South Africa Books

Along with 'you are there' unique descriptions of the recording experience comes details on the music industry's motivations, mbaqanga artists' struggles for professional and political voice, and a discussion of how studios have changed in post-apartheid South Africa.

"Sound of Africa!" should be required reading for anyone interested in the interplay of music and culture. Meintjes uses a Johannesburg recording studio as a space to examine interplays of power, and expressions of self (gender, sexuality, race, nationality, etc) through the recording process. Her subject is the mbaqanga group Izintombi Zesimanje, and her study of them sheds new light on the profundity of mbaqagna, a style all-too-often labeled as shallow.

Meintjes to her eternal credit, is also an excellent writer. The book is not dummied-down, but she writes clearly and succinctly, structuring the book's chapters in a way similar to the recording process. While she is constantly working with rather complex ideas, she is able to lay out her thought process in such a way as to keep the reader engaged and in the light.

Truly fabulous. It is unfortunate that a CD was not included with the book, as hearing the final product immediately after (or during) reading the book would be great.

I read this book after reading several on South Africa, apartheid, Nelson Mandela, and the like. Through fiction and non-fiction I had gained knowledge of terms, concepts, cultural nuances, etc. Through this first hand account of life in the bush, I got a peek into a world that I may never see, but now feel I know and would like to flee the rat race to embrace for a while. Marianne Alverson lets us in to a personal, intimate encounter with a culture, a village, a people, real people who display quirks, experience, wisdom beyond our "civilized" grasp, human feelings, and social demands. Her surprises are our surprises, good and painful. I couldn't put this down, and almost feel as she did when she had to leave this soul-changing experience. I highly recommend this book to any member of the human race. It will offer you a perspective you may never have thought possible. Thank you, Marianne.

This book is a refreshing view of an anthropologist's field work in Botswana, as told by renowned anthropologist Hoyt Alverson's wife, who was transplanted, along with her husband and her sons, to what she thought would be a different world. Her insights into life, particularly women's life, in their village and in general remind the reader that people, even in southern Africa, are afterall people.

Little was public known about the skills of the SAAF pilots and their training. This book is an eye opener on the skills, professionalism and training of the SA Airforce.
If you thought that no airforce in Africa is "third-world", then this book show that you are mistaken.
Air-to-air combat, Groundstrikes far away from homebase into the hornets nest, SAMs chasing your tail, AAA-fire from hell, odds that are against you 100-to-1 -- you find it all in this book.

A great book.If you have any intrest in air combat this book is a must read!It is well written and has a wealth of information on the Mirage F1 aircraft.Brigadier Lord knows his stuff!This book is the best book I have read about the South African Air Force.Vlamgat is a great value for the money it is filled with outstanding photos(many in color)and provides much hard to find info on the aircraft and operations of the SAA.

A deeply moving piece about a young child's memories of growing up in Africa. Lyall Watson relates the stories of dramatic characters that people his childhood, including the dramatic Zulu warrior/healer turned farmer Jabula, his precocious and determined grandmother Ouma and their cunning warthog Hoover. Each page is lovingly illustrated by Keith West in black and white ink, which evoke the distant memories of childhood perfectly.

The stories range from the Watson eating caterpillars with Jabula and his tribe, to leaving his grandfather Oupa upon his death to be eaten by lions, vultures and hyenas, to the warthog Hoover capturing poachers.

Childhood memories are often idealistic. Thus, upon reading this book, one gets the impression that, at least on his grandparents' farm, there were no racial tensions, that everyone lived in perfect harmony. There is little mention of the great injustices forced upon the Zulu and other native peoples of Africa by 'the new people' who happened to be of Watson's race. One wonders what Jabula, who was to have been a clan chief, really thought of working as a farmer under the direction of Watson's grandparents, on land that may have once belonged to his people before it was taken away. How did Jabula and other native Africans working on the farm deal with the injustice and indignities forced upon them by apartheid?

Perhaps Watson did not want to add adult insights which would spoil the childhood innocence permeating the book. Yet, adding even a forward, or a conclusion with some of these lessons would have added much to the book; it would have taught additional valuable lessons to children of all ages.

I bought this book for my daughter, prior to leaving the continent as a sort of rememberance to our lives in Africa. Dr. Watson has done well to capture the essence of life, growing up on a farm in Africa. There is no better place. His story is perhaps fact, perhaps fiction, but is a true to life narrative of what Africa is really like. I have read a few novels that "attempt" to relay the spirit of Africa and its' people, but all too often they are written by travellers or idealistic authors. I commend Dr. Watson for giving us a true to life piece of litrature that is a good read for all, not just children.

