South Africa Books

This is a good "reference" for someone who is seeking some surface knowledge about African Americans and their histroy, but I was hoping for a little bit more "meat". It is a well written text, but it is like a dictionary with very little specific insight into the subjects mentioned in the text. It gives the reader more of an overview of topics. Additionally, some very importanat people in African American history are not included in the text. If you are looking for something that is comprehensive, this is NOT the book to get. It is possible that the entire Africana would be more appropriate for my needs.

Scholars Kwame Anthony Appiah and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., paid homage to the great W.E.B. Du Bois' dream to produce an encyclopedia cataloguing the achievements and history of the African Diaspora with the publication in 1999 of the massive 2,095-page AFRICANA: THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE AFRICAN AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. Appiah and Gates duly acknowledge Du Bois' many contributions to history, literature, and the struggle for human rights around the world with: their dedication of the book to him, a regular encyclopedia entry on his achievements, and an "interpretation" by Cornel West of his historical significance.

While AFRICANA is exactly what the title implies, it is also quite a bit more. The book itself represents a major achievement of publishing technology. What Du Bois was not able to accomplish by sheer brain power and intellectual camaraderie, Appiah and Gates achieved through developments in modern communication technology, the computer, and a global team of dedicated intellectuals. The scope of AFRICANA encompasses literature, religion, music, dance, sociology, politics, and, above all, history. In reading the book for pleasure or referencing it for specific topics, one realizes just how much of the African-American and African experience has shaped and defined the greater modern human experience.

Aberjhani
Author of THE WISDOM OF W.E.B. DU BOIS
And ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE

Thank you for your promptness. The recipient truly loved the gift. Thank you once again. Bernadette

As the author of The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities, I was disappointed to not see any reference to the nine African American Fraternities and Sororities, particularly since W.E.B. DuBois was a member. It seemed like a strange omission for such a comprehensive book.


--
Lawrence C. Ross, Jr.
The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities (author)
The Ways of Black Folks: A Year in the Life of a People (author)
Sometimes Rhythm, Sometimes Blues (contributor)
Friends With Benefits (author: September 2005)

As a university professor in African American Studies, I looked forward to the first edition and bought it. But I was disappointed by the woefully lacking index which is also the case with the 2nd edition.

The five-volume 2nd edition is much easier to handle in terms of weight for each volume than the VERY heavy one volume 1st edition. However, one must wonder how Harvard professors (the editors) could allow a lack of a comprehensive index the second time around.

I bought the 1st edition, but I recommend not buying the 2nd edition. If a future edition has a comprehensive index, I will buy and would urge you to buy, as there is a wealth of information.

As for this (2nd) edition, save your money. Use the volumes at your school/university or community library for good general background information on the African and African American Experience.

Nadine Morgan is a woman who can't pass up a fresh, vital new story! Her best friend, Lilly, tells her she's just running away, escaping from fear of eventually settling down. Even after Nadine is seriously injuried while covering a story in Mexico, she still feels the compulsive call of another story. For Nadine is very, very good at what she does and right now she's got a choice to make. Will she return to South Africa where Bishop Desmond Tutu's amesty trials, better known as the Truth and Reconciliation Committee hearings, are in full swing? Will she remain with Harold, the first man she could possibly see herself marrying, having children, in all settling down with?

There's one particular story that's demanding her attention, the story of an American boy, Jason, who was murdered in broad daylight during a riot of furious native Africans reacting after years of apartheid brutality. Contrived as it may seem, his parents share his journal spanning his teens and young adult years with Nadine. The combination of his aspirations and the questions, fears, dreams and violence she meets on her second arrival makes for riveting albeit predictable reading.

The ending, however, will leave every reader shocked and silent with the essence of just what all this contemporary violence is really about. While there may not be so much unusual in the plot line, Amanda Eyre Ward does a superb job at plumbing the depths of fury, misunderstanding, forgiveness and shared grief! The result changes Nadine's life and choices forever! Unforgettable and all too real!!!

Reviewed by Viviane Crystal on February 25, 2008

Confusing to follow in some places, and I didn't really enjoy Ward's stark-bare-bones writing style. The middle of the book was really great, the plot had great potential, but I just was lost for the first and last parts of the book. I was hoping for so much more.

Thirtyish international journalist Nadine travels the hot spots of the globe in pursuit of the story. However, when she journeyed to a small village outside Mexico City to interview the parents of twelve recently murdered young boys, two thugs battered her breaking ribs and more. When Nadine regains consciousness she finds herself in the Cape Cod B&B owned by her estranged father and his fiancée. Dr. Duarte provides her needed medical care.

Nadine feels this is the last place she wants to be while healing. She reads in the paper an article on a local couple traveling to Cape Town, South Africa to attend the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings. The pair needs to hear why a black woman killed their white son in 1988. Nadine feels a deep need to cover the story so without official backing, she flies to Cape Town, a place where she lost the love of her life. She meets grieving Americans; who give her their late son's boyhood journal.

FORGIVE ME is an interesting morality drama starring an interesting protagonist who believes the story comes before her safety although her Mexican incident has left her with doubts. The tale cleverly uses the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings to spotlight Apartheid, but could have been any prejudicial ism especially state sponsored. The journal that the parents give Nadine leads to her reflecting back on her failed relationships with her father and her soulmate. Although some spins feel forced and false, fans will appreciate Amanda Eyre Ward's deep look at motivation of individuals and countries.

Harriet Klausner

I would send Amanda Eyre Ward a fan letter about her book "Forgive Me," but I'm afraid she would take time to read it and I would much rather she spend her time writing. She has remarkable talent; I have loved every book of hers, and can't wait for the next one.

Books that reveal insight about foreign lands and historical events while also delivering a powerful story are none too common these days, so I was delighted with "Forgive Me" from page one.

Ward also has a keen talent for presenting memorable characters. I could relate to Nadine and her sense of adventure, while knowing I am also like Nadine's best friend, just loving the babies.

I found the plot twist at the end very clever. I just love it when I'm surprised!

One more compliment? I love how Ward treats us to such interesting phrases, such as when she used the term "buttery summer."

Bottom line: books like Amanda Eyre Ward's are why I'm a reader.

Ward tackles two disparate themes in Forgive Me: the psychological depths of motherhood and the ugly face of apartheid in South Africa. Journalist Nadine Morgan has long sought comfort by chronicling the problems of others. After her mother's early death from cancer, she is rudderless, dependent on a devastated father for the marginal emotional support he can offer. While best friend Lily becomes a wife and mother, remaining in Cape Cod, Nadine escapes into her work, arriving in Cape Town, South Africa, during the tumultuous days of rage that erupt in black townships (slums). Exhilarated by the danger all around her, Nadine falls impulsively in love with a photo-journalist, Maxim, the two tracking the violence as it erupts throughout Cape Town, years of oppression coming to fruition.

