Bridglal (Bridge) Pachai, a life long advocate of social justice, was born in a thatched roof cottage in Umbulwana, South Africa. His journey has taken him from South Africa to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Along the way he has taught history at universities in South Africa, Malawi, The Gambia and Halifax. He has also served as director of the Black Cultural Centre in Nova Scotia and as director of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission. In the words of Tom McInnis, his senior when Bridge was director of the Human Rights Commission, he could dance with the lords and be with the paupers. B/w photos, 197pp, CANADA. FERNWOOD PUBLISHING.

An introduction to the lives and works of five exceptional African intellectuals based in the former Cape Colony in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, this unique work aims to recount and preserve a part of African intellectual heritage which is not widely known. Ntsikana, Tiyo Soga, John Tengo Jabavu, Mpilo Walter Benson Rubusana and Samuel Edward Krune Mqhayi were pioneers within the African community, contributing their thoughts and intellect to various fields, including literature and poetry, politics, religion and journalism. Bib, b/w photos, 76pp, SOUTH AFRICA. HUMAN SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL.

New in paperback. Andrew Feinstein became an active member of the ANC in the 1980s, and campaigned energetically for the party in the first democratic elections. He was elected to parliament and rose swiftly through the ranks, earning the label 'Mr Clean' for his unstinting work against graft and corruption. His feelings of euphoria at being part of the new South Africa slowly soured. Initially disappointed by the constant jockeying for power and the denialist AIDS policy of President Thabo Mbeki, Feinstein's disillusionment grew as he sought unsuccessfully to investigate the corruption surrounding the Arms Deal. Isolated from his former comrades, Feinstein was forced to choose between his principles and the party he had so admired. This is his story. 308pp, UK. VERSO.

An account of the political career of Albert Luthuli, former President of the African National Congress (ANC). It centres around the launching of the ANC's armed struggle in 1961. Scott Couper argues that Luthuli did not support the initiation of violence; and that his ecclesiastical tradition embedded within him the primacy of democracy, education, sacrificial service, multiracialism and egalitarianism. However, these same influences rendered him obsolete as a political leader within an increasingly radicalised, desperate and violent environment. 256pp, SOUTH AFRICA. UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL PRESS.

The author narrates a warm and moving story of childhood in urban Johannesburg, and the rural village of Bokala. 172pp, SOUTH AFRICA. RAVAN PRESS.

1993 0869754467 Paperback

Autobiography beginning with Ray Alexander Simons' childhood in Latvia. Her life spans several turbulent decades of South African history. Feminist, communist, trade unionist, anti apartheid activist this life story covers her fight for the rights of all South Africans. Covers the difficult years she and partner Jack Simons spent in exile in Zambia. Includes list of acronyms, family tree and chronology. Index, b/w and colour photographs, 378pp, SOUTH AFRICA. STE PUBLISHERS.

The story of three generations of a Chinese family who moved to South Africa in the early twentieth century and remained in Johannesburg through the upheavals and trials of the century. The author describes their struggle with identity and belonging and the impact of apartheid on their sense of home. Illustrated with b/w photographs. 283pp, SOUTH AFRICA. DAVID PHILIP.

Using the manuscript of Basner's autobiography found after his death in 1977, Miriam Basner provides an account of forty years of her husband's radical political life as seen by him. As a maverick lawyer, ex communist and for five years, Native Representative in the South African Senate, Basner's life provides a testimony on rural African politics during the late 1930s and 1940s. Index, notes, 49pp, SOUTH AFRICA. WITWATERSRAND UNIVERSITY PRESS.

In 1951, Anthony Sampson went to work in South Africa on Drum magazine, beginning a life-long commitment to a country divided by race. Four years later he was working for the Observer under the legendary David Astor, and there wrote the unique Anatomy of Britain, which changed the mould of political writing. A stream of bestsellers followed on major world topics: big business; the oil trade; the international arms trade; world banking; corporate life; and, important updates to the original Anatomy, culminating in Who Runs this Place? in 2004. Sampson, however, never missed an opportunity to return to South Africa, which was in many ways his spiritual home. He witnessed the major events that finally led to the end of apartheid and the triumph of Nelson Mandela. Index, b/w photos, 284pp, UK. POLITICO'S.

