelling in Wilson's book. Still, it is only my second favorite travel book from the past century or so. Maybe Wilson won't mind that so much if he hears that his "adventures X Africa" are second only to his earlier Yak Butter Blues.
Even if you normally can't stand to read a travel book, give Wilson a chance. He'll win you over.

I purchased this book for my husband who only reads non-fiction. He stated that it is "dry" and written like a diary. It is not engaging nor funny. I hope he picks it back up to finishe reading...or I guess I will to feel we got our monies worth.

I bought this book following Amazon's reader reviews but found it a pain to read.
From the start the author can't bear the way he chose to travel (overlanding with a group) and his fellow travelers... well, when on a low budget, stay graceful! If one can't stand other human beings AND can't afford a way to travel suitable to both his arrogance and means, why do it anyway?

The "traveler" seems to wander through Africa with American centered prejudices and poor references of a narrow minded background.
The reader is continuously faced with his self centered obsession for his own boring motives (if any) that he thinks anyone cares about. He makes the reader witness all his irritations and frustration of a pure misanthrope, "forgot" to check the proper geography and history and spelling of the names of the countries he goes through, remains ignorant of the world, cultures and people and till the end totally misses the whole point of traveling.

Everything, even the slight excitement he seems to feel when encountering wild animals is awkwardly written, in dry insensitive words without style.

Oh, those hundreds of dull phrases in italic! Those infinitely repeated "burro" like donkeys have Spanish names in Africa, "black" like there's a need to remind us of the color of Africa's inhabitants.
What is Lake Kiva? Lake Tanzania? Are there really "caimans" in Africa? What is a "wild west town" to anyone not American? When were there only 700 black rhinos left? "Zaire, these days, after years of war, known as DRC": check exactly when the name changed? Victoria Falls, the world highest cascades? Since when does Michelin rate up to five stars? Any need to be condescending and transcript everyone's accent again and again while oneself has no clue about foreign languages? Any need to be rude, pushy and obnoxious when addressing people?

In this long boring account of what seems to have been an ordeal to him that we are forced to share, the only human encounter that seems to have somewhat pleased the ever complaining author are... another white couple traveling and Whites in South Africa.

This is a shallow disappointing report that would disgust anyone who wishes to travel to Africa.
Thanks God we know better.

"Wild, pristine beauty surrounded us as we drove to the base of remote Djomba to establish camp. Towering green peaks sprouted out of ripe clusters of lush vegetation. Massive pyramidal volcanoes rose of the verdant floor suggesting its prehistoric past. Churning, whitecapped rivers cascaded over mountainsides into translucent pools below, and its beauty didn't end with nature." ~ pg. 146

Brandon Wilson is an expert storyteller who masterfully weaves a story of a seven-month odyssey across Africa. His exciting writing style keeps you on the edge of your seat as you journey to the heart of Africa. The detailed descriptions bring the story alive with the sounds, scents and sights of a real-life adventure.

Brandon Wilson is an award-winning writer and photographer who has spent his life exploring the world. He is also a keen observer of human nature and deftly describes the human drama that is ever present in the stories of the overlanders and exotic locales. There are a few photographs to compliment this journey but the writing captures scenes in seconds and transports you to a different time and place.

As Brandon and his partner travel from Mororcco to Cape Town you are invited to vicariously experience every nuance and challenge experienced by independent travelers. He and his partner have a passion for adventure and are inquisitive about the local peoples and unique cultures. They maintain their sense of humor throughout and press on, undaunted towards their final goal. Some of their adventures include:

Hunting with Pygmies
Climbing Africa's Highest Mountain
Meeting Mountain Gorilla
Horseback riding in lion territory
Sitting out underneath the stars by campfires
Watching Antelope and Cape Buffalo graze
Visiting Serengeti National Park
Watching Hippos in Zaire
Experiencing village life and living with locals
Surviving Torrential Rains
Sampling local foods and finding restaurants
Swimming and rafting in African rivers


Through vibrant prose and the eye of an artist, Brandon Wilson paints his recollections with startling clarity. His writing unleashes an immense longing for the experiences he describes. There is a profound beauty of freedom in the way he travels. As they reach Gillman's Point on Mt. Kilimanjaro you can't help but cheer them on to even more exciting adventures like surviving a rafting trip down the Zambezi river.