It is there that tragedy strikes in the death of a young American, Jason Irving, who is killed by an angry group of young people, one of whom is only a girl, the sister of one of Nadine's new township acquaintances. A more personal tragedy follows and Nadine flees South Africa, beginning a long pattern of fear of commitment and self-knowledge. Ten years later, Nadine is left for dead in Mexico after a severe beating by members of a local drug cartel. She wakes at her father's place in Cape Cod, childhood memories stalking her every waking moment, confined by her injuries but yearning to flee. As a local doctor treats Nadine's injuries, he also offers a measure of calmness, giving Nadine a short respite from the drive that has so fueled her life until now. But an article in a local paper send Nadine skittering back to South Africa, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission about to hear the case of the American volunteer so brutally killed. In a coincidence that feels like fate, Nadine is on the same plane as Jason's parents, his bitter and defeated mother unwilling to forgive her son's murderers or grant Nadine an interview. As soon as Nadine lands in Cape Town, the old days come rushing back, along with the guilt she has carried since her first visit.

But there are two levels to this novel, a subtle sub-plot contained in the diary of a young boy dreaming of stardom, his difference from others only endurable as he considers the future. Interspersed with Nadine's agonizing journey to the past, this new thread is woven into an intricate melding of personal demons, motherhood and the harsh realities of a cruel world. Torn between her old habits and the promise of a secure and loving future, Nadine revisits a world she has successfully avoided until now, the adrenaline-charged days of apartheid and its consequences and the reality of her own identity. Horror is unveiled during the TRC hearings, society attempting to move past its blood-soaked history. Inhabiting a lifestyle that allows her to avoid introspection, Nadine is finally face to face with how she has limited her own happiness. Courageously, this flawed young woman finally comes home to herself. A surprise twist threw me for awhile; upon reflection, although it does not enrich an already powerful tale, Ward's unique talent is validated in gifted prose ("They told each other ribbons of stories.") and a vision that transcends the ordinary. Luan Gaines/ 2008.

The age of the creatures that predated the dinosaurs--the protomammals and their ilk--is a fascinating and little-known chapter in the history of life on earth, and I was interested in learning more about these creatures. So I bought this book.

I shouldn't have.

Not only did I learn nothing, the book is truly painful to read. Ward's style swings from jaw-poppingly boring "what I did on my summer vacation" accounts rendered in grindingly banal prose to incomprehensible science jargon, sometimes in the same paragraph.

Along the way, he manages to get in some cheap shots at colleagues, congratulate himself for having solved the mystery of the dinosaurs' extinction--and, oh, by the way, having figured out what killed the Gorgons and their kin, too--and indulge in a bit of handwringing over apartheid in South Africa, where he did his digging.

Which is laudable, certainly, but what it has to do with paleontology is beyond me.

But most perturbing is that at no point does the reader learn anything of substance about the creatures themselves. Nope, nothing. Zip. Nada. Bubkes. Don't believe me? Take a look at the index. The actual Gorgons--the gorgonopsids--the creatures for whom the book is named--appear on--wait for it--11 pages. Out of 288 pages, they merit mention on 11.

The interested layperson would do a heck of a lot better to read Robert Bakker's "The Dinosaur Heresies," which is far more accessible, far better written, far more significant, and far less smug. And by the way, you'll also learn more about the protomammals in Bakker's book than you will in "Gorgon."

If I want badly written and indulgent memoirs, I'll read the New Yorker. Since I'm still interested in learning more about the Gorgons, I guess I'll keep looking.

I ordered this book used but it came in perfect condition. I had been reading a library copy but it was two weeks overdue. This book has captured my intrest like no other non-fiction book ever has. I want to be a geologist or a paleontolgist now!

I used to do a bit of Fossil Hunting about 30 years ago and read a fair bit about fossils and the Fossil Record. Most of what I did was searching for Belemnites,shark teeth,and hopefully some bones in Cretaceous marl and an adjacent stream bed in New Jersey.At that time there were great discussions going on as to what caused the great extinction of the huge creatures that roamed the earth.The Cretaceous Period was 60-120 million years ago. I can't recall any discussions about creatures the size of lions roaming around 250 million years ago called Gorgons;and a possible extinction at the end of the Permian Period. So,when I saw this book ,I figured it would make interesting reading.
As other reviewers have already stated,the book is pretty short on data and provides very little proof. However,it is well worth reading for anyone who has ever searched for fossils and all the mud,muck,heat,cold,wet and just plain hard dirty work that is involved. However,the rewards come when your hunches or bull work pay off;and you find something good.What a thrill it is, when you unearth a fossil and realize that this thing lived over 100 million years ago and has been waiting there for you to find.
I found this book to be a great read and shows how people can devote years of their lives pursuing an interest or obsession.
It is well written and the author reveals himself and his associates ;and I think that is more what one should look for in this book ; rather than the answer;because the search will continue and the theories will be put forward and debated as long as there are people with the desire to find those answers.Just imagine,if every question could be answered,what a dull world it would be.The excitement of the journey often surpasses the destination.

As a high school student who doesn't particularly care about much anything and who reads fantasy books right and left-- i was skeptical about this book. i found it on the bargain shelf and thought "what the hell?". Just having finished Seabiscuit, i was on a bit of a roll with the whole non0fiction genre. i was caught completely unprepared by this book; it was nothing i expected. instead of some dry account about an extinction long ago, i found a book that read like a novel. it had a point. it had pitfalls and triumphs. i found i couldn't put it down. would he find the cause of the extinction? would he survive the desert climate and roiling political situations? i got sucked into his real-life story and read it during english, calculus, history, biology, etc. you catch the drift. the sedimentary drift that is. despite it's mostly personal accounts, the book possesses surprisingly good insights and background about both the extinction and paleontology in general.
if i had to sum it up in one word: fascinating. definitely worth the wasted school periods...

By now, almost everyone must be familiar with the discovery of the iridium concentrations at the K-T (Cretaceous-Tertiary) boundary, and the Chicxulub impact crater, first reported in 1981, that appears to exactly the right age and the right size to have terminated most of the life on Earth, sixty-five million years ago. The author of "Gorgon" began his career with field work on the proof of the quick and terrible extinction at the K-T boundary--the death knell of the dinosaurs.

