South Africa Books

The setting for this book is Cape Town in the 1970's where races are still divided with buses and benches clearly marked as "whites only" and racial demarcation is very much a fact of life. Ruby and Rose are orphaned sisters who are being brought up in a convent following the death of their mother. Their only other relatives are the family of their mother's sister, Olive, an overbearing, selfish woman who allows them to visit her just once a month for lunch and where she belittles them from sheer spite and nastiness. Ruby, the elder, is the more level headed of the two and when she leaves the convent to work, finds a place where Rose can eventually join her. Rose marries young when she quickly finds a kind man to look after her but Ruby educates herslf with correspondence courses until she achieves a diploma in business practices and gets a good job with a large fish cannery. An extremely reserved young woman, she is overwhelmed when she catches the eye of a wealthy man with whom she continues a love affair for many years but who leaves her finacially secure. It's a plaintive love story...love between sisters and a somwhat tentative love for a man, but a sad one also as poor Ruby never seems to achieve happiness.

Nigeria and South Africa are the two largest countries in Africa, as measured by their economies. Each aspires to lead Africa. Each has continental dreams, supported by differing visions. Mazrui spends some time detailing these aspirations. It is not a book about economics, but more about broader cultural issues.

Both are multiparty democracies. With many ethnic groups and languages. But Nigeria's democracy is flawed by systemic corruption. And since apartheid ended in South Africa, the latter has now emerged in the eyes of many Africans as a legitimate role model for Africa. The book looks at the leaderships in both countries. Many figures have had to struggle against repression. While South Africa has decades-long apartheid, Nigeria had a string of generals and one party rule.

Overall, one impression from the book is that South Africa offers a better model.

Dick Hobson's "Tales of Zambia" is probably not commonly available outside of England and the country of Zambia itself. I lived in Zambia for a good part of my life and picked up my copy of the book there.

"Tales of Zambia" is a collection of 86 separate short vignettes about Zambian history, culture, nature and natural wonders. It is illustrated with a great number of photographs. In my copy, they're all black and white. I'm not sure if the hardcover is the same.

Among the stories, there are short accounts of grass burning in the bush to catch rodents, the establishment of the Munda-Wanga Botanical Gardens outside of Lusaka, the Chirundu Fossil Forest (now mostly destroyed by neglect and ravaging tourists), and the Livingstone Memorial where Dr. David Livingston was buried. There are also accounts of the discovery of Victoria Falls and the amazing disaster and recovery during the Mufulira copper mine Collapse in the 1970's.

For the most part, I think this a book that would appeal to people who have lived in Zambia, or have a distinct interest in this region of Africa. As I said, the vignettes are of a very nostalgic nature and have their greatest appeal for someone familiar with the country.

I myself enjoyed the book greatly. It reminded me of home.

This review was originally published in 1989.

Stories by white, anti-apartheid South African exiles have no appeal. Such writers have taken themselves out of history. The minds we want to get into belong to the boers, the hardline Afrikaners; but they do not write elegant short fiction, or, if they do, the editors of American little magazines do not publish them.

But make an exception for Tony Eprile, because he at least realizes he's running away from a complicated problem. South Africa is not just a racist country, it is a racist modern country. The zealots who want the American governments and/or corporations to disinvest there may be able to add a small shove that eventually will topple racism; but what will uphold modernity?

They should at least read "The Ugly Beetle" and, in their manifestoes, explain how people who set twins out to be trampled by cattle are going to govern a 20th-century state.

Or perhaps they would be willing to see southern Africa revert to 19th century conditions. Apartheid as a legal system was only 40 years old, after all, when this collection was published in 1989. But 19th century conditions included the mfecane or "crushing" of the Bantu farmers by the Zulus.

Epile does not mention the mfecane. I bring it up only because I doubt whether the anti-apartheid moralizers have ever heard of it. Eprile is not that kind of political writer.

He strikes me as another George Orwell, who always wanted to write a purely "literary" novel but didn't because the times wouldn't let him. Eprile's interest is focused on the direct relation between two human beings -- a white boy and his black nanny, a young man and his girlfriend; or, on the other side of the coin, a black janitor in a prison or a Greek grocer in his Johannesburg shop, both men deliberately withdrawing from contact with the people around them.

Orwell was like that, too, especially in "1984," but neither can Eprile tell a story without the intrusion of South African politics. It is like the American South of 50 years ago -- everything is valued in the contest of skin color: "The (white) women's voices whine, the men's are suspicious, quick to turn to threat," even when they are just going out to dinner in a nice restaurant.

