South Africa Books

The cover, showing a skeletal horseman in British Army uniform shadowed by vultures, decisively grabs the reader's attention. The book will hold it even more when s/he begins reading. "The South African War" is now the best general work on its subject, deftly summarizing twenty years of research since Thomas Pakenham's "The Boer War."

Bill Nasson made a strong contribution with his earlier "Abraham Esau's War," detailing how Black South Africans in the Cape Colony embraced the ideals of British liberal democracy, and fought and died for them. This book expands on that solid base, covering the whole war in a 300-page text, but omitting nothing of importance. It has four main virtues: balance, concision, comprehensiveness and humanity. Humanity is apparent in Nasson's scrupulous fairness to all three peoples (Afrikaners, Blacks, British) trapped in the horrors of the war, though he does criticize civilian and military leaders whose misguided ambition helped start and prolong it. It is balanced and comprehensive in covering all facets of the struggle, including economic origins, political dimensions, the experiences of soldiers and civilians alike, and the aftermath of peace. As a synthesis, it has less primary documentation than a monograph like "Esau," but Nasson's intimate knowledge of South Africa and the relevant archives is clear throughout.

If there is a (minor) weakness, it lies in the succinct nature of the text: there is no room for a detailed military narrative. For this, Pakenham is still helpful, though it is itself incomplete in coverage of Africans' roles, the main achievement of recent scholarship. On this crucial subject Nasson is more enlightening, though other works are useful such as P. Warwick, "Black People and the South African War." Also highly recommended is a diary (with various editions and titles) from the siege of Mafeking by Sol Plaatje, an early nationalist and writer who helped found the African National Congress in 1912. "South African War" succeeds as a sound analysis of a struggle which presaged many of the problems of both modern southern Africa and modern war. One of Nasson's main conclusions, that the war's primary victims were Blacks both during and after the fighting, is borne out by most major writers; see e.g. J. Krikler, "Revolution From Above, Rebellion From Below." It is skillfully written and conveys all the drama, and trauma, of an oft-mythologized but vicious conflict.

If you want to know about South African wine and how it is made, then this is THE book.

I read this book as part of a class I took in the globalization of southern Africa. Overall I would suggest this book to anyone interested in the subject. It's high points include Love's synthesis of the liberation struggles of South Africa, Mozambique, and Angola -- stories which can easily become overly confusing when clarity and accuracy is lacking in their telling. Love's analysis, however, becomes somewhat unengaging by the end of the book, so additional texts may be useful as she discusses economic globalization, as Love is unable to avoid the shallow rhetoric of the pro-free market economist (however, she is able to raise successful criticisms of the one-size-fits-all policies of the IMF).

I was rushed to find a book for a colleague who was leaving and who had always asked for my recommendation for THE quintessential book on africa. From what I saw in Amazon's synopsis, I figured i couldn't go wrong with a photographic journal of the land, as pictures tell a thousand words.
There are some spectacular photographs in this book, which convey the rich heritage of flora and fauna in this region of Africa. Its a good coffee table book, and is also good for people who have been to Africa and need a display memoir of photos of scenes that you saw but couldn't capture yourself.I was tickled pink to find pictures of places I had seen and I had even been to, like the spice merchant in Durban ,S.A who displayed varying ranges of chilli powder ending in "Mother-In-Law exterminator" as his most potent, or the multi colored changing stalls on Cape Town's beaches.
Don't buy this book if you are looking for an in-depth analysis of the countries economies, and the present conditions and way of life of the ethnic people. The author devotes a few pages to a brief history of the countries, and stays away from making any socio-political comments or opinions. The book tells its story in pictures, and concentrates at times in depth on wildlife rather than landscape.
I like the book, and i think I'm going to get a copy for myself! As for my colleague, i hope this convinces her to take the plunge and head for a safari in one of the most pristine corners of the world.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This review was originally published in 1989.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mbeki set up what's happening now in South Africa in several ways. He subverted the ANC's internal democracy, centralising power in the presidency, he started the tradition of riding populist demagogues to the leadership even if he wasn't one himself, and he pushed Jacob Zuma to the limelight as someone he thought he could ride as a substitute for his own lack of the common touch.

The second edition updates some events like the rise of Jacob Zuma as Mbeki's heir apparent, and the chaos in Zimbabwe though naturally with such fast-moving events, you can't expect the book to be up to date. It does however provide very useful background even for events that overtook it.

I don't agree with everything Gumede says but separate out the opinion and the fact is pretty good on the whole: he seems to have real insider contacts.

Some of his nostrums -- more state intervention in the economy for example -- are not terribly likely to have had a significant effect without a much wider change the style at the top -- but he presents a compelling case that South Africa's first 15 years of democracy, the Mbeki era (even if most see the first 5 years as belonging to Mandela), are a big disappointment. From the mismanagement of the HIV-AIDS pandemic through the glacially slow implosion of Zimbabwe, it's hard to see anything that the ordinary person would count as a success. Managing the economy more prudently than the apartheid regime should count perhaps as a bigger success than Gumede credits Mbeki with. However, he does have a good point that in some sense, the government may have had it backwards. Whereas other emerging economies have at times managed to get away with talking fiscal conservatism, while acting a little socialist behind the scenes, Gumede accuses the Mbeki-ites of doing the opposite: talking left, while acting right. The effect (I am guessing, he doesn't spell it out) is little delivery, while frightening off investors.

Overall, the book is a compelling read, despite the odd editing lapse (some unnecessary repetitions, the odd sentence where it becomes hard to untangle the references). Strongly recommended for anyone wanting to understand current trends in South and Southern Africa.