However, Dr. Ward found himself more and more intrigued by an even great extinction event that occurred 250 million years ago at the boundary of the Permian and the Triassic (P/T). Was it caused by another comet or meteor strike? Did the elimination of 95 % of Earth's marine life and 70% of all land species proceed as quickly as at the K-T termination, or did it take place in pulses over a much longer period of time?

According to the author (and others), there is no credible, unambiguous evidence for an impact as is the case for the K-T extinction. What is more likely is that massive greenhouse gas emissions reduced oxygen availability, ultimately resulting in the collapse of marine ecosystems, and most of the land-based systems as well. This was possibly caused by volcanic eruptions on the supercontinent of Pangea, in what is now Siberia (the Siberian Traps).

In the final chapter of his book, "Resolution," the author puts forth two interesting observation-based theories: (1) the abundance of oxidized, reddish rock in the Triassic beds above the P/T boundary (about 50 million years worth) implies "...the oxygen in our atmosphere plunged to very low levels as it became tied up in the rocks...so low, in fact, that any poor human...would very quickly suffer from altitude sickness, even at sea level."; (2) on land at least, the near extinction of animals that didn't use oxygen efficiently, including most but not all of the mammal-like reptiles that dominated the Permian. "Heat [greenhouse effect] and asphyxiation [were] the two agents of the long mysterious mass extinction."

Except for the last chapter, "Gorgon" is light on theory and heavy on field work and proof-of-concept. Here is how geologists, paleontologists, and other scientists interact in the field, braving the heat of South Africa's Karoo Desert, the omnipresent ticks, flies, and puff adders, and the digestive challenges of bad water and mystery-meat pizza. Dr. Ward takes his readers not only on a trip through the lost world of the Permian, but also through an African culture that seems to be on the brink of chaos. He is a sensitive and at times acerbic observer of both present and deep past. "Gorgon" is a compelling, thoroughly readable story.

Set in South Africa in the mid 1970s, and narrated by Marnus Erasmus, the eleven year old son of the well connected and politically influential Afrikaner General Erasmus and his now retired opera singer wife Leonora, the story gives real insight into how one's background and upbringing facilitate firmly held ideals and beliefs.
The Erasmus family plays host to a Mr Smith, the alias given to a visiting undercover Chilean General who sympathises with the Afrikaners' views. Through their interaction with Mr Smith, with their attitude toward their Coloured servants and their behaviour toward the Blacks, we get a very good impression of the Afrikaners' proud belief in their own superiority; however shocking such views may seem today.
But the beauty of the story is in the telling through the eyes of the eleven year old Marnus. Behr convincingly conveys the activities, expressions and innocence of youth, despite the perverted indoctrinated beliefs. His friendship with is class mate Frikkie, something of a bully and problem child at school; and his spiteful relationship with his older sister Ilse are well portrayed. Particularly endearing is the relationship he enjoys with his parents and his undoubted love and respect for them; a love than can even overcome the horrifying discovery Manus makes towards the end involving his father.
Interspersed with the current narrative is an ongoing account from the twenty four year old lieutenant Manus as he serves on the war front.
A beautifully written and revealing account, Behr succeeds in presenting an appealing view of a year in a family's life despite their horrifying attitudes and beliefs.

The beauty of this book is that it is so convincing. It helps you to understand how a sensitive, kind child can get caught in supporting a very wrong system.
There is this little boy, who wants to be loved by his mother and adored by his father, and this is so important for him that he is willing to pay any price for it. And beacuse he loves so much, he is incapable of seeing through their mistakes and finding his own route in life.
And during the book, first slowly and later with deafening speed , the pink curtains over this ideal life of the little Marnus are being torn away, and every time it happens ,Marnus still sticks to his former upbringing and stands loyal by the convictions of his father and mother. O yes, sometimes he sees the cracks in the appearances, as his sister Ilse or his aunt Tannie Karla try to show, but he cannot let the information in. That will treathen his quest for love from his parents. He tries so much... so much to behave that it is heartbreaking. His upbringing was too succesful. He cannot open his eyes,... Not when he sees how destitute Chrisjan , their former servant is, ...Not when he sees the pain of Little Neville, ...not when he sees how his infallible father mistreats his best friend. He cannot allow in his mind the realisation that the goodness of his parents is limited. And still love them despite their failings.
Yet he has learned a little bit when grown up. During the book we meet Marnus again as a grown up man of 26, when he is fighting in the South African Army against rebels on Angolan soil. Everytime the inserts appear you see how the exepriences of being twarted and confused as a child have their repercussion in his adult reactions. And you can see how he is learning and growing, albeit it piecemeal and slowly. "How come you are here as a soldier?", he asks one of his soldiers. It feels that it is one of the first times he turns towards a person of an other colour and asks a direct question about their thoughts. The first time he is really interested. And than also the remorse breaks through, so big that dying seems a reasonable option out of this guilt. Not choosen, just like he was unable to steer his own course as a child, but submitting to fate.

"Memorable for the eye-opening authenticity with which Behr catches the Afrikaner mentality at home ... Behr's novel offers a disturbing confirmation that sincere and kindly people can still be the walking representation of evil" (Sunday Times)

Mark Behr's first time novel "The Smell of Apples" won the prestigious CNA Literary Debut Award and the Eugene Marais Prize. It was a wordlwide success, because it contains one of the most expelling themes in South Africa of the last 30 years.

Behr tells the story through the eyes of the 11-year old Marnus Erasmus who lives with his sister and parents in Cape Town of 1973.Behr links many aspects throughout the story so that the reader gets to know about Marnus's story of initiation, the apartheid system, the sexual mischiefs of his parents and Marnus being a 26-year old soldier in the Angolan Civil War.
But mainly the reader is led through the week of Marnus's life becoming more smart and grown up.He and his sister Ilse especially try to behave like adults when a Chilean general visits the family. This so called Mr.Smith has a symbolic function in the novel, because he is the one(the snake)who steels the apples out the families Garden of Eden.

All in all the novel by Mark Behr is a good introduction for readers who want to inform theirselves and who are interested in the apartheid system and the life of blacks and whites in this period of time.

