South Africa Books

Judging from the two customer reviews, you either love it or hate it. I have a tweener view of Lambourne's tome. Having a keen interest in the Pre-Raphaelites, I wanted to learn more about Victorian art. I admit I chose this book because of it's size. However, I was pleasantly surprise by its content. I enjoyed his organization, for instead of going from artist to artist, he covered their subject matter and their important artists. It was a good review of the British art world of the Victorian era and some European/American artists who were influenced by the British. Lambourne was both academic and insightful. He seem knowledgeable of aspects of the artists' lives that are not usually in an academic work. The reproductions were great but I was disappointed that some were so small. However, I can understand the design trade off vs. cost of the book. So if you're looking for an extensive survey of Victoria period art at an affordable price, this is your book.

I'M AN ARTIST, AND I IDENTIFIED MYSELF A LOT WITH VICTORIAN PAINTING, I GUESS PART OF MY SOUL STILL LIVED IN THAT PERIOD. TO ME, THIS IS MY "BOOK OF LIFE", IT'S VERY COMPLETE, EXCELLENT INTRODUCTION, MARVELOUS COLOUR ILLUSTRATIONS, AND MOST OF ALL, YOU GET TO KNOW OTHER VICTORIAN ARTISTS WORK. **TRUST ME YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED**

Trust me - if you know anything about Victorian Painting you WILL be disappointed. Nice reproductions, though predictable choices for the most part. Platitudinous text.

Although it has been much maligned by critics and art historians, the Victorian period was actually a rich and dynamic era in the arts. Modern art historians have been brought up with the notion that the concept of a narrative in a painting - essentially a painting that tells a story - is either mere illustration or "kitsch." Once this view of painting became the conventional wisdom early in the last century, Victorian Art, so much of which was narrative, was relegated to the basements of museums and even became an object of ridicule. In art history classes around the world, paintings of the Victorian era, whether by Leighton in England or Bouguereau in France, were used as a foil for the Impressionists and early Modern movements. The Victorian era was a sentimental time and there is a fine line between a romantic sentimentality and being overly sweet or saccharine and there were many times when Victorian painters vaulted over that line. However, like any other art form, you only become an effective and intelligent critic of a genre or period when you know it well. And, if your art history courses have taught you to dismiss it out of hand, you will simply be pathologically unable to make intelligent distinctions or draw proper conclusions.
Lionel Lambourne's book is a comprehensive survey of Victorian Art. It is a massive volume that is beautifully illustrated with exceptionally good plates. All too many art books suffer from poor color, clearly drawn from poor transparencies or scans, but this book doesn't stint on the number or quality of the illustrations, so it will be popular with those who simply want to enjoy the images as well as those who have the time to read the text. The author, who is the head of the paintings department at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, clearly knows his subject well and he has broken the long Victorian era down into logical chapters, beginning with a survey of the "Victorian Art Establishment" and then diving the Victorian period by subject and movement rather than simple chronology. He covers all the major movements such as "The Frailer Sex and the Fallen Woman," "The Pre-Raphaelites," "Aesthetes and Symbolists," and "Childhood and Sentiment."
The book is not devoted solely to the artists who lived in Great Britain but also includes painters from the British colonies and former colonies in order to show the connections between their art and that of England. Without descending into the jargon that is too frequently relied upon by art historians, Lambourne is scholarly, providing insight into the influences and motivations of the Victorian artists and then explaining why Whsitler and the Aesthetes rebelled against the prevailing style. Victorian painting has remained popular with artists and a segment of the public precisely because of some of the qualities that repell many art historians - the high level of craftsmanship, sentimentality, the narrative drive so common to the era and the moral element that is part of many paintings from the epoch - but in recent years, more and more exhibitions have been mounted and new books seem to come out each fortnight. Now that Victorian Art has regained some of its lost luster and popularity, it deserves to have an elegant book like Lionel Lambourne's "Victorian Painting" that gives readers an overview of a rich artistic epoch.

Two of the best books about general Victorian paintings are Lionel Lambourne's and Christopher Woods'. Although both book discuss the same broad subject of Victorian art, they do not seem to overlap each other but instead seem to reinforce each other, filling in gaps where one left off. Don't be afraid to own both books. Both books are packed with beautiful images and interesting notes about so many Victorian painters. Lambourne's book is almost twice as heavy as Wood's but the image resolution is smaller but he seems to give a better account of the events surrounding the paintings. The topics of both books are very well ordered (historical events, animals, nudes, outdoor etc)

In an environment over-saturated with the mediocrity of Modern Art, Victorian art is ever increasing in importance, and no serious lover of paintings should ever be without both books.

Alan Paton descibes realistic events of South Africans involved in 20th century conflicts. It's a great book. There are two main charcaters, Mr. Robert Mansfield and M.K. Bodasingh. It is often hard to determine which character is expressing his thoughts and for some to follow the story line, but definitely worth reading.

I finished reading Ah, But Your Land is Beautiful quite a while ago, but I'd read it again it I hadn't borrowed it from the library. While you can't always tell which character is speaking, I find that that is good because it shows the complexity of views in South Africa in the 1950s. When you start reading a new section, you don't think, "Oh, that's just what Hugh Mainwaring thinks." You realise that the statements were actually what real people, not just characters, thought. Especially in this day and age, I think that this book helps a little to get in to the mind of terrorists today, even though the issues at stake are markedly different. I would recommend this to everyone, especially those who enjoy history.

