South Africa Books

Evelyn Waugh compares his 1930 trip to Abyssinia to cover Haile Salessie's coronation to 'Alice in Wonderland', but there's something 'Brigadoon' about his whole journey to alien Africa, where intolerable heat, unreliable timetables and capricious inhabitants seem eminently preferable to the noisy social inanity back in England, so familiar to us from his classic comic novels.

Waugh divides his African travel book into two sections (one dealing with the Abyssinian trip, the other with an extended tour through Zanzibar, Kenya, Uganda, the Congo and South Africa), and three nightmares, vividly detailing the various, accumulative problems that beset the traveller, such as unhelpful officials and lousy food. Waugh is a much more sympathetic voyager than the more heroic likes of Chatwin or Raban - his whining about lack of bath water or pesky mosquitos is more refreshing than some writers' spiritual journeys.

Despite his attempts at objectivity, 'Remote people' is written, as we might expect, from a very jaundiced viewpoint. Waugh's experiences aren't really 'Alice' at all, simply a concatenation of minor mishaps, local eccentricites and cultural differences in very poor countries that only a very insulated Englishman would blow up and find surreal. Some of Waugh's ill-advised political theorising, especially his unconvincing defence of the notorious white settlers in Kenya's Happy Valley, make for distinctly ncomfortable reading, although one is grateful for Waugh's evident and lucid integrity to his own beliefs. It is surprising in a book of 1931 to see how many of the issues raised by post-colonial theory were already being painfully argued about.

Of course, we don't read Waugh for politics or sympathy to foreigners. Although written in a more descriptive, less dialogue-driven style than the novels, we find the same account of bewildered, uprooted Modern Man faced with the problems (and comedy) of the simple fact of other people (American professors absurdly reverent of Ethiopian religious practice; Seventh Day Adventists prone to seasickness; colonial magnates encouraging staff and guests to climb life-threatening volcanos etc.). The travelogue is less interesting than the rich set-pieces - the Abyssinian coronation; the bathetic trip to an ancient monastary; a rooftop cinema where the audience wilt sleepily in the sun; the efforts of native scouts to light a fire; a berserk ship journey down river with the captain trying to shoot game from his cabin, his passengers leaping off to search for any hits.

There can be no doubt that, of all the books written on Zulu history, this is the kingpin of them all. It is doubtful that any author will exceed the work done here by Laband. The book is painstakingly written, with an incredible eye for detail, and it remains at all times entertaining and absorbing. There are also shortcomings, although these cannot be construed as downfalls. The most striking is that while Professor Laband is the ultimate expert on the reign of Dingane and beyond, he does not dedicate nearly as much attention to the early years of the Zulu kingdom, particularly from 1787 to 1828. This is regrettable, but understandable considering that there is so much that remains unknown and mired in mythology with respect to Shaka's era. Lastly, Laband's attention to detail, particularly noticeable in the Notes section and in the index, makes this a book no self-respecting Zulu scholar can be without.

In his work titled The Rise of Africa Slavery in the Americas, David Eltis approaches the subject with the aim of highlighting "the tensions that emerge as people pursue goals, moral or material, that cannot be achieved at once or are at odds with some aspect of their individual or their system of belief." Here, Eltis attempts to clarify the "How?" of slavery. While offering a great insight into the intentions and rational of European enslavement of Africans, Eltis does not provide a revolutionary new view of slavery. His work is centered around proving that "it was not just European power and resources that made overseas expansion possible, but also the subcontinent's odd social structure and values." Eltis adds support to the evidence that Africans not only played a significant role in the development of the Atlantic Slave Trade but that the success of the trade was more due to the strengths of the African traders and the strength of number among the enslaved.

First published in 1928 when his South African days were well over, this book provides invaluable insight into Gandhi's Satyagraha in South Africa. It is the place where his religious and philosophical commitment to non-violence began. Sadly an increasingly rare find, this book offers some mixed biographical overview with commentary about the strength and limitations of satyagraha, as well as the important first members to make it work. Gandhi was not alone, but had invaluable help from Muslims, European Christians, Parsis and many others.

This book, the Savage system by David Chidester highlighting colonialism and comparative religion in Southern Africa has proven the validity of Edward Said's thesis on Orientalism. In his Foucauldian work Orientalism. Said affirms that orientalism is an attempt to understand society group along with its culture in a way they look themselves. In another word, it is looking at society with your own perspectives. (Said, 1979) Unfortunately, as the orientalists were the references of the colonial power, it was one of the tools to hegemonize the power. The colonialists interpret the colonilized people in a way they want to prolong their colonialization. It was the power of knowledge. Once Said says in PBS TV: They (the Western sources) look the Arab, in a way I never understand it was my culture" David Chidister approaches similarly in his determination of comparative religions in Southern Africa in three periods; frontier, imperial, and Apartheid.