In his novel "The Smell of Apples" Mark Behr deals with problems of Apartheid by telling the story of a white South-African boy called Marnus Erasmus.
Throughout the book the strong relation to his father becomes obvious. Although Mr. Erasmus is really strict and authoritarian, Marnus regards him as a hero, especially because he is a general in the South African Army. Nevertheless the reader believes that Marnus's father is very considerate concerning his family, but this illusion gets destroyed when Marnus observes that his best friend Frikkie is raped.
The end of the novel is really shocking, but exactly that makes the book so interesting and readable. Telling the story through the eyes of a 10-year old boy makes the story even more dramatic.
I like the story and the characters, although the parts of the novel concerning Marnus's time in war are sometimes hard to understand

After Mark Behr's "The Smell of Apples" had earned best critics by famous newspapers like "The Sunday Times" or "The Daily Telegraph", I decided to get a personal impression of this book.
Indeed the story seemed to be quite interesting from begin on: Behr describes a harmonious family. He writes with with a sense for details and creates a perfect illusion, in which the eleven year-old protagonist lives.
This idyllic picture is first disturbed by the second time-level, which appears always suddenly without connection and ends the same way. Here Marnus is a 26 year-old soldier, who fights in Angola and finally dies.
The contrast of these two levels makes the reader soonly mistrust the harmony of Marnus's life and his family.
Little incidents engross this feeling time after time, although the really tragic end is very surprising anyway.
Mark Behr succeeds in showingthe former or maybe still actual conflict between South African Blacks and Whitesby analyzing the Afrikaner-mentality in an apparently normal Afrikaner-family.
The change of society (military) is told in a detailed and really understandable way. So you can experience the younger South African history by identifying with Marnus, who has to face bad things, but doesn't seem to learn from it anyway.
For the interested reader a real duty!

Tense and involving ? No. An absorbing story? No. A brilliant literary thriller ? No. Life-altering? Absolutely not!

I had expected this to be reasonably good however, given its MAN Booker Prize nomination, instead it left me wondering about the standard of writing of the books that DIDN`T get nominated - they must have been pretty bad ! This is just passable pulp, a paper-thin story involving mostly uninteresting characters and with dark undertones of post-apartheid that I'm guessing may only really be understood by those who have lived and experienced that way of life. The central character (not the Good Doctor by the way) was, to me, a man of little character at all and the only time I found myself interested in anything to do with him was during his brief visit to his rich and powerful father. As for the Good Doctor himself, well, he was initially portrayed as something of an enigma but as the story progressed he became more and more ordinary and his idealistic attempts at nobility proved anti-climactic at best. I believe that the real message of this book, assuming there is one, will only be appreciated by anyone who lives (or has lived) in or near to South Africa.

Damon Galgut's "The Good Doctor (GD)" is arguably the best among last year's Booker nominees, though sadly its classy but staid and measured qualities may not be what critics look for in prize winners. With GD, those acquainted with the works of South African novelists like Nadine Gordimer and J M Coetzee will find themselves in familiar territory. South Africa in transition is a perspective commonly adopted by these writers.

At its highest level, the brooding tension between Frank and Laurence in their unlikely relationship is symbolic of the struggle for supremacy between the forces of old and new. When Laurence's wide-eyed enthusiasm is pitted against Frank's resigned and cynical indifference, the result is cataclysmic, far beyond the reader's imagination. While Galgut's story is touched by death and regret, his vision isn't entirely bleak. When Laurence and Frank swap beds, deadbeat after a long night out, they feel strangely comfortable in each other's beds. Like yin and yang, are they not twin halves of a pupa society emerging from its chrysalis ? Laurence's stubborn perseverance against the stultifying bureaucracy of Dr Ngema's hospital isn't always altruistic. His callous disregard for Frank's plight as he goes in frenzied pursuit of his vision of setting up a village clinic is delirious if not a little mad. In spite of this, it is Laurence who unleashes the momentum that forces Frank to examine what's wrong in his thwarted life - his failed relationships with his father, his ex-wife, Maria, etc, and who is ultimately the catalyst for Frank's transformation.

There are scenes in GD that are truly memorable, like Frank's and Zanele's unexpected nocturnal encounter with the shadowy figure of the Brigadier, the town's former tinpot dictator. Surely Zanele's schoolgirl-like enchantment with her host is Galgut's sideswipe at the veneer thin and uncomprehending sloganeering of armed chaired liberals from afar. Galgut's characterisation is excellent, sharp and realised throughout. The sullenness of Tehogo, the hospital's sole unqualified male nurse, perfectly encapsulates the corruption, rot and decay of South African society. Only the rehearsed platitudes flowing from the mouth of Dr Ngema comes across as false, stagy and predictable. You know what she will say even before she says it. A minor lapse in otherwise great characterisation.

Galgut's poised, unhurried and reasoned prose is an absolute delight. Its greatest strength lies in its ability to reveal many layered truths of a society at its crossroads without hyperbole or false bravura. A thoroughly confident and assured debut from Galgut, who will no doubt join the ranks of great South African novelists.

I came away from this book with that feeling you get leaving a restaurant where the portions just haven't been big enough, and you're hoping no one will see you slip into the fast-food place round the corner. The Good Doctor is strong on characterisation and the tension between the two doctors kept me hooked till the end. However, the whole political backdrop to events is too obliquely rendered. 'Backdrop' is hardly the word; politics has intruded so completely into the lives and personalities of these people that I felt a more detailed description of the social situation and relationships was required to help me fully understand why these characters feel compelled to do the things they do. Perhaps Galgut was writing for a South African audience who could complete his implications by themselves. Perhaps it was the opposite; he kept things deliberately vague to add a universality and timelessness to the appeal of the book. Either way, it doesn't work for me. In summary, a good enough read but lacking a certain something.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD: Don't be fooled by the slender size of this book. The writing and content is powerful, packed with haunting images and searing content. On one level, it could be read as a thriller, taut and humid. On another, it appears to be a parable of the repercussions left by apartheid, the inchoate attempts to right centuries of abuse. The hospital, while continuing its administrative operations, with doctors doggedly showing up for duty and logging in rounds, lies indolent, barren and for the most part, unpopulated by the people it is meant to heal. "Not even the seasons changed much. We were too near the tropics for that. There was a dry season & a rainy season, but the temperature that ran through them both didn't rise or fall too much on the chart."

I saw Dr. Eloff's relationship with a native woman, whose true name he never does discover, as the white/native racial issue captured in mineature, his failure to win her over as too much too late. The fact that he only knows her by an Anglicized name is indicative of the entire sequence of events which lead to their tragedy.

very bare in its story telling. i believe this was short listed for the Booker Prize. This book really didn't do anything for me. Its like one of those books you read and then they become part of those untitled stream of books you've read but vaguely remember-kind of like going to a movie that you can barely recall seeing from 2-3 years ago.

Its not badly written but if it had not been assigned reading for class, i would have preferred to read something else. If yu want to read good South African literature, try Gordimer, or Coetzee. Both of whom won the Nobel Prize in literature in recent years. There is no reason why you should or should not read it. It may resonate for those who are south african more.

The characterization is particularly strong so that the characters seem indelible. There is a subtlety to the meaning of the story and the analogy or metaphor it paints of all south africa- young white idealism, blacks who can't forget apartheid, old cynical views, etc. i think this may be the sort of book that touches people differently. SO while i may read it and feel unaffected, it may do something quite different to another.

