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,. 0860360873

1979 Hardback

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. 0869751190

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, 1919874100

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 0869758083

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.

Seeks to retrieve the lives of two extraordinary individuals who have disappeared from the story of African nationalism in South Africa. Petros Lamula and Lymon Maling were profoundly influential political figures in Natal and Zululand between 1910 and 1940. Lamula was a fiery cooperative movement ideologue, pioneering Zulu historian, architect of the first Inkatha organisation, leader of the radical African National Congress in Natal and, finally, a separatist church leader. Maling was a former mine clerk who founded an ambitious Zulu political organisation, the Abaqulusi Land Union. SOUTH AFRICA. UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL PRESS.

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 study of colonial politics in South Africa under the influence of Lord Selbourne, High Commissioner from 1905 to 1910. UK. LIVERPOOL UNIVERSITY PRESS.

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