Much of South African fiction deals with, by necessity, with the history of racialized oppression. This book takes a look at the post-apartheid South Africa where the old narratives no longer apply so neatly. The result is a wonderfully engaging book that deals sensitively with its characters, flaws and all.

The author writes beautifully and really delves into a number of extremely tough issues (aids, xenophobia, poverty) without being preachy. The story concerns the lives and loves of a couple of lovers and the people around them as they travel from the villages of the Limpopo province to the roughest inner-city neighborhood in Johannesburg. Love is betrayed with painful consequences to their relationship, their lives and those around them. Like any good novelist, Mpe is able to bring to life not only the characters who are struggling to move from poverty and apartheid to prosperity and education in a democratic South Africa, but the society around them.

My words are not doing justice to what a warm, sensitive and humanistic account of South Africans in their very troubled present.

This book was recommended to me as a way to understand what I was seeing as a visitor to S Africa, to get a bit into the inner lives of the characters that I saw as I was working.

It is a very sad story, in the form of a monologue to a dead boy - a squandered talent - and to his lost loves. While the voice is a bit off-putting, addressing the boy as "you" and then referring to everyone else in the third person, I got into the characters and the scene in great depth.

This is a chronicle of several failed attempts to leave a backward and xenophobic village, for a huge ghetto near Johannesburg. It is painful to read, but very very rewarding and an accurate reflection of the crisis in S Africa today, where the entire society seems to be breaking down in violence, Aids, promiscuity, and rape. According to my friends here, it is chillingly real and felt so to me.

Warmly recommended.

Some of the linked stories in this collection were better than others. Freida is Colored in South Africa and becomes the (fat) girl who does well and goes to a private school and later to England. I loved the details - particularly the subtle, non-explaining ways in which Wicomb addresses Apartheid. (sometimes, though, I wanted a little bit of telling to explain some things and make them clearer)

In the final story, Freida is about to have a story collection published, which perhaps means that we can assume there is much autobiography here. Freida/Wicomb feels both shame and guilt and a reluctant love for who she is and where she comes from. And she so wonderfully shows, in the most subtle of ways, how hair is a major political issue for people of color.

Wicomb is simply the most stunning writer I've come across in ages. Written and published during apartheid (1987), the book has a political history of its own. The beauty of this book, though, is that the art comes first and creates a poignant space for Wicomb's deftly-constructed discussions on South African race, class and gender politics. I've read and taught this book for two years and, with each read, it keeps getting better.

This is a sequel to the authors' previous book, ZULU VICTORY (2004), the story of the disastrous British defeat at Isandlwanda early in the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. ZULU VANQUISHED continues the story of the war from February through July 1879, culminating in the overthrow of the Zulu Kingdom after the Battle of Ulundi. This is a very well-written and fast-paced book, based on primary sources, memoirs, and secondary studies, with extensive use of eyewitness accounts by participants. The authors' assessment of the Battle of Hlobane (28 March 1879) is a major contribution that revises earlier studies, based on the previously-unused papers of a colonial officer. Outstanding photographs, many in color, assist the reader in understanding the distinctive terrain features. A must-have for anyone interested in the Zulu War.

Zulu Vanquished proves to be a well written sequel to the authors' first book, Zulu Victory. However, unlike the first book where the prime subject was the Battle of Isandlwana (excellent account), this book deals with the second campaign against the Zulu Kingdom between February to July of 1879. Also missing from this book is the account of Rorke's Drift although with all honesty, there are enough books written about this battle to satisfied anyone and that Rorke's Drift is part of the initial campaign and won't fit into the premise of the second campaign.

The book covers the preparation and actions of the British forces as they recovered from the defeat at Isandlwana and Lord Chelmsford's race to finished off the campaign before his relief from command. One of the main characters of the book lies around the actions and generalship of Colonel Evelyn Wood whose major defeat at Hlobane Mountain one day was off set by his great victory at Kambula the next day. The account of both battles were excellently written and researched by the two authors.

Book continued on until the final battle of Ulundi where the Zulu Kingdom was finally overthrown. Zulu efforts to find a peaceful solution was totally rejected by Chelmsford who needed a military victory to redeemed himself from the shadow of Isandlwana. There's also a nice chapter on the death of Prince Louis Bonaparte which marked this war on the front pages of every European newsapers.