Very suspenseful and also well-written and perceptive. The steamy atmosphere of a girls' boarding school is rendered with great precision here. I highly recommend.

"There is grease around our mouths, down to our chins; our lips are stained with red wine, our lipstick, smudged, our camouflage, undone."

Everything is indeed undone during a rather somber reunion of middle age women who once attended a small girls' school in an uninhabited corner of South Africa. Brought together by a persuasive letter from their elderly headmistress, an accordion-faced wisp of a woman who desperately needs money in order to save the school from destruction, the women have traveled from all corners of the world; one --- Sheila Kohler, both the author's and character's name --- from as far as America. It turns out the returning women have one thing in common --- they were all members of the school's elite swim team, hand picked by the bronze goddess, Miss G. Why they are the only ones chosen for this reunion is a mystery that is unraveled by the end of the novel, which swings back and forth from present to past until the harrowing conclusion.

The swim team, as well as the rest of the students, all live in near isolation at this school in the middle of the parched desert sands of South Africa. Without mothers to sing them to sleep, stroke their feverish faces, soothe their tremulous tears, these girls turn to the only woman they can find --- not the withered headmistress or the embittered biology teacher --- but the most female, the most headstrong, courageous, outrageous, beautiful woman, the one in charge of selecting the girls for the swim team, the almighty Miss G. But just as fast as she selects them, she throws them away and picks new ones when the old disappoint her. The final 12 girls she selects are the same ones invited to the reunion 40 years later. All attend except two, but there is still someone missing. The luminous and distant Fiamma, whose mysterious disappearance years ago haunts the school and continues to eat away at the swim team members.

Fiamma was the golden girl, literally --- her long flaxen strands stretched out and curled like a Princess's. Indeed that's what she supposedly was, born from a common mother and a regal Italian father. From the beginning, the girls were in awe of this seemingly perfect specimen, her delicate milky white skin, large almost clear blue eyes, willowy limbs, and long plaited golden hair. Maybe the other girls would have embraced her if she even pretended to care what they thought --- but she didn't. Always aloof, reserved, and mysterious, Fiamma didn't indulge in their games or secrets, and the girls despised this. It's not until later that they wonder if she was only waiting to be asked. All the adults, however, were enamored by Fiamma's luminosity and heritage, including the headmistress and especially Miss G, who after seeing her streamlined body gliding through the water like a sleek vessel, bribed her with sweets to join the swim team. Fiamma reluctantly consented and became the fastest girl on the team --- and Miss G's object of desire.

The book most often hovers in the past, but returns sporadically to the present, always through the collective voice of the girls in what writer's refer to as first person plural narration, a deceptively familiar voice, which always keeps the reader an arm's length distance away from the true inner thoughts of the characters. Because of this somewhat vague narration, when the reader finally pieces together the puzzle at the end and the truth crashes over like a wave, there is a moment of "How could I have not seen this coming?"

There are secrets hidden in every sentence of this haunting and at times horrifying book --- secrets that you aren't aware of until you reach the final pages. It's an ending that makes you pause, and then flip back through to see what you missed the first time around. The tautly told story with its tropical backdrop of sterile humidity is in great contrast to the young women's budding fecundity. Fiamma's fate is sealed from the first page, but to find out what happened, you have to make the journey with her and the rest of the girls who have returned to their school, not entirely of their own free will, to confront the past and to ensure the school a future.


--- Reviewed by Dana Schwartz

Reading this book was like seeing several familiar elements mixed together in a new way. Lord of the Flies meets Picnic at Hanging Rock meets Walkabout meets the Wildfire Club. I found Kohler's portait of girl-crushes at a remote boarding school evocative and compelling. She uses setting well - the stiffling African heat followed by chaotic rain. I was also intrigued by the 2nd person plural narration, and by the fact that one of the characters shared the author's name. However! The ending - oh the ending. I didn't believe it for a second, not for those characters. It was as if the author felt she had to have something appalling up her sleeve for the book to be worth it or didn't believe that less graphic betrayals can be deeper and more believable.

Ultimately, I found this an intriguing novel, but I wouldn't wholeheartedly recommend it because of the disappointing ending.

Compare this with Lord of the Flies, but with girls instead of boys. Set in South Africa and told in Sheila Kohler's inimitable elegant and dark style of writing, it's the story of a swim team in a remote boarding school, a story in which the girls' "coming of age" doesn't turn out as expected.
Cracks is full of memorable characters, including an Italian princess, but most memorable is the shadowy 1st person narrator who somehow manages to be within the story but without at the same time.

Wonderful writing.
Creepy story.

Some other reviews gave too much of the plot away. There are things the reader should find out for themselves...like the incredible sensual imagery evoked by the prose. The sights, sounds and in particular, the smells of summer season on the veldt create such a three-dimensional setting for this novel. The headlong rush of young girls into puberty is augmented by the setting, the isolation and frustrated lives of their teachers. One thing that puzzles after the book is read, why is there so much leniency allowed at an all girls' school in the mid-fifties? Having not attended such a school in South Africa, but having attended one in the US at the same time and at approximately the same age as these girls, I find it incomprehensible that they were allowed so much freedom.

One of the things I look for when reading a translation, is the smoothness in which the characters move through the narrative parts of the novel. Laurie Thompson has done a superb job in this novel, especially because there are two diametrically dissimilar societies involved in the story; Sweden and Aparteid South Africa.

Mr. Mankell should be quite pleased with the way the book came out because the tension and subtlety of the story is there throughout the story. Unlike a lot of European Crime novels, those from the Scandinavian counties are not very procedurally involved. They tend to be more thoughtful and philosophical and will question the sociological aspects of the situation more than the criminal.

This story, which starts with a man reporting his wife missing, then the finding of the finger of a 'blackman' in an area where the woman might have disappeared, continues to grow in small pieces until we are able to see the whole. It is wonderfully written (and translated) and explains a lot about the society of Sweden as well as South Africa. The one weakness in the book is the "villian" who is very much a "stock" character and very one-dimensional.

Having already read the 4th Wallender book, 'The Man Who Smiled' ('Silkeridderen' or 'The Silk Rider, in Norwegian translation), I now know where Wallender's depression came from. It's developed in the present book. Wallender has character the opposite that of a psychopath, and it's why he rarely carries a pistol.