I can also highly recommend Yak Butter Blues: A Tibetan Trek of Faith. Brandon Wilson's writing is the best travel writing I've ever read and his adventurous spirit is inspiring.

~The Rebecca Review

Before giving my actual review, I want to give you some context from which this review came. I read this book while studying in South Africa and taking South African History. I'm an undergraduate student and I'm not getting a degree in History. I would say I'm what the author would look at as a basic twenty-something reader.

With that said, onto my review:

This is 3 1/2 stars. The book was overflowing with facts and all the key events that lead up to South Africa as it is today. Spanning from the earliest inhabitants, to the presidential term of Thabo Mbeki. The reason I didn't give this book four stars is not the information per se, but more so the way the information was presented. In short, good content, poor execution. Although the book is set up in a generally chronological order, the author constantly jumps around when discussing specific dates. The sheer amount of information that you are taking in makes it very difficult to keep track of all of the dates and span them out in a timeline in your head (at least it was for me). This structure proves to be confusing and makes recollecting certain events, groups, or short periods of history, very difficult.

The very epitomy of a 2 1/2 star, mediocre book.

I was neither impressed nor appalled. It reviews South Africa from prehistoric times until after Aparthied. If you want to know some basics about South Africa, I'd read it. If you are looking for real in depth analysis, find something else. I would neither suggest nor disuade readers.

I read this book just before my month long tour of S. Africa. For what it is, which is a quick summary of the entire history of the region that is now called South Africa, this book excelled. Nearly everything I saw around me on my trip had meaning and history because I read this book. When people talked about Bantu people or Xhosa or Zulu, I knew what people they were talking about and a little about them because of this book. When I visited Robben Island or Soweto, it meant more to me. When I saw a huge pile of gold colored dirt in Johannesburg, I knew what it was. And a million more examples, all because of this book.

However, the reviewer "Book Nut" who gave it only two (2!) stars does have some valid points: there are some details that were not mentioned that were worth mentioning, and sometimes this can be construed as a lack of objectivity. One the other hand, how could it be done any other way? It was, after all, written by a human, not a robot, and there is, after all, a limit as to how many words you can fit into 384 pages. I'm also in partial agreement with Book Nut about the last chapter, which is about the post-apartheid gov't since 1994: it is not pessimistic nor is it racist to say that the gov't since 1994 has had some serious shortcomings, and in some areas has been truly awful. However, I'd take the operational shortcomings of the current government over the oppression of the previous one any day, even if the shortcomings were much worse than they are. Besides, you try forming a gov't from scratch! They have done very well with what they had to work with. ...I'd bet lots of money that Book Nut is a white South African who is old enough that he or she remembers how life was for him or her SELF under apartheid, and thus we should take what he or she says about this book with a grain of salt (we all need a bit more balance).

The history of South Africa is very exciting and emotional; even more so because it is so recent and "on-going." If you don't really know much of anything about South Africa, I highly suggest reading this book. I don't know of a better first book on the subject. For an excellent source of current information about South Africa, read The Mail & Guardian, a famous weekly newspaper (they also have a website) that engages in real investigative journalism.

I wrote to seller to ask when book might be arriving as a time deadline was approaching for us--I never got a response. I do believe that the book arrived in the MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE ALLOTTED TIME however.

In this excellent history of South Africa, Professor Leonard Thompson of Yale University, gives the reader a truly holistic history of South Africa. Instead of beginning the history of South Africa with the arrival of the European explorers, he begins with the information that archaeologist have gained on the earliest humans in the area. Then, he follows the evolution of the area, showing how history unfolded for all of its people, especially the black South Africans who always did make up a majority of the inhabitants of the region.