Its pretty clear that the authors' knowledge on this war proves to be very complete. They also seem to have clear understanding of the terrain it was fought under and its conditions. Many first hand sources were used to reflect on numerous incidents of the war. The book also come with clearly marked maps and color photographs.

If there was a weak point in this book, I thought the authors could have gone into the aftermath of the war more deeper. Fate of Lt. Carey whose's action led to the death of Prince Louis remains a mystery unless the reader have a prior background knowledge. However, while the book isn't as detailed as the first one, I believed that the book did great justice to the understanding of this war.

The battle between the British forces and the armies of the Zulu King Cetewayo in 1879 involved some of the largest armies ever arrayed on the side of the "natives" in the colonial wars of the nineteenth century. However, even though the Zulu armies vastly outnumbered the British, the end result was preordained. Nearly all of the Zulu soldiers were armed with shields and a short type of spear while the British forces had cannon and Gatling guns. Given the overwhelming technological superiority of the British, the comparative death rates in the two armies are what you would expect them to be in such battles. There were thousands of deaths in the Zulu armies to at most a few hundred in the British forces.
In this book Clammer describes the early part of the war in exquisite detail. In many cases, the detail is so fine that you have no choice but to question the accuracy. While describing battles in progress, he quotes the comments that the participants supposedly made. This is especially true when the actions of Prince Imperial Louis Napoleon are described. The son of the deposed third Emperor Napoleon of France, the Prince desperately wanted to seek military glory, so he joined the British in their campaign against the Zulus. Impetuous and therefore difficult to control, the Prince managed to get himself killed. Some of the lines he supposedly uttered have the distinct sound of having been altered by an enthusiastic journalist.
Putting aside what appear to be the usual exaggerated claims of precise knowledge, this book is a reasonably accurate rendition of one of the biggest colonial wars of the nineteenth century. Had the Zulus been able to acquire modern weapons, they would have withstood the British, a result that would have dramatically altered the history of Southern Africa.

A reprint in paper of this excellent one volume account of the Zulu War of 1879, taken from official reports and many first person accounts. In the year 1879, the British army invaded Zululand on the grounds of defending the British colony and therefore the Empire. But it was to become a costly and drawn-out struggle in a remote and hostile land, the Zulus vastly outnumbering the British troops.
This book charts in detail the events of the war-from the terrible and bloody massacre of the British by the Zulus at Isandhlwana, through the courageous defence of Rorke's Drift to final victory. The author uses the personal recollections and correspondence of the men involved as well as official reports in this vivid portrayal of one of the most dramatic episodes in military history. * 1989 paper r/p of 1973 ed, 5 x 8, 239 pp, 17 illus, 12 maps, OB's, bibliog, index.

Angus McBride is one of the best Military Illustrators on the scene. His work is always interesting , realistic , convincing & coupled with a very sly sense of humor. If your forte is Military History and want an idea of what a warrior looks like from the past. You could do a whole lot worse than this series. (I myself own over 300 of them and use them a lot in my classroom) The only down side of this series is that the written part is usally not up to the caliber of the illustrations.

This early men-at-arms title is an excellent source on the fighting men of the Zulu Wars, focusing equally on the Zulu themselves and the British and their African allies. The color plates are amongst Angus McBride's earliest, and the book itself is also expertly written by the famous illustrator. Overall, like all men-at-arms titles it is an unrivalled source on the organization, clothing, and weaponry of its subject.

Coetzee's Disgrace is a complicated read and experience for the seasoned novel reader. The protaganist, David Lurie, is an unsympathetic, unlikeable main character. He is a womanizer, immoral, and emotionally immature. We meet him initially as he is engaged in his weekly tryst with a prostitute; we see him through a misguided -- and almost unrealistic -- seduction of one his students, which ultimately leads to his unapologetic downfall within his university community; and then, finally, we watch him physically degenerate through an attack while visiting his daughter's farm. All of his life-altering changes play against the backdrop of a South Africa experiencing its own transition. South Africa's political alteration, though painful, will ultimately lead to a freer and more enlightened society; so, too, will Lurie's recent experiences and growth lead to a more enlightened individual. We can only assume so, given his embracing of a woman who is described as physically unattractive, but emotionally and intellectually beautiful, a far cry from the exotic prostitute and attractive 20-year-old he had been with. Coetzee's language is beautifully sparse, and painful, similar to Ian McEwan's most moving prose.

Disgrace is not about a rape. It is not about an University professor having affairs with students. The fact that he is 50sh, the fact that he has a daughter running a kennel in the countryside are not relevant.

