South Africa Books

If you love hunting and Africa this is the book for you. It is all hunting. There is somethings about the people. A little about his guns, but he went on to become one of the greatest African hunters ever. The great game reserve of Tanzania is named for him. I loved this book. It is direct and to the point, hunting, hunting and more hunting. Read it and enjoy. thanks

If you are into reading about old time African hunters, this book is one you must have on your shelves. He was obviously a very tough man who lived a life full of adventure. If you read many other old time African hunters, you will find this book to complement others. Well worth buying.

Brilliantly, achingly rendered, a wonderful read. Spend some time with the Pifer family in South Africa in the 1930's and '40s. You'll come away with a love of these people and a deep affectionate knowledge of this vast and challenging country.

Inside all of us there is a compelling need to read something of our own history, something that is quaint and undiscovered. And it is here that the attraction of Innocents in Africa lies. It is a beautifully written book, about Drury Pifer's childhood growing up in Africa - the unique insight of an American family, unfettered by the conventions of British, German and Afrikaner society, trying to make their way in the world. The reader is easily transported back to Southern Africa of the 1930s and 40s, to Nigel, a dreary mining town near Johannesburg, and to the windswept desert beaches of South West Africa. It is a story of childhood memories, charmingly told, lyric sentences bringing alive a place whose history needs to be delved. But more than that, it also manages to pose the important questions of the day, in a delightfully apolitical but nevertheless pertinent manner. Most of all however, I will treasure this book because of what it records - an account of unchanging small-town life somewhere in Africa, where previously I only had my parents' oral anecdotes of their own childhood to rely on. When Pifer describes `Time in Oranjemund' as bearing `no relationship to whatever time has since become. A day then lasted a year, or a lifetime'...even I can relate. It is nostalgic. It is the poignant tale of a family's quest for a living in the mining towns of Southern Africa, based on their blind American optimism that ability will bring promotion. In Africa, the Pifer family would ultimately only find disappointment, and yet the author notes, `these would be our family's happiest few years, but how could we know that?'

I discovered the book accidentally, read it, and was delighted. I am now recommending it to everyone.

Having visited South Africa, I have become interested in all things African. This book covers a lot of regions in pictures, and I am pleased with its presence on my coffee table. It makes me want to see even more of Africa.

This book and the companion North and East volume are extraordinarily beautiful and offer images of a rich array of African homes -- traditional, contemporary and intermingled. The photography is excellent and offers images of architecture, art, landscapes and lives. Highly recommended.

I just finished reading this book for the third...fourth...fifth? time and still find it wonderful. I probably first encountered it at the age of 10, and now in middle age I find it just as enjoyable. Waldeck interweaves the story of Sur-Dah the lion, the village of Kaweyo, and various events on the veldt wonderfully, really putting the reader right in the middle of the action. I have already read his Jamba the Elephant and look forward to reading his other titles as well. A breezy read that is great for the youngster and all the young at heart. Enjoy!

This is an enjoyable book, if a bit of an anachronism. Dont allow yourself to be PC'ed into not enjoying it. Waldeck had an interesting life and I find his writing style enjoyable, even though, like I said, it is a bit dated. "Treks across the Veldt" is also very good, but "The White Panther" is head and shoulders above anything Waldeck has written. Unfortunately, all these books are going to cost you 40 bucks or so. "The White Panther" is especially costly and hard to find. I got lucky and was the sole bidder for a copy on Ebay and so I did Ok. The other books can be sometimes be found at a more reasonable price. Most likely, if these books were not an integral part of your childhood you wont want to pay so much for them, but if you can find them at an OK price you should enjoy adding them to your library.

To read Marlene Jeanrenaud's latest book is to find yourself travelling right alongside the narrators as the captivating voices of Jeanrenaud, husband Pierre and their friends, notably, Otto, draw you into voyages that span the four corners of the African continent. Read Jeanrenaud's book and experience some of the magic of Africa firsthand.

This book is wonderful, the writitng excellent and it is obvious to me that the writer's heart remains firmly in Africa. The writer evokes not only an emotion but also a deep connection to this vast and mysterious continent. I could not put the book down, I had to read on and experience all her tales around the campfire. A great buy, you won't be disappointed... Marlene Jeanrenaurd is a perfect Ambassador for Africa; for its people, for its culture and for its timeless beauty.

This is a very entertaining book which may be easily read within a couple hours. I found myself laughing out loud at many of his stories, amazed by others and shocked by a few. As a young urologist in training in south africa, despite the technological advancements in recent years in the specialty, it is interesting to note that many experiences of surgical training remain unchanged despite the more than 40 years that have passed. I feel that this book may be enjoyed by medical and non-medical person alike. The author comes across as a very humble caring person - an unfortunately rare presence in the medical profession - with a great sense of humour. If you enjoy Atul Gawande's books, you should enjoy this.