Overall, I found this to be a fascinating, and highly informative book. So many of the older books focus exclusively on the white South Africans, bringing in the rest only when they become "important" to the story of the whites. And, so many more recent publications present recent South African history in a triumphalist manner, as if utopia has finally been achieved.

Instead, this book eschews both of those fallacies, and looks at South African history with a clear-eyed and open-minded fashion, giving the reader a good idea of what has really happened. I must say that I think that this is the best South African history that I have read so far. So, if you want to really know about South Africa, I would recommend that you get this great book. I give it two thumbs up!

Master Harold and the Boys shows the growth and change in generation centered around the subject of slavery not only in parts of Africa as in the play but the message is applicable to people in the United States other areas in the world as well. The play might not be blatenly showing this idea but it can be seen through many aspects within the play such as the change in Harry demeanor towards Willie and Sam at different points in the novel. At the beginning Harry interacts with Sam and Willie. Harry changes his tone and actions towards Willie and Sam every time he gets off the phone with orders from his mother. He takes a commanding role over them just as a boss would and then tries to ease back into the freindly kid again after a while. The parents hired the two to work and for the most part it is insighted that the parents and Willie and Sam do not have a close relationship. Even as a child Harry was told not to play around in the servants quarters. Yet harry developed a well rounded and friendly relationship with the two. This shows how later generations are becoming less dependent on their parents for knowledge and look to learn through real life experience. Also the latest generation is not completley reliant on thier parents for knowledge of what is right and wrong. There are still many older people that have qualities of predjudism in some way or another yet that does not mean that thier children will have those qualities as well. Our society has evolved such that children are not taught to only listen to their parents but find answers in life for themselves much like Harry did about predjudism and equality and treating everyone of every color skin with respect. The same can not be said for his parents or even the past generations in our world and especially the United States. Without a growth through the generations such issues as equal rights may not have held as much importance without a believing and understanding audience that wants change from what thier parents grew up with. Overall I feel that this play has just illuminated such issues as these and shed light onto our ever changing world.

This is a must read for everyone. At only 60 pages, there is no good excuse for anyone not to sit down and take one hour to read this play. It is absolutely phenomenal and maintains an incredible build up until the emotionally strained, but extremely enveloping, crescendo.
Fugard wrote this drama as a way to make amends for something ignorant he had done as a teenager, and the play is considered a viable contribution to the problems of apartheid in South Africa (1950s).
Plain and simple, this short play packs a powerful punch. It is clever and brutally honest. It will leave you thinking about it long after it is done.
Highly recommended!

Our theater group decided to do this play this season. I'm ashamed to say I had not heard of it before and was a little dubious about it as a result. Boy, was I in for a shocker! It's a great, great play, full of humanity and pathos and humor and insight. I'll have seen it almost 20 times by the time our run is over and I know I'll wish I could have seen it more times. Everytime I watch it, I love it more and get more out of it.

This is the story of a young white man and the two older black men who work for his family in South Africa. They have been friends since the younger man was a toddler, but now the politics and racism of the larger world are getting in the way. Apartheid is never mentioned in the play--it's more a play about human relations than larger politics--but it looms in the background like a storm on the horizon. This play belongs on the first-tier of theater classics.

I just finished reading this play for school and really enjoyed it. I was usually used to reading Shakespeare plays which really didn't interest me whatsoever. Then, there are those new plays that also seem to always fall short of fun reads. Well, this short play with only 3 characters actually really interested me. It was sad, tragic, funny, and very interesting. It takes place in the 50s in South Africa where racism is everly strong. In this play, there are 2 black, middle aged men, and one teenage white boy. The black men work for the boy's parents in their company and right now the boy is there alone with them as his father is in the hospital and his mother is there caring for him. At first, the 3 men seem to get along but quickly enough, racism explodes onto the pages. You see this little white boy screaming at middle aged men, treating them like dogs, taking out his aggression on them...why?...because he can. Becauseracism is everywhere and you can do whatever you want to do them.
The play shows this white boy, for no apparent reason, turning from gentle and calm to angry and frustrated.
Note how the crippled father shows how his point of view is crippled, showing how racist he is.
Athol Fugard is a very talented writer and makes this short 1hour by yourself or 2hour oral reading in class a remarquable one.
All plays should be as provoative as this one but sadly they aren't, and I strongly recommend buying this little gem, as light as a feather, that you'll be rereading a lot.