Life story of South African tycoon and philanthropist Anton Rupert, the story of small town boy who grew up during the Depression, struggled to find enough money to study science, and then made good as a businessman, spectacularly so, reaching Forbes' list of the 500 wealthiest people world-wide. His Rembrandt group of companies became a highly successful conglomer-ate with interests across the globe, owning brands like Cartier, Mont Blanc, Van Cleef & Arpels and Dunhill. Within decades, a family dynasty was built up, making the Ruperts, next to the Oppenheimers, one of the richest families in Africa. Illus, 466pp, SOUTH AFRICA. TAFELBERG.

On 21 March, 1960, the sixteen-year-old Ace Mgxashe was among a dozen Langa High students whose curiosity led them to an anti-pass rally at the Langa Flats bus terminus. Within minutes he was caught up in a deadly barrage of police bullets, teargas and baton charges. The Langa killings were to be a turning point in his life, which henceforth would be dedicated to the Pan-Africanist Congress. Mgxashe became deeply embroiled in the underground, was captured and sent to Robben Island, where he served with the likes of Robert Sobukwe and Nelson Mandela. Index, b/w photos, 229pp, SOUTH AFRICA. TAFELBERG.

Humorous and nostalgic look at people and events in South Africa over the past half century by one of the country's longest-serving newspaper editors. In these memoirs Michael Green writes about the famous and infamous, the admirable and not so admirable characters he encountered during his long career: politicians, musicians, sportsmen, actors, lawyers and, of course, journalists. Index, 247pp, SOUTH AFRICA. DAVID PHILIP.

During the apartheid years Ronnie Kasrils worked for the ANC, its military wing Umkhonto we Sizwe, and the South African Communist Party. This is an account of these years of the liberation struggle. This 2004 revised and updated edition has eight new chapters and many new photographs, covering the years from 1994. Map, b/w illus, index. x, 356pp. SOUTH AFRICA. JONATHAN BALL PUBLISHERS.

Now in paperback. Reveals the complex figure behind the saintly public mask, showing him to be a man of both dazzling talents and crippling secret fears. BNS, 688pp, USA. YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS.

Powerful account of Lewin's detentionand release from a Pretoria gaol. 229pp, SOUTH AFRICA. DAVID PHILIP.

1989 1981 0864861354 Paperback

The new edition brings together the original text of BANDIET: Seven Years In A South African Prison and previously unpublished stories and poems including those dealing with the author's experience with the truth and reconciliation commission and his return to South Africa after twenty years in exile. 264pp, SOUTH AFRICA. RANDOM HOUSE SOUTH AFRICA.

The first full length biography of Dr Beyers Naude drawing on extensive interviews with Dr Naude, his colleagues and contemporaries. Having reached the highest office of the Dutch Reformed Church, Dr Naude drew back from power and honour, challenged and inspired by the Black Consciousness movement and the increasing conflict between the Church and the State. The author deals at length with the founding of the Christian Institute and his ongoing struggle for liberation in South Africa. Index, refs, 230pp, SOUTH AFRICA. DAVID PHILIP.

1990 0864861567 Paperback

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The autobiography of one of South Africa's leading actors describing his life on stage and in a changing South Africa. B/w illus, 426pp, SOUTH AFRICA. WITWATERSRAND UNIVERSITY PRESS.

A description of the author's childhood in South Africa, evoking the trials of youth and the political reality. 166pp, UK. VINTAGE.

New edition. The story of the courageous Afrikaaner lawyer who took on the apartheid regime, defended Nelson Mandela and was himself jailed for life and died in prison. Illustrated with b/w photographs. Index, bib, xi, 500pp, SOUTH AFRICA. DAVID PHILIP.