"Ah But Your Land is Beautiful" is far and away one of the best books written about the old South Africa, and in many ways still applies very much so to today's "Rainbow Nation." Taking the reader into all of the minds in South Africa at the dawn of apartheid, this gripping multi-viewpoint docu-fiction is an amazing experience for those with everything from a little to an extensive background in South African history. It is a must for anyone who was captivated by "Cry, the Beloved Country," and in my opinion is his best work.

It's been almost 30 years since I read Cry, the Beloved Country and I'd forgotten how strangely Paton structures his books. This novel gives us some excellent insights on how sick a society South Africa was in the 1950's. However it's an extremely difficult read; shifting between past and present tense, dialogs were the author doesn't explain which characters are speaking, a great many references that are unclear to readers who know little about South Africa. Another reviewer called the novel "docu-fiction". That's exactly what it is. It has no protagonists. We learn very little about who these characters are and have trouble caring about them, aside from the grief inflicted on them by hateful Afrikaners. This was Paton's last novel. He was pushing 80 when he wrote it. He still had plenty to say. His ideosyncratic story telling detracts from the message.

Sister Mary Elizabeth Lloyd has a doctorate in Nutrition and Public Health from Columbia University. Sister Lloyd has worked with Religious Teachers Filippini for twelve years. The organization helps orphans and child-headed families. Her experiences in Albania, Brazil, Ethiopia, Eritrea and India has made her want to share the plight of child-headed families with the world. 100% of the profits from this book go to help child headed households.

Sister Lloyd has found that most of the child-headed households she sees are a result of AIDS. According to Sister Lloyd, the AIDS epidemic in Africa is out of control and shows no signs of slowing down. She feels that by writing this book she is doing her bit in helping ease the suffering of children left orphaned by this awful disease.

I might have enjoyed the book more had it not read so much like a dissertation. I would have liked to have heard more personal stories of the children and how Sister Lloyd interacted with them. However, that being said, the book is written well and all the facts are backed up. It is a book that everyone who is concerned about AIDS in Africa should read.

I find it very hard to give only two stars to an author who so clearly loves the children she and her organization serve. It is her obvious dedication that has kept me from giving this only one star.

This slim book is a mishmash of statistics. with individual stories of children not much different from the narration for one of those infomercials from many non-profits now on various cable stations. For anyone who has read even a little about the topic, there is little new in the numbers, and even more up-to-date references and data can be found by a quick web search. The disorganization and redundancy of both the data references and anecdotes was very distracting. One other concern: there are many other non-profits and Christian organizations involved in similar work, yet the book ignores this fact--one more way in which this resembles an advertisement for the organization rather than an overall picture of this global crisis.

Bottom line: if you want to support the AIDS Orphans Rising organization, do it by donating the cost of the book directly to the organization rather than buying a book of so little real value.

I love this book. It takes the reader into the everyday lives of real children living in profoundly challenging conditions. Their parents have died, and relatives have often rejected them. They are grieving, and they are often lonely and afraid. Older children bear the burden of providing food, shelter and comfort to their younger siblings.

Yet the stories are filled with hope. When we in the West think of these children, we tend to count them out. But they are determined to take care of each other, to survive and overcome their circumstances. They're finding work, however humble, and they are going to school whenever they can. They're living in the present, laughing and loving. If they have adult problems, they are also still children, capable of playing and experiencing joy.

Sister MaryBeth Lloyd offers us the big picture, well documented with statistics and projections. She shows us the dimensions of the African AIDS crisis and its effect on children, but she has also filled her book with useful information on how her readers can help meet the needs of these children. And most affectingly, she lets us know and admire the children themselves.

The author was a student in our Grants Training Classes, and I have tremendous respect for the work she does. She combines love for the children with a practical approach to supporting them as they grow up and take their place as the next generation of African adults.

Jillian Coleman Wheeler
www.GrantMeRich.com
www.YourInternetCashMachine.com
www.NewAmericanLandRush.com

Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (12/07)

There are alarming statistics that warn "every 14 seconds a Child Headed Household is formed." Sister Mary Elizabeth Lloyd has written a guidebook to help alert concerned citizens of the magnitude of the problem and to provide the reader with answers the questions: "What should I know, and what can I do to help them succeed?" A Child Headed Household is defined as: children who have survived the death of their parents from AIDS. These households are made up of "little brothers and sisters struggling to stay alive and remain together as a family." There are often three to eight children per household.

Sister Lloyd is quick to point out that the current view taken by most that these are victims dependent and powerless must be replaced with a vision of how these children have the courage to take control of their economic hardships, deprivations, and exploitation in positive ways so that they can remain together as family. It is this determination that became the motivation for Sister Lloyd to write this book.

All regions of the world are impacted by the enormity of the plight of these children. India, alone, is faced with 3,700,000 children orphaned. Statistics indicate that China has 2,300,000. Other countries around the world afflicted with the same dilemma bring the total orphaned children to over 16,000,000.

The book provides a broad selection of photos which depict bright-eyed children, resilient, with endurance and with promise, doing their best, struggling to stay together, taking the role of adults in caring for younger siblings.