In a twisted society, even ordinary decent behavior can be politically incorrect. In "A Soweto Education" Teacher Moreno, who chooses a moderate path, ends up a criminal. "His own solitariness and hardworking scholarship would now be seen as clandestine activity by a fugitive and secret plotter of insurrection; the worst students, those who blamed the world for their own shortcomings, would take heart from what they would believe to have been Teacher's role. He saw how easy it was to make a mockery of a man's life, to overturn his dreams and leave him with nothing."

In the end, Eprile's stories deserve attention because they are complex, as the situation in South Africa is complex.

In the 21st century, they still repay reading, because the hard political questions that were left unanswered 20 years ago still need answering. Apartheid was overthrown, but modernity was not upheld.

Carolyn Hamilton writes with a commanding knowledge of her subject, in this case the Zulu founding king Shaka kaSenzangakona. Hamilton's efforts are essential reading for anybody who has wondered about the myth that is Shaka. She shows how he has been used to symbolise Zulu power, and how many Zulu historians have erred by casting him as a villain or a hero without having enough evidence to prove it. Hamilton's approach is highly refreshing. While she always respects the limitations of a subject that has bewildered many, her angle is intriguing. Her work ranks right up there with the great Zulu historians: John Laband, Jeff Guy and John Wright. And that is more than enough reason to purchase this book.

After years of research, Young has produced a very detailed reference work which lists an account of every engagement and battle of the Zulu War. He lists every casualty of each battle, plus estimates of Zulu losses. Many contemporary illustrations of battles & personalities, with citations of honours & awards. London 1992, Greenhill, 6 x 9, 224 pp, numerous illus.

Brown focuses on South Africa's role in the the largely forgotten WWI campaign in German East Africa (roughly modern Tanzania). Profusely illustrated and having numerous good maps, he ranges from the experiences of the Boer leaders to that of the individual troops. Fought under grueling conditions and against a resourceful foe, the South African soldiers performed admirably. Although the author doesn't refrain from criticizing the Boer leadership, the work is decidedly a South African viewpoint. My greatest disappointment was its neglect of the role of Boers in German service in the campaign. Many Boers had trekked to German East Africa rather than submit to British rule and very little information on them has been made available on their service with the Germans.

This book is a great souvenir of your trip to Namibia or a gift to bring back. I'd advise purchasing on line so you don't have to lug your book around, mine got damaged and wasn't suitable to give as a gift. It is pretty general but ideal if you want one book that is affordable and encompases your trip. There is a large section on text in the front which goes into the history of the country and also the different tribal groups. It is very interesting to read before you go. THe remainder of the book is mostly photographs. Some are brilliant.

South Africa is a country of vast contrasts, a rich and brutal history of culture clashes and great beauty. It is the latter that is the subject of this book. In a series of stunning photos with explanatory text, the authors show some of the many sides of the country. From the red sand wastelands of the Kalahari to the lush flora of the wetter regions, the land has many contrasts. The authors state that South Africa has the richest floral kingdom in the world and a few of the flowers are captured in photographs. It also has the world's greatest deposits of diamonds and gold, so the nation's wealth is not only measured in the beauty of the landscape.
Some of the history of the country is also given, especially of the Zulu tribes, one of the few in Africa that was able to resist the European armies for any length of time. I very much enjoyed reading the text and closely examining the photos. Each picture is numbered and the number appears as a note in the text where it is being referenced.

The Anglo-Boer War in South Africa, 1899-1902, may have been known as the 'last gentleman's war' but it also produced some remarkable women. Author Brian Roberts looks at 3 of the lion-hearted females of the conflict and the title of his book is derived from Lord Kitchener's remark about one of them, as 'that bloody woman.' Lady Sarah Churchill, aunt of Winston, was a conventional jingoistic imperialist involved in one of the great sieges of the South African conflict at Mafeking ; Hansie van Warmelo was a staunchly pro-republican Boer (Afrikaner) who worked clandestinely for her people against the British army of occupation ; and of course the female colossus of the war, Emily Hobhouse, still the much-loved Englishwoman amongst Afrikaners for exposing the neglect, incompetence, and the appalling death rate in the British concentration camps. Kitchener loathed her but then he didn't have to face the consequences of his military policy that inflicted misery and death on 26,000 Boer women and children.

The two small Boer republics, the Orange Free State and the South African Republic (Transvaal), ultimately failed in their attempts to beat the British invasion but their heroes and heroines are many - including those mentioned in this fine publication.