Sympathetic biography of the political activist and Premier of KwaZulu and traditional premier of the Zulu nation. Written using interviews and Buthelezi's own papers, it traces the founding of Inkatha and its turbulent relationship with the ANC. Index, app, notes, b/w photographs, 415pp, UK. FRANK CASS.

New edition with a preface by Nadine Gordimer and a foreword by Bessie Head. Autobiography drawing on the unrecorded history of a whole people. Like millions of black South Africans made strangers in their own country under apartheid, she lost a great deal in her lifetime: the farm in the Orange Free State which had belonged to her family for nearly a hundred years; her hopes for a full and peaceful life for her children; even her freedom, when, at the age of 63, she found herself detained under the Terrorism Act. 304pp, SOUTH AFRICA. PICADOR AFRICA.

Ruth Schechter lived most of her life in Cape Town where she encountered powerful establishment figures, and powerless coloureds living in District Six. Among the personalities she met were F Bodmer, M K Gandhi, L Hogben, and L van der Post. She became particularly close to Olive Schreiner. This is a story that touches on the development of a dissenting South African community. Based on original research, Hirson has drawn together an engaging and original biography. xxxi+253pp, index,

UK MERLIN PRESS.

New Edition. First published in 1988, this study of the life and times of Cecil Rhodes uses archive material and other little known sources to evoke the heady atmosphere of late 19th century southern Africa. Index, notes, b/w illus, map, 391pp, SOUTH AFRICA. PROTEA BOOK HOUSE.

The first full biography of Christiaan Barnard who performed the world's first human heart transplant in Cape Town in 1967. The author looks at the public acclaim and controversy surrounding the operation and the impact of international fame on the daring and charismatic surgeon. Often described as a playboy, he married three times and was linked to beautiful women around the world. Chris Logan looks at Barnard's turbulent life and examines his relationship with his family and the highs and lows of his long career in surgery. Index, bib, 340pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JONATHAN BALL.

Antjie Krogs's first full length work in English since THE COUNTRY OF MY SKULL. As South Africans try to find new footholds in a democratic space, Krog traces the humour of change and the pain of belonging through personal narratives of individuals, families, groups and politicians. Gloss, 375pp, SOUTH AFRICA. RANDOM HOUSE SOUTH AFRICA.

Returning to Africa for a school reunion after a thirty-year separation, the country of Carol's troubled and unconventional childhood is in many ways much changed, but in others hauntingly familiar. As memories of her life as a young girl are stirred up by new encounters and shared recollections, a young African boy appears and throws into relief the stark differences between their upbringings, as well as some similarities. Freedom is twelve and when Carol meets him first, he has not eaten in two days, needs clothes to wear and has no clear future ahead of him. 320pp, UK. CENTURY.

Grouped loosely by decade, from 1895 to the present, the editor has selected autobiographical writing reflecting the range of experience of South African women. Writers include Kesaveloo Goonam, Sindiwe Magona, Maggie Resha, Helen Joseph, Frances Baard, Mamphela Ramphele, Emma Mashinini, Antjie Krog and Charlene Smith. Index, sources, glos, b/w photographs, maps, xii, 386pp, SOUTH AFRICA. WITWATERSRAND UNIVERSITY PRESS.

This book provides some rich materials illustrating the politics and life story of Jack Simons, one of the most influential leaders of the South African Communist Party and of the Congress Alliance of South Africa. It includes biographical chapters, diary extracts, political lectures, an interview with JS and his CV. 31 photos, bib, glossary, xii+245pp, SOUTH AFRICA. STE PUBLISHERS.

New in paperback. Jonathan Kaplan studied medicine in South Africa, and after working in a township and being conscripted by the South African army, he chose exile rather than serve the apartheid state. He travelled the globe in search of sanctuary, experiencing riots, tropical fevers, political upheaval, and a jungle search for a lost friend. Kaplan landed eventually in Angola, and took charge of a combat zone hospital, the only surgeon for 160,000 civilians, where he was exposed daily to the horrors of war. This is the account of those travels, the sequel to his stunning debut THE DRESSING STATION. 278pp, UK. PICADOR.