Athol Fugard, 'Master Harold' ... and the boys. New York: Penguin. 1984. Originally produced in 1982 by the Yale Repertory Theatre.

Hally does not know who he is. The single white character on stage in South African-born playright Athol Fugard's one-scene work is the friend of his mother's two black employees when they tend to St George's Park Tearoom in her absence. But he is also their 'Master Harold'-reluctantly but inevitably-when the stress of his crippled, alcoholic father's homecoming impels him into an emotional space that one simply does not share with black folks. Perhaps is it the burden of dealing with human beings on the multiple levels that racism forces upon those who resent but ultimately accede to their required roles that embitters Hally beyond redemption.

Hally doesn't know several things. He is ignorant of the nobility with which Sam and Willie have battled for his dignity over the years of service to his family. He doesn't understand that even this virtue has its limits, beyond which dignity weighs more than the possibility of continuing friendship.

Hally doesn't understand that a night of dancing at the Eastern Province Open Dancing Championships is a thing of beauty rather than of entertainment, nor the hope that is nurtured in a space where for one night people never bump into each other.

'Master Harold', the title upon which he insists at the cost of everything that matters, will never know because he cannot learn. He is a million times more the victim of the 1950's racism in the land of Fugard's birth than any black man whom, when pushed beyond his modest emotional means, he shoves around. They, at least, leave this dark, sad drama with something.

Very well and detailed written ,this book gives you an insight on the enslaved Muslims in America then no other Book that I have read so far.
It gives you an insight on the situation in Africa (Political and economical )at the time when slavery started and contiued.Reasons why their own country man where selling each other tribal conflicts and religious differences.
It is not a book that is written like a tale it will most likely take you some time to finish reading it.

This book has brought tears to my eyes as well as joy. This book should be read by all people especially the African American and Caribbean people who have African descent. We must honor our ancestors struggle for freedom. When we honor them we bring honor to ourselves. As African people we will never be free until we free our minds. No one will be free until he knows himself and the history of his ancestors and all those who came before them. Knowledge of self is the key to true freedom. This book is a very courageous book that is full of lost but not forgotten history of the Enslaved Africans in the Americas. May God bless the author, Sylviane A. Diouf and all those who seek wisdom and knowledge for the sake of freedom, Justice and world peace.

Diouf's "Servants of Allah" is one of the few highly researched and well written accounts of the West African Muslims history in the context of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

This book, in my opinion is an undeniable truth in the face of the few so called "afrikan-centered scholars" (very well known, btw) who blindly and blatantly bash and reject the religion of Islam and its African adherents, not realizing, or wanting to fully realize the pivotal impact of the Black African Muslims during the enslavement period.

In fact the Muslims of Songhay, Mali, Hausaland, Senegambia, Guinea Coast, etc... who were ripped away from their thriving African homelands and brought to the Americas under the cloak of European Christianity were the valiant masterminds of the major slave revolts including the jihads ("holy wars")waged in Brazil (Bahia), Louisiana, Haiti (yes the infamous Haitian Revolution was lead by Macandal, who was a sufi muslim leader).

However what is most striking are the Diouf's researched writings into some of the Muslims themselves, true Afrikan warriors like Job ben Solomon (A Wolof prince who was proficient in 5 languages including Arabic, and returned to Africa after only 3 years of enslavement in the New World), Ibrihim Abd ar-Rahman, who was able to write an entire autobiography in Arabic of his experience in chattel slavery.