Each chapter of the book offers suggestions for actions for the reader to take as members of a growing world community of concerned citizens. Comprehensive references with additional web links to organizations working with these children offer solutions which help insure that these children will survive, and will succeed.

Sister Mary Elizabeth opens her final chapter with a challenge for the reader to respond to Mother Teresa's call to action: "If I look at the masses, I will never act. If I look at the one, I will."

"Aids Orphans Rising" will grip your heart. The needs will linger in your consciousness long after you have read the final word and closed the covers of the book. Sister Mary Elizabeth Lloyd has presented the case for these children. Now it is up to us, the readers, to decide which suggested action steps we can take to help them succeed.

Sparks has written a trio of books about South Africa with this book being the third. I've also read the first one, The Mind of South Africa, but not the second, Tomorrow Is Another Country. On balance, I found The Mind of South Africa stronger than this book. In part, this is simply because the evolution of a system like apartheid is such fascinating reading. This is also partly because the nature of this book-- a "where are we now?" book-- is time limited. It was published in 2003, and it left me to wonder what Sparks would have made of the last four years.

I think that he would have been kind. One of the things that strikes me about Sparks through both of these books is his strong humanism. He does not want to believe in villains. I get the feeling that he is probably the kind of guy who irritates everyone at a party by defending whoever is under discussion. He wanted to believe that Mugabe would do the right thing in The Mind of South Africa. Even in this book, although he owns his mistakes about his hope for Mugabe his tone is more one of sadness than condemnation. Sparks seems to see the whole sad mess in South Africa as not having any heroes or any villains-- just victims and participants. I like that approach. It is the kind of view that I naturally tend to agree and sympathize with.

But actually, I think that the point of the book is that he does not see the situation in 2002-3 South Africa as a sad mess. He sees it as an imperfect triumph, and I'm not sure that he isn't right. The more that I learn about the country and the more that I hear about the history, the more amazed I am that things didn't collapse into fire and destruction. There are problems, huge ones, but they were largely there to begin with. He has the same worries about Mbeki that I think many observers have-- his strange stance on AIDS, his silence on Zimbabwe. Sparks doesn't gloss anything over, but he largely repeats a message of hope. I think that this is a message worth repeating.

A good book, and interesting.

Step into any bookstore in South Africa and you'll see that the country is awash in social science literature (most of which is ephemeral and undigestible) while sorely lacking in modern histories that put post-apartheid events and developments in a framework for intelligent general readers. This book is a notable and admirable exception. Written by a leading South African journalist and non-academic historian, it's a readable, comprehensive overview of modern South Africa, with chapters on economics, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the ANC's performance in office, HIV/AIDS, race relations, and more. The judgments are balanced and Sparks weaves together anecdotes and analysis in the best journalistic fashion. The book ably reflect his decades of reporting on South Africa.

The only real deficiencies are the lack of "inside" information on the ANC and Spark's failure to convincingly explain the paradoxes swirling around President Thabo Mbeki, a university-trained economist who is undeniably brilliant but whose crackpot medical theories have hamstrung effots to fight HIV/AIDS and have made South Africa the laughingstock of the scientific world. These gaps are at the center of the book (hence my rating of four stars) but probably aren't Sparks' fault: although the ANC now presides over a democratic state, it spent decades in underground resistance to apartheid, and remains highly secretive and quick to punish members who speak out against the party line. I'm not sure whether anyone outside of the party's inner circle truly knows what makes Mbeki & company tick.

In contrast, the chapters on the media sparkle with first-hand accounts of mismanagement and internecine rivalry. If only Sparks' had been able to write comparably illuminating chapters on the ANC!

I'm an American living in Johannesburg.

Sparks has written a winner with Beyond the Miracle. With the exception of one or two niggling errors, it is thoroughly researched, littered with pertinent observations and unfailingly readable. Perhaps most importantly it offers a commendably balanced view of the successes and failures of post-apartheid South Africa. As a white South African I was simultaneously surprised and encouraged by much of the book's content. Although, due to the wide variety of topics looked at, it isn't particularly comprehensive, I would still recommend it as essential reading for anyone with an interest in South Africa.

In this fascinating book, author and journalist Allister Sparks takes us inside South Africa, ten years after the miraculous end of Apartheid. Though many inside the African National Congress (ANC) expected that this would be the beginning of their "Happily Ever After," South Africa continues to face many challenges, many of which they did not expect. But, this is not a doom-and-gloom, pseudo-exposé of South Africa, instead it is a hopeful look at a country in transition - facing daunting problems, but moving towards a brighter tomorrow.

Now, what can I say about this book? First of all, I was quite saddened that the author brought along a bag full of biases to his analysis. He has an orthodox Leftist viewpoint which he spills out all over the book. For example, in his view all of South Africa's problems are either holdovers from the Apartheid era, or are caused by outside factors over which the ANC has no control.

But, if you bear in mind that the author is a journalist, rather than an objective sociologist, you can let yourself ignore his analysis, and get down to the real strength of the book - the author's penetrating report on the state of South Africa today. The author does an excellent job of looking at the political and social changes that are redefining South Africa, and explaining them in a clear and easy to read manner.

It is hard to find resources that discuss modern, post-Apartheid South Africa, but this is one that is really great! So, if you want to know what South Africa is like today, ten years after Apartheid, then this is a great book to start with.