I though early on that this book is terribly boring. Half the time is spent in aparteid South Africa, where the plot originates and developes. After a while I realized that the description of S. Africa in that era is pretty interesting. In Sweden, unemployed psychopathic former KGB killers for hire play a central role, branching out on a theme began in 'The Dogs of Riga', where the KGB ran the Black Market. A very human, erring Wallender is shown here, he's not always in control of himself and for good reason. After overcoming my initial unpleasant experience with the book, I would now rate it as one of Mankell's best. How much truth is there in the pre-Mandela history presented therein? In any case, the pseudo-history is thought provoking.

This review is based, as usual, on the excellent Norwegian translation 'Den hvite løvinen' by Kari Bolstad. Unfortunately, I have no idea how good or bad the English translations of Mankell are, and will probably never find out because I have but three unread Wallenders in Norwegian left to read, and Mankell is one of my ways to keep up that language. I can say that the three German translations I've read do give the correct sense of Wallender and south Sweden near Ystad.

I liked this book from the start to somewhere around page 250 or 260. But I thought it faltered pretty badly for a hundred pages or so. Fellow police are shocked that a man just seconds from a gun battle for his life is in a frantic frame of mind. Really? A man he's chasing seems to, inexplicably, feel that it's important to get Wallander. Why? Reasons are purported but they seemed very false. It helped the story along but it was faintly ridiculous. There was a little too much sentimentality in stereotypically expected ways.

This third novel in the Inspector Kurt Wallender series is much thicker than the three others I've read, and I'm of two minds about it. It starts off the way you would expect from a procedural: A female real estate agent is cold-bloodedly killed with a bullet through the head, and for no reason Wallender or his colleagues can figure out. While they're investigating the apparent scene of the crime (they haven't actually turned up the body yet), a nearby house explodes. Then they discover the severed index finger of a black man. Naturally, all these odd clues confuse the hell out of everyone. But then the focus shifts to South Africa in the present day -- 1993, that is, with Nelson Mandella newly released from prison and President De Klerk pushing for free election that will certainly mean the end of apartheid -- and for the first time in the series, Wallender is no longer the P.O.V. character. It's a bit unsettling. Maybe half the book deals with events in Sweden, with the Inspector chasing a thoroughly nasty ex-KGB officer working for a group of highly-placed Boer conspirators. The other half is a largely political thriller (with a strong flavor of Forsyth's _Day of the Jackal_) set in Johannesburg and Pretoria. There's lots of fascinating stuff about South Africa, and Mankell (who, apparently between the last book and this one, moved to Mozambique) seems to know his stuff. And the characters he draws are chilling in their lack of concern for human life -- while Wallender, the cop, is pushed to the brink of a nervous breakdown when he has to shoot someone. Nevertheless, the book is structurally schizophrenic; I wonder if it shouldn't have been written as a completely separate and independent novel, outside the Wallender series. Still, it's generally an exciting and eye-opening yarn, even if it's not what one would expect.

I thank fellow reviewer Leonard Fleisig for bringing this author to my attention. The writing is superb. I have purchased and read six of the Wallander novels. The present novel is average in that series, i.e.: good entertainment but not a great novel. It is well written and it is a compelling read. In the following comments, I have excluded elements of the plot that would reveal the story.

For Wallander fans, this is novel # 3 where Wallander's near 80 year old father marries his 50 something housekeeper. Also, Wallander suffers a nervous breakdown which sets the scene for novel # 4.

This is a controversial novel because the complicated plot departs from the Ystad police station formula: it involves two parallel and interconnected stories, one in Sweden and one in South Africa. In some sections Kurt Wallander plays a secondary role or no role. It is similar in length to his later novels - about 500 pages - and it is well written with interesting characters. It is the third novel in the Wallander Swedish police detective series. As we saw in Dogs of Riga, his second novel, there is an international element to the story.

I thought that the novel was good but less than perfect. As in Dogs of Riga, the author Mankell departs from reality. The plot relies on an imaginative set of circumstances involving events outside of Sweden and odd personal relationships and coincidences inside of Sweden. It has a slightly more complicated plot than some of the subsequent novels. Some of the later novels in the Wallander series rely on a string of bloody and gruesome murders to keep the story going. Those murders in those stories go on and on - right to the end - and that becomes a bit too much. Thankfully, that formula is not completely followed here and it is mostly an interesting read. For those reason I think that the present novel is average. It is not as good as Faceless Killers or One Step Behind. Those two are the best in the series. The Wallader novels remind me a bit of the Peter Robinson Inspector Banks series, but Mankell's style is a little more spirited, more daring, and more interesting. Sometimes he departs from reality or the probable, but that is his style.

I will not give away the plot and the essential plot elements are outlined by the publisher: there is a murder of a real estate agent on a remote farm near Ystad. Kurt Wallander and the other Ystad policemen try to solve the crime. The criminals involved turn out to be involved in an international conspiracy directed at the leaders of South Africa.

This is a book that I highly recommend for Wallander fans. Mankell tries to tie the plot to international events, and it works effectively but not as well as in Dogs of Riga.

I like the Mankell approach and I enjoyed the read. The book was good but slightly too complicated and rates 4 stars.

To the casual observer Africa looks to be the "heart of darkness' or the "dark continent" found in Joseph Conrad. From the bits of news and information gleaned from the Western press, it would appear that the entire continent is a cauldron of ethnic diversity simmering under the heat of individual quasi-nation states that could erupt for any reason at any time. "Tribalism" becomes a codeword for inaction, since it would appear to be useless to act with all the ancient hatreds.

This quick diagnoses and prescriptions for non-action have allowed Africa to flounder in a disconnection from the global economic, political and social revolutions of the twentieth century. Bill Berkeley operates on the crazy notion that one should look into the issues facing Africa before making such judgments. Instead he meets individuals in and connected with Africa. In six chapters he finds two basic theses: first, the individual actions are affected by what he terms, the "big man"; second, the individual actors seek their own ends through means that may hurt or help other actors

One example is Zaire. In Zaire, Berkeley's Big Man is Mobutu who uses the idea of anarchy and instability to maintain his own tyranny, a theme throughout through out the work. Mobutu uses the ethnic differences as a "wedge issue" to divide his subjects and through a slight of hand pitting Kaisans against Katagans. This divide and rule allowed Mobutu to continue his kleptocracy long after it had outlived its Cold War uses.

Berkeley reports his experiences in Africa. Further, he analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the "oh, it's Tribal" attitude. While not letting the US or the Soviets completely off the hook, Berkeley sees a larger picture in each case. In Rwanda he sums it as "the rule of the gun over the rule of law." While at times he tends to under-analyze, such as whether Museveni's point on ethnicity versus class is valid, Berkeley is still open to interpretations and does not see anything as the good guys versus the bad guys. (His look into the Tutsi rebels in Rwanda and the violence perpetrated by the ANC bares this out). The fact is that problems in Africa are not "just tribal." Instead, he tries to look to qui bono. If the Zulus are fighting with the ANC instead of the Apartheid regime; qui bono? This is a must read for anybody interested in Africa or political movements in the world in general.