For anyone interested in the medical field, or in South Africa, this is a must read. Mr. Naude's experiences with many of the key players in pre- and post-apartheid South Africa are relayed with candor and humor. Mr. Naude offers first-hand accounts and insights from his friendships with everyone from Alan Paton to Christian Barnard to Bishop Desmond Tutu. The book also chronicles Mr. Naude as a young medical student struggling to find his footing, and ultimately achieving great success in his chosen field. I found the book to be compelling and thoroughly enjoyable.

I hate leaving a book less than 5 stars, I really do. The book has lots of information and important facts about Mandela, but the problem I have is "ease of readability." There were so many things I just couldn't understand due to the author's extremely large vocabulary and phrasing. I suppose maybe that's my fault on some level, but the phrasing was so difficult I only grasped a small percentage of the book. Yes, there are lots of photos. Yes, there are handwritten pages Mandela wrote from his cell (none of which I could legibly read), as well as tons of dates and credits to acknowledgements. Unfortunately, I've decided to leave this book on the shelf.

Nelson Mandela stands as a Beacon in South Africa, Africa, and the rest of the world as an example of what a political leader should be. Not only was he largely responsible for the 'one person one vote' changes in South Africa, but then after he was elected president he served one term and retired. This is very un-politician like. Especially in the third world politicians seem to stay in office until they die. Then again, there was FDR in this country.

This is a splendid book. It is profusely illustrated, and not quite a biography so much as a tribute. There are dozens of comments, interviews, documents from the time, historical reports and so on that record his struggle.

Mandela did marvelous things, great things. I wonder though what will be the story of South Africa after he and his legacy are gone. There are political movements afoot there who preach that the whites should all be kicked out, that their property should be confiscated, and that South Africa will be like the rest of Africa in poverty and misery.

So intersting to read.he is confident in his words.I recommand this book to any people that are idealizied

The writer does an excellent job filling in the background of apartheid and the actions of the South African government in the early 1900's and the 1950's when the most reprehensible government policies were created. The descriptions of the country's jails and Mandela's stay at Robbin Island makes you ill but increase your respect for Mandela and all other political prisoners. Meredith also does a good job describing the sulkiness of De Klerk and his disappointment at not being recognized equally as Mandela for ending apartheid...maybe if he had been in prison for 29 years...

The Middle of Somewhere by Sheila Gordon is a fascinating story about apartheid, the system that kept whites and blacks apart. The book shows the determination and bravery of a young black South African girl's struggle to save her village. Nine year old Rebecca is terrified that bulldozers might come and demolish her house to build a village for white people. As Rebecca copes with her fears, her best friend moves away. That's when Rebecca's family joins the fight to save her village. The Middle of Somewhere illustrates how people in South Africa lived during apartheid. I recommend this book because it teaches an important lesson about life and people's attitudes about other people who are different. The lesson is that being prejudiced against other people is wrong. Also, this book is continuously suspenseful. I was on the edge of my seat because something breathtaking was always happening. The author really makes apartheid come alive for the reader. Although the Middle of Somewhere is a moving story, it is not very long. However, the book has enough detail to draw you in. I am glad the author didn't use a lot of descriptive African words because I don't understand the local language. The Middle of Somewhereis a captivating story about apartheid, and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about this subject.

The book introduces the reader to the very serious issue of South African Apartheid while still conveying the authentic emotions of the characters in the story. Most remarkable is how the reader is immersed in the story and in the perspective of a nine-year old girl. The author makes the reader both sympathize and empathize with the sadness, confusion, and loneliness that Rebecca feels throughout the story. Also noteworthy is that Gordon does not answer every question that the reader may have which encourages further reading and research in the subject.

More children's books should be written about this very important and contemporary issue, since there are still issues about racial inequality in South Africa even after the alledged end of the Apartheid.

A great story for ages ten and up.

Fascinating reading and well worth the purchase if you're interested in the area or thinking of going. Don't try reading it all at once, it's good for dipping in and out. Nice escape.

Climbing palms. Seven-inch monkeys. Twenty-foot anacondas. Bats with two-foot wingspans. Five-inch spiders. Bloodthirsty insects. Methods of river travel. Torrential downpours. Indigenous peoples.

Henry Walter Bates' personal narrative of exploring and naturalizing in the Amazon Basin is both an enjoyable read and one of immense importance to natural history.
From 1848-1859 Bates traveled throughout the Amazon and its many tributaries taking notes on everything from the natural world to the cultures and customs of the many native and non-native peoples he encountered.
His observations of animal mimicry (now known as Batesian Mimicry) further glued Darwin's theory of evolution, natural selection and adaptation.

The reader is easily lured into Bates' descriptive writing style. Energetic, expressive and vigilant, we are right there alongside him traveling through the murky dark waters of the upper Amazon or up close with a scrutinizing eye to observe the ants, monkeys and butterflies. He was a keen and enthusiastic witness to a world slowly disappearing.

The only shortcoming to the book is that it is extremely lengthy. Maps and diagrams would have been helpful.