In response to what two individuals are saying about myself and my books I would like to share with you what many others have said to balance out their unsubstantiated claims.

* Endorsed by:
* National PTA
* Scouting Magazine - Boy and Girl Scouts or America
* NEA - National Education Association
* Sports Illustrated for Kids
* Mothering Magazine - to name only a few

*"The books of Dr. Webster-Doyle are the first attempt I have seen to explain to young people and adults the concept of martial arts as a peaceful, nonviolent 'way of life' and to give students the tools to accomplish this goal." - Linda Lee Cadwell

*Winner of the Martial Arts Industry Association Distinguished Service Award

* Awarded the Robert Burns Medal for literature by Austria's Albert Schweitzer Society, for "outstanding merits in the field of peace-promotion"

* Selected by the International Association of Educators for World Peace for their Central American peace education project in Panama and El Salvador

* Acclaimed at the Soviet Peace Fund Conference in Moscow and published in Russia by Moscow's Library of Foreign Literature and Magistr Publications

* On permanent display at the International Museum of Peace and Solidarity in Samarkind, Uzbekistan, the Commonwealth of Independent States.

* "Why is Everybody Always Picking on Us? explores the roots of prejudice. I don't think I've seen another book like it. How wonderful if this book could be used in social studies classrooms! I have learned where prejudice begins, how it is created, how it is perpetuated, and how it can be resolved. This book looks at stereotypes, bigotry, discrimination, scapegoating, racism, and more. It is a wonderfully comprehensive manual for young people and adults alike on understanding our conditioning and the root of prejudice."
American Pride Through Education

*"Webster-Doyle's insight is that by recognizing, understanding, and accepting our violent tendencies, we can avoid acting them out. These new books . . . are good for teachers and parents of elementary school children who need appropriate language and activities to help children deal with their feelings and the violence-provoking parts of the environment. To this reviewer, they are realistic and practical." --Young Children - Magazine of the National Association for the Education of Young Children

* "The book excels at impelling children to understand how conflict works within themselves. Tug of War offers engaging exercises that enhance a child's ability to understand the world. These exercises inspire self-observation, and the drawings of award-winning illustrator Rod Cameron enliven the book." Forum ¬- Newsletter of Educators for Social Responsibility

* Fighting the Invisible Enemy and Tug of War recommended by the Elementary School Library Collection as "fine contributions to materials for children"; both books also chosen by the British Commonwealth Collection - A Selection of Books and Journals on Nonviolence and Social Change

*"Every publication from the pen of this author should make a significant contribution to peace within and without. Highly recommended!" -- New Age Publishers and Retailers Alliance Trade Journal

*Why Is Everybody Always Picking On Me? -- cited by the Omega New Age Directory as one of the Ten Best Books, for its "atmosphere of universal benevolence and practical application"

* Dr. Lawrence Shapiro of the Center for Applied Psychology described Dr. Webster-Doyle as an "eloquent leader of the movement to combine principles of education, psychology, and the martial arts to teach young people to resolve conflict peacefully."

* Selected by the National PTA as a recommended resource for parents.

*"We use his books and thoroughly endorse the usefulness of his methods which have high potential in schools." - Stewart W. Twemlow, M.D. Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis, Menninger Clinic

* Endorsed by Scouting Magazine and Sports Illustrated for Kids

* Endorsed by Mothering Magazine

* Nine time Winner of the Benjamin Franklin Awards for Excellence in Independent Publishing - in six consecutive years

*Selected by the American Booksellers Association for its resource listing of "Children's Books About Peace"

*"These topics are excellent and highly relevant."
--Dr. Charles Mercieca, Executive Vice President
International Association of Educators for World Peace
NGO, United Nations (ECOSOC), UNICEF & UNESCO

*"Helps young people deal with conflict and violence by describing practical skills for peace." --Holistic Education Review

*"I realize Why Is Everybody Always Picking On Me? urgency for every child and adult . . . My daughter couldn't stop reading it!"
--Marina Dubrovskaya, Assistant Director
Dept. of Sociology, Lenin Library, Moscow, Russia

* "Your book (Why Is Everybody Always Picking On Me?) has really helped me ignore the bullies and in a way stop bullying others." - 4th grader

* Presented the National Conference on Peacemaking & Conflict Resolution

*"The materials were very helpful to the facilitators who conducted the workshop on bullying strategies." - New Jersey State Bar Foundation

* Endorsed by the New York City Board of Education

...To name only a few

I love the stories, which I found very important in praticing the Martial Arts. Young Martial Artists should learn mental self defense as a highest priority.

I love the stories, which I found very important in praticing the Martial Arts. Young Martial Artists should learn mental self defense as a highest priority.

We used these books for a while in our Nevada Schools becaue the business consulting company we had recommended them. They sold pretty well. Then, we actually read them. They are total junk. They teach the kids to flat out lie, over and over again. They teach that you should never stand-up to a bully because you may get beat up. WHAT?! If these are sold to anyone, they shouldn't be sold in martial arts schools. Mayeb dance studios, but not Martial Arts schools.
Absolute crapola!

