South Africa Books

I was not able to put this book down..the politics of South Africa seemed to put the reader in a very frightening place and sadly have things changed that much???

Written by one of music's most promising stars, Shadow People provides a unique and authentic portrait of Durban, Cape Town's District Six and Jo'burg's Sophiatown exactly fifty years ago.

Dhava Aiengar is a young pianist with brilliant prospects, but he has one problem: he is an "Indian" in apartheid South Africa. He is not allowed to travel and work where he likes or love whom he likes, and he spends most of his time dodging the police, Zulu rioters, Indian gangs and white thugs. Driven by a passion for music, Dhava, along with his friends Claude Tshikalange and Micah Bernhardt, defies everything apartheid stands for. They live life to the full, achieving acclaim and adoration from the townships to the most exclusive whites-only clubs... until the sinister machinery of apartheid starts to turn against them.

Shunna Pillay sang in Alfred Herbert's African Jazz and Variety, alongside such luminaries as Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba and Dorothy Masuka. He resides in New York City and Connecticut.

In 2003, Hugh Masekela was featured in the documentary film Amandla!, about how the music of South Africa aided in the struggle against apartheid. In 2004, he released his autobiography, Grazin' in The Grass: The Musical Journey of Hugh Masekela, which thoughtfully details his struggles against apartheid in his homeland.

Hugh Masekela says, "Shunna Pillay tells this story of South Africa's 1950s with a deep sympathy for all those human beings in the world who yearn for freedom, liberty and the right to enjoy life on this earth ... This is a brilliant tale, told with the lack of fear which finally drove Shunna out of his country of birth."

This book covers South African covert operations from the 1960s to 1980s. It gives details of many undercover operations as far afield as Nigeria and includes many counter-insurgency operations and meddling in the affairs of South Africa's neighboors including raids on Maputo and Lesotho and Gabarone in Botswana. A very interesting, rip roaring account. Perhaps more interesting to those interested in the military than those interested in politics.

Seth J. Frantzman

This book is for people that now what it is like to go that bit further to achieve an objective. It is easy reading, i couldn't put the book down. You have to take a step back and appretiate what these men went through. There is only one thing that comes to mind, they are harder than a bag of hard things, without a dought!

The fundamental question that Mr Steinberg wrestles with is why people may choose not to take drugs that may preempt death. His honesty, sensitivity and tenacity enable him to explore the dynamics of a rural South African community in a way that I've not encountered. And yes, the man can write.

Heartwrenching account of the conflicts between modern medicine and daily life in Africa in the midst of the worlds most horrific AIDS epidemic. A stirring call for action and compassion. Should be required reading for all world leaders.

This is an indispensible reference for anyone interested in the truth about Rhodesia's declaration of independence in 1965 - the principal personalities and their motivations at the time.

Dr Wood introduces his book with the claim that "Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, has been ill-served by her historians" and that "the economy has been studied without reference to the policy-making in the Cabinet Room".

With privileged access to Ian Smith's Cabinet Papers, Dr Wood's careful study provides new insight into the contrasting positions and ambitions of the Rhodesian and British ministers.

J.R.T. Wood has accomplished what many current historians fail to do. He has assembled a massive amount of information from diverse sources and analysed a complex series of events to explain why things happened the way the did. His subject is the complex relations between Great Britain, Rhodesia, the Commonwealth, and the world community that lead to the Unilateral Declaration of Indepence on 11 November 1965.

This event was recently recalled in a series of 40-years-on conferences, including one by the London School of Economics in January 2006 (sponsered by the Cold War Studies Centre), that indicates the degree of importance this event had for Great Britain as it divested itself from empire in the period 1959 to 1965. These events were complicted by the Cold War and economic necessities at a time of rising Third World expectations in the lee of the "winds of change."

Richard Wood has done a service in a neglected area of modern history that too often has been made an ideological football rather than a subject for serious analysis. This he has provided from the primary sources of those involved. It is to bad that an institutional sponser has not recognized this and supported the work of what is the first of a proposed three volume study.

This beautifully illustrated children's book introduces children to an "Africa" they do not see portrayed very often. The main character, a young boy named Asraf, takes the reader into his world, and helps children understand that there is incredible diversity within the African continent. This is sure to delight you and your children, as you discover together the many aspects of Ashraf's life and dreams.

If you are committed to reducing stereotypes you'll love this one. A South African child walks thru the South African city where he lives. He's dressed much like my grandson in northern California. Here are stop lights, trucks and cars, airplanes and a typical South African shopping area. He visits the library to renew his favorite book about other areas of Africa areas where lions and crocodiles live, an Africa he has seen only in books. Suitable for 3 thru adult.

The Songs Of Soweto enters the South African political dialogue with enough edge to swing the faces of old foes apart and to demand to know - - when to meet in truth?

James Burger
- Writer

The Songs of Soweto enters the South African political dialogue with enough edge to swing the faces of old foes apart and demand to know- - when do we meet in truth?

James Burger
- Columbia University

Martin Heigan is a brilliant photographer who uses his skills to give specialists and casual observers alike a stunning glimpse of some of the rarer exotic flora unique to the African continent. He advances a vibrant selection of Stapeliads to represent the beauty and intricacy of his native environment.

This marvelous book surprises enthousiasts of succulent plants as well as everyone who loves to detect the wonders of nature. Martin Heigan is a great photographer and an expert of the succulent plants of his homeland South-Africa. He manages to capture the beauty of these unusual, rare plants right where they live: true hidden treasures of remote, arid regions. This book does not want to be a botanical treatise, however, the stunning macro photos lead into a fascinating world of simple elegance, magnificence and symmetry of astonishing Stapeliad flowers.

Thomas Peschak is an expert on the subject, an engaging writer, a world-class photographer, and a passionate adventurer - truly a rare combination of talents and interests. Fantastic read, fantastic images. Highly recommended.

A book for the fans of the great white shark ...very good pictures,the essential guide for this shark in South Africa

James Stevenson-Hamilton was the chief architect of South Africa's marvelous Kruger National Park, a hunter, naturalist and natural politician, he managed to navigate all of the obstacles to conserving wildlife and indeed defining what conservation meant. This is a very well-written book describing from his standpoint how it all came about.

This book is the facintaing story of the birth of the Kruger National Park in South Africa. Set at the turn of the last century it charts the epic struggle of how one man changed the hearts of a nation which had hitherto treated wild animals only for sport.

The regular encounters with lions and other wild animals add extra excitement. This book must be read by anyone who has an interest in conservation or african wildlife.

Though now somewhat dated I kept this book handy when I was working as an unclassified reference. Much detail not found elsewhere.

I orginally owned the book in the 90s found it a useful and comprhensive look into a different war in a different time.