For the sake of brevity, I must conclude by giving a tremendous BRAVO! for sister Diouf's powerhouse book, and I could not recommend this book enough!

Peace brothers and sisters!
Karamou Alifaa Fatafindou

This is an excellent piece of writing and deserves to be read by anyone interested in the history of the Transantlatic Slavery and the implantation of Islam in the Americas.

This is a significant study that suffers, however, from insufficient knowledge of Islam.

This spiritual/religious based book is presented differently than Gandhi, Tolstoy, and other philosophers that I have read. This book is more rooted in the events of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee, a board that Desmond Tutu headed after apartheid ended. The goal of this board was to grant amnesty to individuals and to learn of the travesties that occurred during apartheid. Tutu spends time to talk about the reasons and purpose of the board while lending several chapters to discuss several of the eye-witness reports and events described while heading the committee.

After he sets up the purpose and ideals behind the board along with some of the testimony from individuals, he then begins to dive into his dialogue about what these events mean and how they relate to his overall conclusion of "No Future Without Forgiveness." This book did two great things for me: First, it introduced me to apartheid, something I have not read too much about. Tutu described the conditions not only pre-apartheid, but after Nelson Mandela became the president of South Africa and other related events. Second, I was able to see him unfold his spiritual plan of how the country was to move forward after so many years of people being dehumanized and a huge social structure changing.

It was the combination of the historical and philosophical elements that made this book special to me. I highly recommend it.

This book is a remarkable insider's account of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) by a truly amazing individual. The book is much more than a summary of the historic event. Desmond Tutu deftly defends the argument that forgiveness and restorative justice are better strategies than retributive justice and offers the hope of similar applications to other historical and current conflicts.

The two primary benefits of restorative justice are: (1) the truth will be drawn out by the possibility of amnesty which will provide closure for victims and transparency to ensure we are not condemned to repeat it, and (2) forgoing retributive justice will break the chain of blows and promote reconciliation between the parties that have to continue living with each other. There are also multiple practical concerns. The restorative justice process allows the TRC to shift the burden of proof from the prosecution to the amnesty applicant drastically reducing the cost, time, and resources required by the government. Finally, having come to power through a negotiated political process as opposed to a military victory it would be more difficult for the government to impose a Nuremberg style retributive process.

To prevent the moral hazard of bad precedents, Desmond Tutu categorically states that this is an ad-hoc process (a one-time deal) and multiple stringent conditions must be met to grant amnesty, (1) the offense had to be politically motivated and occur during a specified time frame, and (2) the applicant had to be found to be completely open and honest and demonstrate full accountability for his or her actions. Ethically, some critics may contest the commission's right to speak for the victims in providing amnesty. The author counters this by highlighting the fact that the commission members had been directly involved and lived through the struggles. He also states his belief that victims (whether alive or not) are never freed from the captivity of grief and anger until they are able to forgive and reconcile their perpetrators.

This book is nice and concise as well as clear. It could have benefited from additional historical information surrounding Apartheid to provide additional context. Nelson Mandela's autobiography (Long Walk to Freedom) is a fantastic in that regard and is well worth the read and provides a great background for this text.

Per ad hype, I anticipated something similar to the writings of Gahndi or Tolstoy on comparable topics. However, this is more a biopic overview of the remarkable work of Mandela with 'notes and commentary' by Tutu. While the Mandela process of forgiveness, in the face of unimaginable atrocities, is very much worth one's study and incorporation, that's not why I bought the book. Desmond does not believe forgiveness is possible w/o perpetrator public confession and request for forgiveness. What happens to a victim's future when the perpetrator[s] is dead, unavailable or unwilling? The relevance of this treatise for us garden-variety souls in a benign democracy is missing.

Bishop Tutu chaired the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission whose task it was to give voice to the victims of apartheid and to foster reconciliation between the races in South Africa following the transfer of power there. It's a quick read, which details atrocities committed during apartheid and eloquently discusses how both the blacks and whites were victims of this intrinsically evil system.