I'm not sure what planet these other reviewers inhabit - and I'm also surprised that anyone would try to keep this embarrassing booklet in print. (Hello: the ANC buried the "Freedom Charter" - and embraced international capitalism - a long time ago!) Check out Terry Bell, Patrick Bond, John Pilger, or any of a number of authors if you'd like to know more about developments in South Africa over the last 15 years.

Fue necesario unir los campesinos y trabajadores -los víctimas del capitalismo- para llevar a cabo la revolución democrática en el país de Sudáfrica, en contra de los mismos capitalistas. Y no sólo fue una clase capitalista en su país, sino un imperialismo que extraía ganancias de muchos países del sur y centro de su continente.

Parece irónico, pero así es el dilema del capitalismo en su fase imperialista actual. Sudáfrica era uno de los últimos ejemplos de lo que Lenín explicaba a principios del siglo XX en relación de los países sometidos al capitalismo (Imperialismo: la fase superior del capitalismo). Habiendo consumido su período revolucionario con la Guerra Civil de los Estados Unidos, de 1865 en adelante la burguesía ya no es capaz de ofrecer el liderazgo para ninguna revolución democrática en ningún rincón del mundo. Únicamente los campesinos y trabajadores pueden instalar las leyes de igualdad, con la burguesía esperando impaciente de regresar del margen para tomar el poder una vez consumidas las necesidades democráticas.

Con Nelson Mandela de frente, el Congreso Nacional Africano impuso los mínimos de igualdad, y así acabó con un imperio pequeño pero tan brutal como el de Israel hoy en día. Sudáfrica sigue capitalista, pero ya no tiene segregación para extraer súper-ganancias.

The main article in this collection, "The Coming Revolution in South Africa," by Jack Barnes, came out in the mid-1980s. The analysis presented was important as a guide to action for all those involved in the struggle to rid the world of the hated apartheid system in South Africa.

Apartheid was a system that strangled normal capitalist development. A regime that resembled fascism, it treated the mass of the workers and farmers almost as slaves. Instead of a ruling capitalist class pitted against a working class (which is to be expected as a result of normal capitalist development), the apartheid system divided society into a white caste and a non-white caste, with Blacks, the majority of the population, stripped of nearly all democratic rights. The wealthy white elite fought to preserve apartheid because it secured their control over the Black majority, and thus magnified profit rates. But this form of control created explosive social pressures.

In order to advance toward socialism, the working people in South Africa first had to destroy the apartheid structure and allow the pressures of capitalist development to emerge into the open. With the chains of apartheid broken, the masses of working people could then come to grips with a real capitalist system as such.

The 1994 election which brought the African National Congress to power culminated a process of revolutionary change that was critical to all further development in South Africa and its neighboring countries. It opened the door to a new period of class struggle, preparing the workers in South Africa to participate, on an equal footing with workers in all countries, to build a new world free of capitalist war and depression.

Though published in 1985, nine years before the victory of the African National Congress against Apartheid, the main article in this book-length magazine Jack Barnes's "The Coming Revolution in South Africa," forecasts the way forward for the democratic revolution in South Africa and shows how the roots of a future socialist revolution in South Africa flow out of that struggle. Barnes, the national secretary of the Socialist Workers Party, explains why the democratic tasks of national liberation and unification advanced by the ANC and its allies were the correct way forward for the peoples of South Africa. With examples from the policies of Lenin and the Russian Bolsheviks and the Cuba and Nicaraguan revolutions, Barnes takes on sectarians who attacked the ANC because it did not have an explicitly anticapitalist program. Along with Barnes' speech, this issue contains "The Freedom Charter"--the political program the ANC advanced in the antiapartheid struggle -- "The Future Belongs to US" a Speech by ANC leader Oliver Tambo, a speech by Fidel Castro explaining why and how Cuba supported the freedom struggle in Angola, and a summary of the then latest stages in the South African struggle by Ernest Harsch.

This travel guide has many beautiful photos. However, the over 400 pages of information is in small type that is somewhat impractical. The travel guide is set up in 15 sections. The sections are:

1. Cape Town
2. Cape Winelands
3. Western Coastal Terrace
4. Southern Cape
5. Garden Route to Grahamstown
6. Wild Coast, Drakensberg and Midlands
7. Durban and Zululand
8. Gauteng and Sun City
9. Blyde River Canyon and Kruger
10. South of the Orange
11. North of the Orange
12. Where To Stay
13. Where To Eat
14. Practical Information
15. Travel Information

It is amazing how you can live in a country and never see it all. This book made me quite homesick since South Africa was my home for 12 years. My parents moved there when I was just seven and I did not return to America until I was getting ready to attend college.

I can truly say, South Africa is perhaps one of the most beautiful countries in the world. The land seems to burst with color, the scent of the earth is intoxicating, the animal life is vibrant and the sunsets....are well...magnificent. This book brings South Africa to life in all her glory. Upon opening this book you will find a map of all the regions. I lived near Johannesburg for most of my life, but we also traveled to Durban and the Cape for vacations in the summer. December in South Africa is quite warm and is holiday season. Each year we would travel down to Durban on our annual pilgrimage to the beach. Oh, the beaches. What can I say? I cannot say enough about them. The sand is hot, the breezes are warm and the water can be dangerous to play in, yet the swimming there is the best I have ever experienced. You can feel the power of the earth so much more fully in Africa. The earth captures your heart.

