At a time when African National Congress-alliance politics are again prominent in South Africa, this nuanced study of the intersection of class and African national forces in the history of Africa’s oldest national liberation movement helps explain the deeper origins of this alliance. The book squarely places African agency at the centre of South African history and re-casts the story of the ANC in the words and actions of its own members and supporters at local and regional, as well as national, levels. In doing so, it shines a long overdue light on ordinary black activists, including politicised workers and women, and integrates these stories with those of more well-known leaders. 608pp, SOUTH AFRICA. UNISA PRESS.

On the morning of 24 May 1921, a force of 800 white policemen and soldiers marched to a place called Bulhoek, about 25 kilometres southwest of Queenstown in the Eastern Cape. The white government had instructed them to confront an African prophet, Enoch Mgijima, and his followers, called the Israelites, who refused to leave their holy village Ntabelanga (The Mountain Of The Rising Sun) where they had gathered to await the end of the world. The government was not prepared to allow them to pray and worship in peace, because it claimed the Israelites were illegally squatting on land that was not theirs. After many months of negotiating, it finally sent out an armed force to expel the Israelites. After the 20-minute skirmish nearly 200 Israelites lay dead and many others were wounded. This book explores the historical causes and consequences of the massacre. 80pp, SOUTH AFRICA. UNISA PRESS.

Using new material from original research, reassess the importance of the campaign to the young South African Dominion in attempting to prove its coming of age and pursue its imperial designs. BNS, 272pp, UK. I B TAURIS.

November 9th, 1942. Amid the cloaking gloom of the Liverpool docks lay the Dunedin Star. A ship of the Blue Star Line, she was bound for the Middle East, her consignment of munitions for the 8th Army supplemented by twenty-one fare-paying civilians escaping the Blitz for the colonies, all forced to take the long haul around the Cape. From interviews with survivors, eyewitness testimony, historical resources and personal journals, Dawson skilfully reconstructs the Dunedin Star's doomed voyage, the terror of the wilderness and painstaking rescue missions. From the grim waters of the North Atlantic to the blistering African wastes, he narrates a classic tale of pluck, set against the backdrop of World War II. Index, map, b/w photos, 262pp, UK. WEIDENFELD & NICOLSON.

A biography of the man who worked with Cecil Rhodes to create the largest mining financial empire in the world, controlling De Beers and 90% of the world diamond trade. The author delves into his origins in Germany and London, and describes the astute political and social manoeuvring that were the backbone of his astounding success. The author also looks at Oppenheimer's legacy as one of the architects of South Africa. Index, apps, 357pp, UK. REX COLLINGS.

The segregation policies of the South African state were precursors to the establishment of apartheid in 1948. This book explores intersections of labor tenancy and African customary law with tensions of gender and generation, focusing on the province of Natal (now Kwa-Zulu Natal). Index, bib, notes, 2 maps, 8 b/w photos, 3 figs, 233pp, UK. JAMES CURREY PUBLISHERS, 0852559550

The first volume of the People's History of South Africa looks at the formative period of modern South Africa from the viewpoint of the working men and women whose labour made the country's industrial revolution possible. Illustrated with contemporary b/w photographs and documents. Bib, 112pp, SOUTH AFRICA. RAVAN PRESS.

An analysis of the relationships that placed Smuts in a prominent position in the councils of the western world. B/w ill, bib, index, xli, 257pp, SOUTH AFRICA. COVOS DAY BOOKS.

2002 1919874100 Paperback

This new approach to the social history of Afrikaner nationalism looks into the diverse causes for the rise of a political movement which was to shape South African history profoundly during the 20th Century. In the 1930s Afrikaner nationalism transformed itself from a populist into a cultural nationalism, becoming politically radicalised at the same time. The nationalist symbol of the oxwagon was used not only by the National Party, but also by the extra- and anti-parliamentarian mass movement Ossewabrandwag, which was founded in 1939. Drawing on a broad range of archival resources, the social history of this extremist organisation is analysed, showing local and regional differences. The Ossewabrandwag as a nationalist movement counted a considerable part of the Afrikaans white population among its members. Therefore, the Ossewabrandwag can be understood appropriately only in the context of radical Afrikaner nationalism. 672pp, GERMANY. LIT VERLAG.