The frontier period, is the oldest period of comparative religion on southern Africa. In that, the earliest frontiers described African as people with no religion. no gods no worship, no temple. They similiarized African people with animal uncivilizedThe Imperial period is after the frontier era that is within the earlier days of colonial era. Not so much different from the previous period, the description of African people in this period is negative. African is just above the animal the have only the savage religion. They worship natural stuffs like three, animals, idols, stones, ect.

The apartheid comparative religion, although has been in a modern period, describes the African as just its previous period in which African were uncivilized, no religions and hold primitive religions in which Africans are described as worshipping the moon and the sun.

The three periods as Chidester highlights is in an accordance with his main thesis that comparative religions (religious study?) were very European centric. What was perceived as religion should fit with the European thought of religions. There should be one God, sanctuary, and prophet. Agreed with Foucault approach Chidester reveals this doles not successfully reveals what actually the reality belonged to African.

I think Chidester deserves appraise as he has successfully elaborated the European centric even in the comparative religions. Just as the same phenomena described for the colonized people in Malay and Indonesia or some Middle Eastern countries that Edward Said reveals. No other orientation in that creation except an attempt to marginalize the colonized people and to keep them colonized. It is undeniably true.

Many conservatives believe in a myth that apartheid-era South Africa was well-managed and prosperous. In reality, when Nelson Mandela and the ANC came to power in 1994, they inherited a near-broke government and a very sick economy. Inflation was high, investment low, and growth negative. The white-owned corporate sector was risk-averse and oligopolistic. The distribution of income was the most unequal in the world, and, worst of all, the workforce had been hobbled by decades of education and job policies that had deskilled the majority black population. To create an enclave of privilege for whites, apartheid had wrecked the wider economy.

This book by Alan Hirsch, an economic advisor to President Thabo Mbeki, tells how the ANC responded to these huge challenges. Most of the news is good: the ANC adopted a market-friendly but social democratic approach to economics that restored public finances, resuscitated the economy (GDP growth is now almost 5 percent per year) and began to address the horrible social legacies of apartheid. Chapters deal with specific topics such as black economic empowerment, unemployment, trade policy, and macroeconomic stability. Technical issues are helpfully framed within the context of South African and ANC history. The writing is clear and straightforward. Anyone interested in modern South Africa should read the book -- not least white skeptics who warned that majority rule would lead to socialism, dictatorship and economic ruin.

Why did I give the book only four stars? For one thing, Hirsch isn't free to write frankly about debates inside the government or ANC, since hs still works for Mbeki. This limits the book's value as history. For the same reason, Hirsch can't own up squarely to ANC policy failures, such as the devastating growth of unemployment after 1994. This reticence is especially blatant on the subject of HIV/AIDS, which Hirsch barely mentions even though it's the biggest social and economic problem facing South Africa today. (Self-censorship at the top levels of the ANC has crippled discussion of HIV/AIDS ever since Mbeki embraced quack medical theories about the epidemic.) My final complaint is stylistic: Hirsch's narrative occasionally lapses into tedious summaries of research papers and policy documents, as if he went on automatic pilot while writing.

But these are quibbles rather than serious criticisms. Hirsch has written an intelligent and well-informed book, one that punctures myths on both the left (that the ANC "sold out" the revolution) and the right (that the ANC is extremist and anti-business). It makes a very constructive contribution to the public debate in South Africa, and deserves to be widely read and pondered.

Because this book was released at the same time as John Laband released "Rope of Sand" there were bound to be comparisons, but Taylor escaped virtually unscathed. While Laband's masterpiece is majestic and quite brilliant, Taylor has assured his readers of an entertaining journey through nineteenth-century Zululand. Although there is no ground-breaking material contained in the book, it is well-researched and cleverly written. Taylor quotes extensively from the James Stuart Archives and other reliable sources. Sometimes, for instance when he writes about the relationship between the young Shaka and his mother Nandi, the tone becomes cluttered with melodrama. But there is no doubt that the age was one of great drama, and so Taylor is excused the verbose frillings. In conclusion, then, this is a fine historical book, worthy of any library and a tempting setwork for future South African history scholars.

An account of the attempt by the South African secret police on Albie Sachs' life while he was in exile in Maputo Mozambique during the 1980s.

These collection of stories are well put together and are very well written and i am looking forward to reading another book. I would recommend this book, but there are a few down sides.

An easy to read book about the author's travels in South Africa. His journey begins in Cape Town and his route takes him up and through the Western Cape to the Northern Cape and across to Johannesburg, to Durban, Port Elizabeth and back to where he began his journey in Cape Town, visiting many interesting and familiar named places on the way. Never boring, and delightful glimpses of a way of life sometimes very different from that perceived here in the U.K.