It's a book written from the heart of a man who understands that revenge offers no hope to society. There are brief references comparing the South Africa "success story" to other troubled spots in the world where revenge killing has gone on for generations. The title says it all, "No Future Without Forgiveness". An interesting read that's worth the time.

I was fascinated by the courage and foresight of the South African people regarding the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Archbishop Tutu's account was very readable yet profound in the truth he was trying to explicate: revenge and retaliation do not heal; they create bigger divisions between the victim and the perpetrator. I think he clearing illustrates how forgiveness is the harder, but ultimately saner, route.

This is a compelling story, but it's full of inference and excessively fluffy. From a historian's perspective Huffman does not have enough evidence to be legitimate. If you're looking for a real history of either Mississippi or West Africa (my two areas of expertise) look elsewhere.

A 20th century Missisipian explores how the actions of a few slaveholders before the Civil war have affected modern history. A very good read.

Huffman takes readers through quite a journey as he gives the history of abolitionists in Mississippi and the ultimate return of blacks to Africa. His story is fascinating and I simply couldn't put down the book until I read every page.

What a great story. This book covers so many subjects in a complete and interesting way. There is the detective story of the slaves of Prospect Hill Plantation and their lives, a story of the current state of affairs in southern Mississippi and finally a gripping account of modern day Liberia and its turbulent history. Just a great story that I wished would go on longer.

Alan Huffman's book on the history of a group of freed slaves, their journey back to Africa and the modern story of Liberia is important and very interesting. Huffman gives us (1) a view of life and history that formed our society and culture in Mississippi, (2) provides an overview of Liberia's history and our connection to it (a chapter of US history that is seldom mentioned ... I never heard of Liberia and the US role in its founding before arriving in West Africa in 1978), and (3) shows that Faulkner was right in saying that the past continues to impact us.

In 1978 I went to Guinea Bissau,West Africa, to work on a USAID (foreign aid) program in the country's rice growing region. It was there that I heard, for the first time, of a group of freed slaves returning to Africa and establishing a country, Liberia, in 1821 with it's capital named after the fifth US president James Monroe. By 1838, 20,000 American blacks (ex-slaves and freed men --- including the slave group from Jefferson County that was the subject of his research) made up the population of the Colonization Society and Liberia. Today the descendants of these settlers make up about 5 percent of Liberia's population. This elite group dominated the political and economic sectors for more that 150 years. A backlash against this group in 1980 by descendants of local tribesmen caused the chaos that grips modern day Liberia. It's important to me and you today because of the potential links that states in chaos have to terrorist groups (Huffman talks of the potential laundering of Al Queda money through diamond sales in Liberia and the attempt to use the country as a conduit for the purchase of illegal arms --- including stinger missles).

Huffman brings the reader full circle and gives interesting details of his research and the people he meets along the way. He also provides details on our Mississippi history about slave and slaveholder interaction and the cultural values it imprinted on our society. I also liked the tidbits of history like the origin of Alcorn State University (evolving from a school for the sons of plantation owners to the first land grant college in the United States). This is a good book that I highly recommend.

This is an absolutely incredible book about the story of AIDs in South Africa. Never before has the AIDs crisis been made so real to the reader. The story is focused around hero Nkosi Johnson's short life and legacy. Jim Wooten did a wonderful job of conveying the emotion and struggle of this conflict which is the greatest enemy of Africa today. Whoever gave this book two stars for not saying Wooten got across the emotion, must not have a pulse. I highly recommend this book for your own good of exposure to the AIDs crisis. There is something for all of us to learn from this story.

The book was initially purchased and discussed as a part of my participation in a book club. I purchased three more copies and sent them to friends knowing they would enjoy this book as I did.

It is a very touching book and I would recommend it to everyone. I received the book in a little over a week and it was in perfect condition.