The plant life is also displayed in this book. Namaqualand with its dwarf shrubs and daisy-like pink vygie blossoms are presented so beautifully. South African Architecture is so beautiful and I remember being mesmerized by the paintings on the walls as we would drive by the thatch covered houses. Cape Dutch, Georgian and Victorian Architecture is also shown. The History of South Africa and the story of the Apartheid years is interesting for those who would like to read up on the background of this country.

If you go to South Africa, you will not want to miss Table Mountain, The Garden Route, Namaqualand, the Cango Caves, Durban, Gold Reef City, Pretoria (where I used to buy great curry powder and now buy it online) and The National Parks (where we rolled down the window and scared my mom half out of her mind because lions were close by).

If you want to know where to stay, there is a whole list of places. The index is extensive. I would recommend a tour. With this book, you can find out which places you would most like to visit.

If you are heading to South Africa, I am very jealous and I must say...I was on lucky person to have been able to live there for 12 years! This book made me terribly homesick for my childhood home. When my father first went to Africa he fell in love with the country and returned years later with us tagging along. I thank him for giving us this amazing opportunity to experience a completely different culture. This book will also put to bed the myths that South Africa is a backwards country. It is very modern and is extremely beautiful.

Sigh.....I really miss living there. It is a good thing I found a company that sells all the great food products we used to buy there online called Protea Imports. It still doesn't make up for fresh fruit off the tree in your backyard, or a walk in the veld or a swim the warm ocean. You won't regret buying this book or visiting South Africa. I hope to one day show my husband this land that I love. I think he needs to take me on a vacation!

~The Rebecca Review

These series of books are nothing less than excellent. The combination of photos, maps and suggestions for sightseeing are top notich. They never steer you wrong - and help to make either a quick trip or extended stay worthwhile. The suggestions for sights are both the "tourist" places and some off the beaten paths. This book is a must for any traveler to South Africa, or any of the other locations you may be traveling.

This book is great to look at, but that's as far as it goes. I know a picture says a thousand words, but not in this book. For a person travelling to a country for the first time, I want to know as much information as possible about each place that I may go. This book only briefly covers the big cities and main "tourist" places, which is a shame because there are many tourist places that are not even mentioned. There is no guide to the animals you could see when on safari or drive by on a tour. Kwa-Zulu Natal should not be referred to as Zululand due to the Theme Park feel it gives to the traditions of a culture. I found that I used other people's Lonely Planet and Let's Go! guides and after awhile I took this guide out of my day pack.

What is it that makes South African authors incapable of happy endings?

Having read and enjoyed JM Coetzee's bleak "Disgrace" I found Brink's novel in a second hand shop and went to work. In subject matter it is a blending of two Patrick White novels - "Voss" about a doomed journey to the (Australian) interior, and "A Fringe of Leaves" about a white woman's life among Aborigines after a 19th Century shipwreck.

In Brink's hands, in 1750, a naive but spirited white woman from the Cape accompanies her Swedish explorer husband into the upmapped interior, only to find herself alone when the husband dies and the Hottentot retainers head for the hills.

She is found by a runaway slave, Adam, who for reasons of his own agrees to set off with her to the Cape.

Brink vividly describes the country through which they must travel. Against its physical presence, the couple become lovers. All of this is good fun. Brink was writing at a time when black/white relationships were forbidden under apartheid law. Indeed, the book for a while was banned. He delivers us a vintage love story, full of sex and spirit. (Funny how Coetzee, 25 years later when inter-racial sex is no longer verboten, sees the politics of such relationships in an entirely different way).

As Brink signals in the opening pages, however, there is no happy-ever-after. If there had been (the story purports to be based on truth), South Africa's history might have been different.

At times, the writing has less to do with black and white than purple, especially as Brink creates a seaside idyll for his pair, but for my money it's a grand read. It recalls a time when white South African liberals believed if only people could see their true nature everything would be all right.

Coetzee's darker - and more recent - version is that WHEN people are most true to their nature, South Africans have much to fear.

Instant in the Wind is one of the most beautiful love stories I have read. After an exploring team is killed in the jungle, a slave on the run is forced to accompany a surviving white woman and together they travel across the desert. During their long walk throughout the country, their relationship evolves. As they learn about each other, we discover all the details of life in South Africa in the 18th century. Brink's writing is at its most powerful, poetic, so moving in describing this heartbreaking love story. A masterpiece of literature.

A wonderful read. A powerfully written love story between a slave and a white woman in 18th century South Africa. The South African landscape is revealed in all it's harshness and beauty. The story of the two characters are based on fact which makes the story even more phenomenal. A masterpiece.

I expected this novel to be engaging not only because it was by Andre Brink, one of the most celebrated South African writers, but because it was also shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize. However, I was deeply disappointed with this chronicle of the relationship between a white woman and a runaway slave because it becomes, almost right from the beginning, cliched, repetitive, and affected.

'An instant in the wind' is a novel of exploration at two levels. On the one hand, it explores the beautifully cruel South African landscape between the Great Fish River and Table Mountain, passing through the Tsitsikama region and the Karoo Desert; on the other, it intends to explore the psychology between blacks and whites and men and women in the South Africa of the mid-1700s--and, by extension, of 'apartheid' South Africa. Brink's thesis appears (and I emphasize that word, appears) to be that only extreme situtations bring people together, making us forget our racial and sexual differences. However, nothing really illuminating is said, and the very ending is extremely ambiguous, causing one to wonder if Brink did't play a trick on the reader with respect to the intentions of the female character. If he did (and I'm inclined to believe that he did), then the ultimate message of the novel is extremely nihilistic.