The book is about the condition of living as a white in South Africa today. The rape is not an ordinary rape, it is a bloody premeditated vengeance on an innocent victim who must leave for ever. The living in the country is not an expression of freedom any more. It is nightmare that rapists, African rapists will come again and again and again, until David Lurie's daughter will have to leave.

She wants badly to stay. She even considers that raping is a price she now must pay, for privilege of staying on her property, in country she always lived.This exasperates her father, David Lurie. The hospital of the dogs is mostly doing euthanasia for dogs, while they lick the hands of their executioners, deluded that they will be cured. Professor Lurie, expelled from a decent teaching job, works as hireling in a veterinary clinic, not saving the dogs' lives. Is this the life he wants?

There is no doubt in my mind that this book explains clearly why the only Nobel prize writer had to leave South Africa. He went to Australia, where, Coetzee was received as a hero, after being denied a US residency by a real dimly-lit-minded bureaucrat from INS.

All it's cracked up to be. A tough but fair indictment of men. I'd never read anything like this, subtle and direct, not over the top, which culminated in a twist that broadens and sharpens the message of the book. (Don't want to spoil it). Apartheid and Africa are the backdrops but this is a book about men and women and the life we're in. Read this.

The quick-moving, complex story that is Disgrace is somewhat hard to follow, but provides an interesting read through the narrative focus on the felon rather than the victim. When David Lurie turns to his daughter Lucy's farm in the country, Coetzee's ability to spark the reader's sympathy of the womanizing old man gives the story a whole new meaning by introducing the complexity of Lurie's character. As Lurie redefines his life, the reader gains insight into the reflective predator while maintaining sympathy for the victim. For example, his newfound love and respect of animals opposes his initial conceited view of the world. Additionally, the events in the plot that cause Lurie to act as the hero introduce yet another aspect of his contradictory character to consider. The character traits of the accused introduce a complicated irony to face the reader's initial, straightforward disapproval of Lurie. This complexity is intriguing to comprehend and makes Disgrace impossible to lie down.
While the complex nature of Lurie's personality bends the reader's mind over its seemingly conflicting quality, it also impedes the reader's comprehension at times. Most of the time, the words are creative, understandable choices that convey the message very well; however, even when the writing isn't crystal clear, Coetzee's literary mastery allows the reader to muster the meaning and continue the appealing story. Coetzee creates a very interesting story and unravels an unfortunate event through the eyes of the villain, which provides a surprisingly enjoyable read.

I just finished J. M. Coetzee's Disgrace last night, and woke up this morning thinking that it was loathsome in almost every regard. The very bad behavior of the protagonist is punished, without exception, by the terrible and gratuitous suffering of women, homosexuals, and animals.

Just in case you don't get the point, his redemption, his apotheosis, is seen through his trying to write an opera -- the composition process beautifully well described but founded on the awful, shamelessly sadistic suffering of its female protagonist. Coetzee permits himself literally to scapegoat his repellent hero's suffering on to an abandoned 19th century woman. Asked how to keep the attention of jaded Paris audiences of the Belle Epoque, Victorien "Tosca" Sardou replied, Torture the women. Spielberg's wet t-shirt scenes in Schindler's List spring to mind.

The book is touted as a brave face-to-face encounter with post-apartheid south Africa, which consists, apparently, of miscegenation of every kind, punished by panels composed of mixed race or South Asian women's libber harpies in charge of human rights, or untrammelled by worthless police. The protagonist starts by screwing a prostitute with dark-haired children, presumably Indian, and moves on to a 20-year-old student named Isaacs. His punishment -- literally, his disgrace -- is that his Lesbian daughter should be raped by three black Africans, and not only not bring charges, but not get an abortion, and not leave her hopeless flower business farm in the countryside. Worse, he is forced to screw a deeply unattractive woman who euthanizes the few animals not brutally slaughtered or brutally permitted to reproduce by rapacious, multiplying, mentally deficient, congenitally immoral, and improvident blacks. In case you don't get the point that women are in charge now, on the last page he brings the one dog he has been able to care for to the killer woman for euthanizing. Because he can't keep it up on his own any more.

The misogynism cascading from subsidiary passages entailing dialogue spoken by his ex-wife, or the demands of the educated women of the academic panel which investigates his affair with Isaacs (only the men on the panel are semi-humane) is awful to feel.

And so on.

Um, no.

If I want real black and white race relations, I'll just stick to George Pelecanos. Or The Wire.

The spareness of the prose disguises it, as I've suggested, until you've slept on it. It's a time bomb of nastiness.

Ugh.