South Africa Books

I am not really a person of literature but this book I thought was really worth the time and money.

This GeoHoliday travel club idea sounds like a great membership to have. There are so many locations that Geo holidays can take you. Not sure what the investment would be, but it seems like it would be worth it. i found more info about geo holiday at www.geoholiday.com and saw even more destinations listed than are in the book. My wife and I love to travel to Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe. This club sounds like the ideal package for the consummate traveller. Thanks for a great read!

I am a part intl relations person but more oriented toward the finance/macroeco type of study and this book is really good for someone who wants to study a certain period in a country - Japan - 1980's for example, the book will give you a thorough before-after scenario of all macro economic, socio economic, political indicators to lead you to why an event took place. They are much clearer about the 'economic' and 'finance' aspects than most other IR books that end up telling you everything surrounding an issue, the kind that dont explain "speculative attacks" or "swaps" or "forign exchange market intervention".

I didnt end up using this for my class but I like reading a case study once in a while!

"Going For Gold" has drawn attention for its frank, insightful and fully-informed treatment of male miners' sexuality, including homosexual relations (known as "mine marriages"). But there is much more to commend Moodie and Ndatshe's exploration of what it means to be a man, and to act like one, in South Africa. Their intimate knowledge of the region combines well with participant-observer data, which must have been challenging to collect given the subject and circumstances. The result is one of the richest current studies of migrant life in Africa, encompassing changes in the labor process, ethnic identity, class formation, drinking and sociability, violence, and resistance to harsh work and living conditions. For example, the sections on faction fights between Sotho and Xhosa miners reveal that these are not merely age-old primordial hatreds. They reflect complex antagonisms rooted in struggles for employment, occupational status, class consciousness, political affiliation and situational identity, which all have discernible recent origins. While the book is pathbreaking, others have taken up these issues in various ways. In order of expanding regional scale, see C. Van Onselen, "Studies in the Social & Economic History of the Witwatersrand;" P. Harries, "Work, Culture & Identity;" R. Morrell ed, "Changing Men in Southern Africa;" J. Crush & C. Ambler eds, "Liquor & Labor in Southern Africa;" and L. Vail ed, "The Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa." There is now a brand-new comparable study of migrant womens' hostels by G. Elder, "Hostels, Sexuality, & the Apartheid Legacy."

It is not often that a "nice" biography involving a world leader is written, but Goodbye Bafana is the exception to this rule and James Gregory only has praise for "his friend" Nelson Mandela.

Goodbye Bafana cronicals the life and experiences of James Gregory up, and until, he becomes Nelson Mandela's jailer in several South African prisions. Gregory writes a compelling and often blunt tale of how his hatred of blacks (he is an Afrikaner) and especially Nelson Mandela was turned around to a respectful and often sympathetic attitude by Mandela with whom he spent many close years as his personal jailer during Mandela's incarceration.

From this book one learns many things about South Africa's first black president and one thing that strikes the reader is his complete dedication to his cause (to end apartheid) and how much respect he has earned from both black and white people during his life. Onced finished one comes away feeling confident that there is not a man more deserving than Mandela running South Africa. I feel Goodbye Bafana is a masterpiece which shows how a friendship can florish despite political, racial and iron barriers.

This collection of short stories gives a view of one woman's observations of the people and culture of South Africa. The stories are cleverly written and very thought provoking. The first story I read, The Catch, was a little difficult to understand. After reading one more, The Bridegroom, I was hooked and enjoyed many more.

It is easy to be suspicious of the way in which Ian Knight churns out books on the Zulu, as if he were a machine rather than a hard-working author. But that would be an unfair assumption. Knight researches his books thoroughly, and give or take the odd minor error, he excels at what he does. This latest offering is my favourite Knight book because, at last, we get something that looks beyond the Zulu kings (although there are chapters on Shaka and Cetshwayo)and examines some of the men who helped them build the Zulu kingdom. Some of Knight's choices as the ten great Zulu commanders are bewildering. He includes Ntshingwayo kaMahole, the Swazi prince Mbilini kaMswati, Cetshwayo's rash and blundering half-brother Dabulamanzi and even Bambata (of Bambata Rebellion fame), but declines chapters on Shaka's brilliant general, Mdlaka kaNcidi; perhaps the most famous Zulu warrior of all, Zulu kaNogondaya; and, to a lesser degree, Mpande's faithful old commander Nongalaza kaNondela, who ensured that Mpande defeated Dingane at Magqonga hills in 1840. That aside, one can't help but marvel at the manner in which Knight has put this book together. It is a great read as the personal lives of the great Zulu warriors have been totally ignored by most historians.

Between its founding in 1937 and its demise in 1963 upon being outlawed by South Africa's apartheid government, the South African newspaper "The Guardian" went by seven different names; others among these were the Clarion (early 1950s), People's World (also early 1950s), and New Age (1954-62). Though its name changed, its definition of its role remained the same. Opposed to all dictatorial, totalitarian governments, the newspaper opposed fascism in Africa, in neighboring Namibia in particular, as well as the entrenched apartheid government in South Africa. After World War II ended and decolonization was happening in places around the world, the Guardian focused its coverage and editorials on South Africa's system of apartheid. In so doing, it incurred the wrath of successive apartheid governments so that it was continually harassed by government agents and on occasion banned by the government.

In its early years, the Guardian's opposition to fascism and racism automatically aligned it with Communism. The first time it was banned outright was when the South African government passed the Suppression of Communist Act (SCA) in the early 1950s; which among other things, would make much of the regular content of the Guardian illegal, subjecting its writers to arrest and jail terms. Officially disassociating itself from the Communist Party, the Guardian still faced a crisis of survival in that it lost its core readership and major sources of funding. Nonetheless, as a staff writer Abbie Sachs remarked, "The [SCA] actually did us a big favor because it meant we couldn't use the jargon and ever-ready phrases [of communist ideology]...We were compelled to use more substantive ways of thinking and writing...." In this transformation, the Guardian not only sharpened its reporting on events in South Africa, but developed contacts with indigenous anti-apartheid forces, some of which were growing increasingly militant in the face of the apartheid government's intransigence and policies of imprisonment and torture. Along with these groups working politically and in some cases militarily, the Guardian became a catalyst for change in South Africa.

The story of the survival and role of the Guardian is written in conjunction with political events in South Africa leading to the overthrow of apartheid. Zug also writes about the work and influence of major and some secondary individuals connected with the paper. With a background as a historian as well as a journalist, author Zug writes an enduring history of this notable newspaper.

I found this an excellent introductory text for any serious student who is keenly interested in, but unfamiliar or only marginally familiar with, the region. A liberal sprinkling of lucid maps and well-annotated photographs render the book eminently readable. The strictly chronological treatment of the subject matter helps in an easy understanding of the interrelationship of the various factors at work which shaped the unfolding history of this fascinating region.

An interesting glimpse into the lives of a Jewish family in Capetown, South Africa during apartheid. The family relationships were beautifully portrayed.