Is there anything redeeming in this novel? I found the descriptions of nature superb. The Tsitsikama and Karoo truly come to life the way Brink describes them, and Table Mountain becomes truly magnificent. This background, perhaps, makes the novel worth reading.

This novel transcends the category of fiction (which tells a story) and deserves to be classified as literature (a story that yields profound insights into the human condition). Though told primarily from the Dutch viewpoint, there are a few key sympathetic indigenous characters here and Sleigh's contempt for the Dutch strategy of conquest by means of deliberately addicting native Africans to alcohol and tobacco (that they can only get by cooperating with the Europeans) is evident. The "Islands" of the title are both individual human beings and small outlying settlements of colonists struggling to survive and to gain economically. Looming over all these stories is the all-powerful Dutch East India Company a behemoth of unbending, beaucratic greed that grinds down employee and foe alike. Maps would have been very helpful. It's also true that the language of this book is at times demanding (there are too many untranslated terms), but even this adds a tang of authenticity and reminds us that this story could only have been told with such depth and understanding by a South African.

A prize-winner in its native Afrikaans language, this edition has been translated by Andre Brink. Dense, rich prose (very hard to read but worth the effort) and detailed historical facts are crammed into this book (the author worked in the National Archives in Cape Town). Recommended.

The epic novel Islands, by Dan Sleigh is an ambitious first novel covering the first fifty years of the Dutch settlement at the Cape of Good Hope in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. It is a fascinating novel thoroughly researched by Sleigh and constructed from factual accounts, official records and personal letters.

Islands is the life stories of seven men who are all connected in one way or another to the beautiful Pieternella, the daughter of a Dutch surgeon Peter Havgard and Eva, a Hottentot woman. Pieternella is the offspring of the first mixed marriage in the new colony.

Islands is a haunting drama filled with excitement, greed, power, intrigue, war and individual courage. At times the novel is absolutely spectacular and at other times the story seems to drag a bit. The book is well over 700 pages so it takes commitment to begin the story. But overall it is a mesmerizing saga; one that will keep you turning the pages and have you considering the story and history long after you've finished it. This is a novel that will be appreciated by those who particularly enjoy historical writings.

This is essentially a history of South Africa from the first Dutch outpost built to service their ships in post. It is a familiar story: civilization is rife with such tales, the indigenous lands overtaken by a superior force with the tools to outlast those who have depended on the land for their livelihood. When the Hollanders first arrive on the shores of South Africa in 1650, the natives are guided by their English-speaking Chief Harry (Herri), who interfaces with the Dutch for the benefit of the tribe, the Goringhaicona. The natives expecting the Dutch to sail away; instead they plant their flag, designating this place a Dutch port. The natives are expected to abide by the same law as the settlers, Haerlem's Law: work first, then eat.

The pivotal character in the novel is Pieternella, daughter of a Dutch surgeon and a Hottentot woman, Eva (Krotoa), who lost the allegiance of her tribe by working for the newcomers on what was formerly grazing land. The surgeon, Peter Havgard, was attracted to Eva, renamed by the Hollanders. When Eva becomes pregnant with their child, she loses her place in both worlds, belonging fully to neither. In an effort to supplement their income, Peter goes on a series of expeditions to explore the South African land the Dutch are determined to make their own. The Dutch overcome the more primitive Hottentots after a few cruel winters, gradually wearing away their opposition, reducing their numbers by attrition, the usual manner one civilization usurps the lands of another.

It falls to Pieternella to monitor the story of the following years, via her tangential relationship with various characters, contrasting the devastation of her own country with the success of the burghers, who continue to build upon the land, cultivate, breed cattle and establish a presence that overwhelms the few scattered tribes left to oppose the occupation.

In excess of 700 pages, what begins as an interesting turn of history's pages is flattened by detail, in the retelling of a history that is devoid of passion. Perhaps it is the weight of the Dutch personality. With stubborn obsession, the Dutch, once determined upon a course, simply flattens anything that stands in the way. With typical European hubris, it is assumed that the settlers are superior to the natives, that one way of life must dissolve under the onslaught of another. There is a kind of avid brutality in these pages, the determination by the Dutch immutable and unchallenged by an inferior scattering of natives who lived in a simple societal structure. Instead, God and the Company rule this land from the first.

As the various characters evolve in the novel, their voices are eerily similar, the Dutch determined, the natives bewildered and depressed, no one to challenge the might of God or Company. It is hardly shocking that this continent should suffer such violence and political upheaval in later years, finally raising up to challenge the first settlers who claimed the land, denying the rights of indigenous peoples. Luan Gaines/ 2005.