The Graves Are Not Yet Full disappoints all the more because it comes so close at times to being a good book. Berkeley clearly has the experience and writing talent to give real insight into the convulsions of post-independence Africa. Instead of doing that, he's let his affection for Africans trick him into absolving African societies of any role in the continent's endless bloodshed. It's all because of white greed, and a few totally unnatural Africans who became the pawns of foreigners.

For anybody who's actually inclined to believe that white people have a monopoly on greed, cynicism or callousness, Berkeley's gripping accounts of his own encounters with African thuggery give the lie to his thesis. By the end of the book, a drearily prolix effort to misunderstand Mangosuthu Buthelezi and the Zulu Inkatha movement, Berkeley has lost all his conviction, and meanders off into a childish jeremiad on Buthelezi's (extremely understandable) hostile responses in an interview.

The realities of tribal animosity must be why, despite his subtitle, Berkeley never gets around to asking a single African how she or he sees her or his own and rival tribes: they'd've said the wrong thing, and Berkeley certainly comes across as too honest to lie about that. He doesn't want to believe in tribalism, so he doesn't ask or talk about tribes. And as Cashew Son's review points out, he's not intellectually honest enough to look at some of the bloodiest African conflicts, because they wouldn't fit his cockeyed theory.

So the book's almost, but not quite, a waste of time--the forty per cent or so that represents Berkeley's own adventures and the history of Liberia make it worth buying for anybody who wants to start understanding Africa.

(Just in case I might be taken for some sort of closet apologist for Western dealings with Africa, let me say that what particularly infuriates me is the way this sort of gross exaggeration of Western responsibility for Africa's woes lets the globalizers and neo-imperialists paint all their detractors as loonies. Nothing helps the Bad Guys like letting your emotions lead you to make wild accusations.)

This book is first of all an excellent bit of research by the author. In each of the African nations he profiles, he goes to great lengths to interview the major and minor figures in each crisis, in order to get as full a picture as possible of the situations. He also fully seeks out US officials who work in the region. Unfortunately, where he loses me sometimes (though not all the time) is to pass the blame back on to outsiders for the atrocities committed during each conflict. I do agree that many of the dictators and regimes in question actively sought to use chaos as a weapon against their enemies, but rather than put the blame squarely on the Taylors, Bashirs, and Does that enacted this policy, he goes back to blame the legacy of colonials or US support for these regimes.

This legacy and American support for crackpot dictators is deplorable, but there comes a point in any society when its people must stand up and take responsibility for their own actions. That means owning up to the killing. . .not matter who sold you the guns or the machetes.

The Graves are not yet Full: Race, Tribe and Power in the Heart of Africa

Atlantic Monthly correspondent Bill Berkeley has written a thorough and provocative account of the relationship among racial, tribal, and ethnic interests in African culture.
Drawing on the Rwanda genocide and the recent famine and mass starvation in Darfur, Berkeley says these developments are not so much the result of "age old hatreds" as they are the consequence of a history of tyranny going back to Leopold II of Belgium and the failure of the international community to focus on Africa except as an extension of the Cold War.

"For four decades U.S. policy toward Africa was driven almost entirely by our competition with the Soviet Union. Africans scarcely existed except as strategic pawns in the great global game. Democratic and Republican administrations alike defined their options narrowly: they seldom gave priority to initiatives that did not serve U.S.
Strategic interests. They often overlooked, excused, rationalized ---and bankrolled-- wanton repression, injustice, corruption and economic mismanagement by unelected
Leaders who were willing to oppose Moscow." (Berkeley, P. 78)

The CIA bears responsibility for much of Africa's problems, Berkeley says, and the media is to blame as well. "The press bears a measure of responsibility for this attitude. There is a school of thought that the overwhelming emphasis on bad news creates an unrepresentative image of Africa. There may be some merit in this. My own view is that a more serious, and sinister problem is not the quantity of bad news but the quality." (Berkeley, P.88)

Finally, he says, Africans bear responsibility for their actions. He says there is a culture of Corruption where everything is for sale and everybody has his price.

In all a gloomy, but well-researched, look at the problems of a continent which one ninth of the world's population calls home.

Four Stars: ****

I liked this book, more because it shed several spotlights on how several things happened that have contributed to past and present conditions in Africa. Much scorn should be rained down on several generations of leaders of the so called industrialized world for prepetuating the continued patronage of really bad people who seem to hold no regard for thier fellow man outside of thier clan or tribe. How divide and conquer is used repeatedly. When the cold war ended, Africa was suddenly abandoned as a front and more support for bad people was prepetuated. Five areas that continually recieve attention for good and bad, mostly bad are the key hotspots, we have to the northeast, Sudan and Somalia, though not much mention of the latter here, in the southwest; Liberia and all of the hate and discontent that a sucession of this leaning and that leaning despots created. In the centre, we have Rwanda, Zaire( the Congo) and Uganda and the very bottom, South Africa. Much of the cause for many of these turmoils seems to be a result of a half hearted attempt to extract the wealth from the country, and leave the mess for some one else to deal with, a general misunderstanding of history and the legacy of colonialism past and present.

Caliban's shore is a well written story & worth the read. I don't want to give away details - I would rather just say that if you like true historical adventures this book is worth getting. In a similar vein I would say "Skeleton's on the Zahara" is slightly better & "In the Heart of the Sea" is better still. If you like this type of book get all three.

I really can't add much to the glowing reviews of this superb book. Suffice it to say that the author, Stephen Taylor, uses a shipwreck on the Transkei coast as a springboard to reconstruct an entire world -- the world of 18th century seafaring, Pondo tribal life, the politics of the East India Company, European racial and sexual phobias, and more. His writing is flawless, whether describing African scenery or the interior lives of long-dead people. "Caliban's Shore" is a small masterpiece of historical and imaginative recreation. Six stars.

If you like shipwreck stories from the sailing era, consider this a 'must.' Not because it is so well written. It's a workman like job but Philbrick's "In the Heart of the Sea" wins that prize. Not because it is so well researched. It is well researched, to the point where it could do with a bit less speculation, especially at the end. Rather, this is not your usual 'cast out to sea in a little boat for weeks on end' story. Here you have over 100 people in the late 18th century, almost the entire crew and passengers, safely deposited on Africa's southeastern shore near fresh water and a native village . . . and only a few survive. How can that be? Read the book.