My name is Sewon, and I am a freshman in high school. In one of my classes, I had to read a book, We Are All The Same by Jim Wooten. The cover of the book tempted me at first because it was a real story and the comments of other people were praiseful. Although I had a hard time reading this book at first because several chapters such as chapter 1 and 2 were really boring, it was a really good book to read, overall. To briefly describe the book, this book represents the life of Gail Johnson and Nkosi. Gail is a woman who adopts a boy from South Africa, a segregated country, who is living with AIDS. This book shows many important qualities that we must have in life, such as courage and equality. Since this is a real story, this is more interesting and realistic. While I was reading this book, I felt as though I was part of the book. The strength of this book is that the book is not that long. The readers may become bored when the book is too long. a majority of pages tells of life's teachings while using very eloquent language. I really think this is the best book for any of the teenagers who are interested in reading the book! I really enjoyed reading the book and I strongly recommend it for teenagers.

Loved this book. I learned so much about the history (and present) of South Africa. And what it was like for a real person to live through it. Addressing issues from both sides and through three generations. This story was definitely told by someone passionate about the subject and emotionally involved with the characters--in a good way. I am so thankfuls that someone has told Nkosi's story and the story of South Africa. It is pretty even and doesn't shy away from the flaws of its heroes or the truth of the times. Very well told, a must read to anyone who wants to consider themselves educated and interested in international matters. The AIDS crisis isn't something anyone can ignore anymore and this book really brings it home. Also, just a great story.

The book not only features the story told by Donald Woods but has extensive court interviews with Biko showing his true ideas that scared the racist government of South Africa so much that they had him killed.

Excellent book.

This is much more than a simple biography of Steve Biko, the leader of the Black Consciousness movement in South Africa and one of the seminal figures in the anti-apartheid movement, it is an insider's look and condemnation of the System. Though Biko died young and apartheid has faded into memories for most people who had the misfortune of living in it, his is an excellent example of the horroific prejudices to which people, even in these enlightened times, can be subjected. This book uses incredible detail and many essential sources to tell a lively, powerful, and important story. I watched Cry Freedom several years ago and was inspired tolearn more about the subject, and I would recommend the same path, because the movie really brings the characters and issues to life. I would caution people who only want to learn the basics about the history of apartheid or Biko, that this is a very indepth and detailed book, that can be difficult to follow if you are not familiar with the subjects, so I might recommend a slightly more elementary book for a first experience.

Woods wrote this book to show the world how desperate the need for change was in south Africa. There is a vast seperation between the black natives and the whites in south africa, up until recently the country lived under a currupt white goverment which did not allow blacks to live in white towns as anything other then slaves, forcd them into awful getto which had awful living conditions, taught them in school only what they needed to know to serve the whites, and constently terrorised their neighborhoods. Steve Biko stood up peicefully, not demanding radical change, but understanding that he must change what has happened to his people. Black Contiousness was his approch. He wanted the natives of south africa to learn their own history at school and not the whites, he wanted them to have pride in themselves and understand their own humanity. Steve Biko was band and very liking killed for saying this. Blacks who stood up in South Africa always seemed to die in police custodity one way or another. After his death Woods was inspired to write this book, he was band in South Africa and risked his life to escape the country with his book. This is a must read for anyone who is not educated about the hardships of South Africa or Africa as a whole.

The number one element stopping Blacks today is the absence of consciousness and the Orisha Biko exudes that. His essays are honest and concise and he gives you a glimpse of what South Africa was like and the resistance by him and a number of other Africans. Blacks have to be leading the league in terms of 'liberation literature' but it doesn't matter because they don't read and when they do it's not material like this. Hence, the situation remains.

Despite the dramatic shift in the political climate of South Africa since his death, Biko's words and beliefs are every bit as relevant today. His Black Consciousness movement was as much a political force against apartheid as it was an indictment of self-inflicted notions of inferiority. This book powerfully tells the story of Biko's life, his beliefs and the circumstances of living in banishment in South Africa. In the absence of any physical memorial for Biko, this book is a powerful rememberance to a man who should not be forgotten, and a tribute to an author who bravely brought us Biko's story.