I generally enjoy historical and military fiction, and really liked Foden's first book (The Last King of Scotland), however this novel of the Boer War (which, according to Foden, was rushed to publication in order to coincide with the centenary of the war) did little to either entertain, educate, or move me. To be sure, the war-which bridged the 19th and 20th centuries-served both as another signal that the empire was dying, and as a portent of the horrors of World War I, and is thus noteworthy. Unfortunately, Foden's meticulous recreation of the three month siege of the town of Ladysmith, in which about 14,000 British soldiers and 5,000 civilians (of which half were Africans and several hundred, Indian) were subject to daily artillery barrages from huge Boer guns, suffers from an overwhelming number of characters and points of view. There were countless memoirs and histories of the siege, and one gets the feeling that Foden felt the need to cram every perspective into his book, which was apparently inspired by letters written by his great-grandfather, who was a trooper in the war. Indeed, those who've read Thomas Packenham's massive history, The Boer War, will recognize where certain scenes in the novel spring from.

The story is very loosely arranged around Irish hotelier Leo Kiernan's daughter Bella, and her alternating affections amidst the siege But that's only a small slice of the pie, and is rather clumsily portrayed to boot. The real story is about life in the midst of a siege, with all its familiar aspects: rationing, boredom, terror, filth, martial law, blood and guts, and so on. Chronicling all this are a good fifteen different characters, including fictional creations such as Bella, her sister, her father, various soldiers, a Portuguese barber, a Boer doctor, an early motion picture recorder, a Zulu and his wife and son, and real-life figures such as a young Winston Churchill, British journalists Nevinson and George Stevens, and an Indian stretcher bearer by the name of Gandhi. The book runs back and forth amongst these different perspectives, skimming lightly on each before a heavy-handed transition takes the reader to the next scene. None is fully-fleshed out, and Foden's interest in displaying the siege as emblematic of a sea-change in British imperial history leads his characters to speechify. The pronouncements of Churchill and Gandhi are particularly leaden. The resulting stew is an altogether wooden and unsatisfying one, and unlikely to enrich anyone's understanding of the events-although it does convey the sense of an aging empire muddling into quicksand.

Do not be misled by the jacket cover-a photograph of a beautiful young woman in Victorian dress gazing wide-eyed at an idyllic background scene and suggesting a romantic interlude. The jacket blurb itself refers to a "young woman who finds love and freedom in the midst of a devastating war" and goes on to suggest that this is her story.

Perhaps the publisher is being deliberately ironic here. Ladysmith, South Africa, was the site of one of the most horrific and bloody episodes in the whole sad story of the Boer War, a war that was waged between England and Holland for control of another country's riches and in which thousands of native, as well as foreign, people met unnecessary and unimaginably gory ends. And Foden describes this horror without reservation. I can assure you, "love story" is not what you will remember or care about here.

Foden's characters come from the British ruling class, British journalists (including Winston Churchill), British and Irish regiments, British settlers and expatriates, Indians (including Mahatma Gandhi), native families displaced by the war, and, of course, the Boers. The reader quickly becomes caught up in the lives of individuals from each of these groups, feeling genuine sympathy for many of them and mourning the tragedies which befall them all as the siege and the skirmishes continue unabated. Like the siege itself, there's a hopelessness to each of their stories, which Foden carries to their conclusions (in some cases at the end of World War II) by appending a final section aptly entitled "Monologues of the Dead." This is a beautifully wrought story of unimaginable carnage.

Foden's The Last King of Scotland was an unusual novel, and so well-written, that it was to be feared his second would fall short - such is not the case. He has produced a rip-roaring account of the seige of the town of Ladysmith during the Boer War of 1899, filled with memorable characters both fictional and real (Churchill, Ghandi, Buller, Kitchner). The harrowing account of the suffering of civilians and soldiers during the seige is unforgettably brought to life. Although described as a love story, the romance element plays a secondary role in this gripping historical novel. The writer's style may appear to be hit or miss at first --so many characters, so many differing viewpoints --but the reader comes to understand that the very uncertainity of the style is a mirror reflection of the uncertainty of the lives and times of the people involved. I thought that the last section, "Monologues of the Dead", was a most fitting end for a really good book.

THIS IS AN INTERESTING READ, PARTICULARLY FOR SOMEONE INQUISITIVE ABOUT HISTORY AND AT TIMES SITUATIONS LEADING UP TO WORLD WAR II. THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND SEEMS ACCURATE AND THE CHARACTERS REAL. FOR AWHILE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BOOK THE PACE OF THE STORY SLOWS SOMEWHAT, BUT THAT IN ITSELF BLENDS WITH THE ACCOUNT OF THE LONG SIEGE OF THE SMALL SOUTH AFRICAN TOWN OF LADYSMITH BY THE BOER FORCES IN 1899. SOME HISTORICAL CHARACTERS ARE REFERRED TO INCLUDING LIEUTENANT WINSTON CHURCHILL, GENERAL BULLER AND OTHERS, BUT THE STORY FOCUSES MAINLY ON THE INTERACTION OF BIRTISH SOLDIERS AND LOCAL TOWNSPEOPLE AND THE WAY THEY DEAL WITH THE SIEGE OF THER TOWN AND WITH THEMSELVES. EACH SETTLER HAS A DIFFERENT STORY AND REASON FOR BEING IN THAT PLACE AT THAT TIME. ALL ARE WAITING FOR THE RELIEF OF LADYSMITH, IF IT COMES. THIS NOVEL IS A TYPE OF FORCAST FOR SOME ASPECTS OF MODERN WAR AND SIEGE SITUATIONS THAT ARE PLAYED OUT TO-DAY.