The third volume of the People's History of South Africa looks at the rise of Afrikaner nationalism during the 1940s. It tells its story through the lives of six families. Illustrated with contemporary b/w photographs and historical documents. 139pp, SOUTH AFRICA. RAVAN PRESS.

The story of the policy of 'betterment', implemented in the Zoutpansberg area of South Africa in the 1930s and 1940s and the ensuing bitterness and suffering among the people affected by it. Using oral and written sources, the author de-scribes how the policy was implemented and the role of the Zoutpansberg Cultural Association in supporting the people's fight for their land. Bib, 50pp, SOUTH AFRICA. RAVAN PRESS.

First significant local study of National Party and Afrikaner politics. By focusing on Stellenbosch as a university and a town, the book extends our understanding of the complex interaction between the GNP/HNP and various organizations of the radical right. The book illustrates, at a local level and using detailed materials, how identity was constructed through a process of excluding some (English, Jew, Coloured) and including others. In addition, it examines the ways in which Afrikaner nationalists of all shades of political opinion conceptualized their relationships with English-speaking South Africans, and the ways that the rhetoric of republicanism and anti-imperialism were employed by nationalists. Index, bib, 303pp, UK. ROUTLEDGE.

Racial murder and rebellion lie at the heart of this book. It focuses on South Africa's 'Rand Revolt' of 1922, when Johannesburg and its surrounding towns were wracked by industrial strife, racial violence and insurrection. White workers rose against their employers and the State, black people were hunted through the streets, and strikers launched an onslaught upon police and the army. Krikler recreates this world of intense conflict and analyses the sources and complex nature of its extreme passions. The book suggests novel ways of looking at racial identity and violence, and breaks new ground in other areas - for example, in its assessment of the impact of the First World War on labour movements, and in its exploration of the significance of female violence during the upheaval. 404pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JONATHAN BALL.

The 1940s was a turbulent period in the history of South Africa. It opened with parliament's bitterly contested decision to enter the war; was rocked by political turmoil; and ended with a bang, as well as a whimper, as the National Party captured political power in 1948. Most see it as a decade that led inexorably towards apartheid but the coming of Afrikaner nationalism was only one of several competing visions of the future. The decade was in fact marked by a general sense of expectancy and optimism that the end of the war would usher in a brave new world. New worlds of possibilities were envisioned on all sides. Reform, social and political, was in the air. But in the end it turned out to be a Prague spring, and the kinds of reforms that many envisaged were dealt a deathblow, only to be resurrected 40 years later with the demise of Afrikaner nationalism. These worlds of possibilities are explored fully in this volume. Contributors include: Shula Marks, Jeremy Seekings, Deborah Posel and Jonathan Hyslop. Index, 289pp, SOUTH AFRICA. DOUBLE STOREY BOOKS.

Using formerly closed archive documents, the editors reveal the relationship between the South African Communist party and international organisations of Moscow. BNS, 320pp, UK. FRANK CASS, 0714652806

Victims of Bolshevisation, 1931-1939

Using formerly closed archive documents, the editors reveal the relationship between the South African Communist party and international organisations of Moscow. BNS, 320pp, UK. FRANK CASS, 0714652814

A history and analysis of the brief explosion of trade unionism formed by the development of the ICU in rural South Africa, 1924-1930. Index, bib, notes, 364pp, UK. YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS.

Provides insights into South African and British history before the Second World War. Explores the troubled early history of the Kruger National Park within the context of Stevenson-Hamilton's life, and also presents the modern reader with an illuminating account of his pioneering work on environmental philosophy and management. B/w ill, notes, refs, index, 244pp, SOUTH AFRICA. UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL PRESS.

In the summer of 1922, the heart of South Africa was wracked by industrial strife, racial killing and insurrection. This book reconstructs the extraordinary events of that Rand Revolt. Through an examination of the organisation and activities, the hopes and fears, of ordinary people, the book analyses the sources of rebellion and racial killing. It explores what white men and women invested in their racial identity, and how this was destabilised by threats to their livelihoods and sense of citizenship. The consequences were brutal, even pathological. Index, notes, 39 b/w photos, maps, 405pp, UK. MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS.

A very interesting social history of South African working life and the struggle to control the economy and production from 1886-1940. Illustrated with contemporary photographs, cartoons and songs. Notes, 262pp, SOUTH AFRICA. RAVAN, 0869752782

1987 Paperback