Stehpen Taylor has done a masterful job researching and putting together the sad, tragic tale of the Grosvenor and the fate of its survivors. In addition, I found his place-setting and contextual storytelling regarding Indian society, the British mercantile economy, and the spice trades around the late 1700s to be exemplary.

What I liked best about this book is Taylor's engrossing writing - he has written a compelling narrative, bringing to life each of the many characters encountered in this lost world, and effectively organizing a massive research project to collect it all together.

For my money, Caliban's Shore is certainly in the top pantheon for shipwreck/seafaring tales of historical misadventure, and one I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys this type of non-fiction.

If you are a fan of shipwreck and where are they now, castaways stories you'll enjoy this book. For some reason I'm fascinated by these tales of survival against all odds books. And this story has just a mirriad of adventures by the crew. Among the horror stories of bad treatment of the women and children. At least they never resort to "the custom of the sea". So it's a PG-13 adventure.

If you like books like "South" and Mutiny on the Bounty, you'll like this one.

When I first saw this book in the store, I thought it was about Flash Gordon. It wasn't until half-way through the book, that I realized this book had nothing to do with the eighties film I saw as a kid. So uh, I dunno, it's not that bad. Flashman is not very nice, but he scores a lot with the ladies, and that's pretty cool.

Wonderful story as usual. A 19th Century Forest Gump (a little brighter but more cowardly and more lecherous) finds himself at the center of history's most important events hobnobbing with the memorable charcters and real life men of greatness. Don't miss it!

George MacDonald Fraser is a superb action writer who never loses his sense of humor as he moves his readers through great historical events. And in FLASHMAN AND THE ANGEL OF THE LORD, Fraser takes you into the moment as Flashman takes the lead in John Brown's assault on Harper's Ferry, witnesses the drunken and angry siege of the engine house, and is on hand for the final bloody attack by the marines. This is my sixth Flashman novel. And throughout, Fraser's work as an action writer is absolutely first-rate.

Fraser also has a knack for developing his narrative so that Flashman exposes the reader to all sides of an issue--in this case, the abolitionist, pro-slavery, and government's perspective on John Brown. And, he is adept at moving Flashman in and out of the historical event so that the reader has the best possible view.

In ANGEL OF THE LORD, this skill is most apparent as Fraser moves Flashman out of Brown's raiding party, into the body of siege, and back to Brown's beleaguered band for its final futile defense. On reflection, Flashman's movements during the raid are improbable. But Fraser makes them seem plausible, and even character-driven, as he presents a complete historical tableau to his readers. With this talent, Fraser becomes a fine historical novelist as well.

In ANGEL OF THE LORD, Fraser also provides a thoughtful essay in the first appendix where he wrestles with the character and exploits of John Brown, who he elsewhere calls "the most violent and ruthless abolitionist in the country." In this appendix, Fraser acknowledges that Brown was "devious, foolish, vain, unscrupulous, and irresolute in crisis." But he concludes: "He is part of history and historic legend, and if what he tried to do was not heroic, then the word has no meaning." For me, this appendix added a lot.

At the same time, there are two negatives in ANGEL OF THE LORD. First, Fraser takes 50 pages to insert Flashman into ante-bellum America. This section works but I found it slow and creaky and very self-referential. The section might not work for readers who have missed Flash for Freedom! (Flashman).

Second, there are many references to details in other Flashman books, which this fan of the series often found obscure. This, I suppose, is a byproduct of Fraser's intentions. Certainly, Fraser intends, and is successful, in his effort to entertain. But, he also intends to explore great historical events and their personages. But, what happens when Flashy makes a reference to his own fictional interaction with a historical figure, such as Bismarck? Well, I remember Bismarck in history from ROYAL FLASH. But I've often lost the fictional context that makes Flash's comment witty.

Likewise, I'm befuddled when Flash refers to many of Fraser's secondary characters, probably because Fraser has created them to move Flashman in and out of events, not really to live beyond the narrative. Admittedly, there are a few memorable characters in the series, such as Captain Springs. But many of his fictional characters, even the prurient Elsbeth, are a little gray. (Of course, I haven't yet read Flashman's Lady (Flashman).) Still, these references do cloud the work.

Regardless, FLASHMAN AND THE ANGEL OF THE LORD is a worthy installment in this terrific series and a great pick-me-up for anyone caught in the doldrums.

I enjoy this series and have had many enjoyable hours laughing at the 19th century's most outrageous cad. But this one is a bit thin and takes a lifetime to finally get to Harper's Ferry. When Harry and Co. finally make it there, even then it drags a bit. Not Flashman's best by any means.

For those of you who aren't familiar with his exploits, please allow me to introduce you to Sir Harry Flashman, literature's most unrepentant scoundrel. Flashman (whom some may remember as the bully from Tom Brown's Schooldays), is the hero of twelve (as of 2007) novels by the literate and witty George MacDonald Fraser. The setting for these novels is the Nineteenth Century, a time filled with countless skirmishes and disasters, with Flashman seemingly involved in most of them. Fraser, in an explanatory note, says it best:

"From the day of his expulsion from Rugby School in the late 1830s, Flashman the man fulfilled the disgraceful promise of Flashman the boy; toadying bounder and bully matured into the cowardly profligate and scoundrel, who, by chance and shameless opportunism, became one of the most renowned heroes of the Victorian age, unwilling leader of the Light Brigade, fleeing survivor of Afghanistan and Little Big Horn, tarnished paladin of Crimea and the Mutiny, and cringing chronicler of many another conflict, disaster, and intrigue in which he bore an inglorious but seldom unprofitable part."

Flashman's memoirs were purportedly discovered in an attic in Leicestershire in 1965, half a century after his death at the age of 93. Flashman and the Angel of the Lord, the tenth packet of the "Flashman Papers" to have been edited and published by Fraser, chronicles Sir Harry's second trip to America. The last time around, he was sold as a slave, worked as a plantation foreman, met a young congressman named Abraham Lincoln and smuggled an escaped slave via the Underground Railroad. This time, through misadventure, coincidence, and the consequences of his own cowardice and womanizing, he is forced into acting as John Brown's right hand man, training Brown's followers for their disastrous 1859 raid on Harper's Ferry, the kickoff to the Civil War. Flashman, incidentally, served on both sides during that conflict, the details of which I can only hope will be revealed in a forthcoming volume.

In this age of political correctness, Flashman's bawdy adventures are a breath of fresh air. These books deserve every ounce of the praise they've received over the years---the only drawback of being a Flash-fan is enduring the long intervals between installments. Each novel stands by itself, but if you read one, you'll want to read them all. Sample one and join the ranks of rabid Flashmaniacs all around the world.