A portrait of boyhood and youth in the Pretoria Indian location. The author's descriptions of his experiences of schooling, the cinema, football, love, religion and death offer a glimpse of a little known and fascinating aspect of South African life. Gloss, 228pp, UK. COSAW

1990 1872086039 Paperback

The pioneering South African writer was also the representative for the African National Congress in the Caribbean, and was active in the Pan-African movement. In this book he draws on his experiences and meetings with Black reformists and revolutionaries to reflect on the development of the Black People in today's world. 409pp, JAMAICA. IAN RANDLE PUBLISHERS.

Colin Eglin documents his career in public life over half a century and under five constitutions, from the Union constitution to the current Constitution of 1996 the development of which he made a huge contribution. His story provides searching personal insights into all the major role players in South African politics during the second half of the 20th century, and into the intricacies of party politics and parliamentary life. 374pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JONATHAN BALL.

Coming to prominence as the Secretary General of the National Union of Mineworkers in the 1980s and then as secretary general of the ANC after its unbanning, Ramaphosa is widely credited with playing a major role in the negotiations that led to the democratic settlement in South Africa and in devising South Africa's constitution. After he failed to secure nomination as Deputy President, he left politics and became a highly successful businessman. Based on extensive interviews with many of the subject's friends and contemporaries, this biography marries the historical context and the rich details of an individual life to depict a complex figure in the South African political landscape. Index, notes, b/w photos, 442pp, UK. JAMES CURREY PUBLISHERS.

The life of Eugène Marais, 'naturalist, hypnotist, doctor, and psychologist', which covered many of the great events of Afrikaner and South African history: the British occupation of Pretoria, the beginning of the Afrikaans language movement, the Jameson raid, 'the naughty nineties' (when Marais was in London), the Boer War and its aftermath, World War I, and the rise of Afrikaner nationalism. 528pp. SOUTH AFRICA. JONATHAN BALL PUBLISHERS.

1999 1868420760 Paperback

Chronicles the life, times and poetry of extraordinary Xhosa praise poet, the late David Yali-Manisi, and his growing friendship and fruitful working relationship with the author. Jeff Opland is a renowned scholar who is recognised world-wide as a foremost authority on Xhosa izibongo or praises. Opland brings to the subject unique insights fusing impeccable scholarship with self-reflective autobiographical narrative. SOUTH AFRICA. UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL PRESS.

Popular account of an extraordinary prelate and anti Apartheid leader. Index, bib, gloss, notes, 178pp, USA. GREENWOOD PUBLISHING GROUP.

The chronicle of Haggard's return to South Africa in 1914, when he barely recognised the Africa of his younger days. App, notes, index, xiii, 345pp, UK. C. HURST & CO.

Dick Fehnel worked as higher education consultant for the World Bank, Ford Foundation and the Human Sciences Research Council. He held the positions of acting representative (1998-1999) and programme officer (1993-2000) for the Ford Foundation, Southern Africa, after which he semi-retired to Portland, Oregon, and continued to travel and consult until his death in May 2006. The transformation of South African higher education became his raison d'etre in the last stage of his career. 192pp, SOUTH AFRICA. AFRICAN MINDS.

Pieter Wolvaardt joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1969 and served his apprentice-ship at home in the Union Building and as a junior diplomat in Brazil from 1970 to 1973. He went through the thick of the apartheid days when the world ignored South Africa and most countries cut ties, officially defending the indefensible but all the time knowing that apartheid was wrong. In 1994 President Nelson Mandela appointed him as South Africa s first Ambassador to Mexico . He retired after a successful career with the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1998. Index, col photos, 336pp, SOUTH AFRICA. GALAGO BOOKS.

Breytenbach returns to South Africa from Parisian exile and finds himself 'excavating both his family's history and that of his nation, through a series of contemporary sketches and haunting reminiscences which are highly coloured, strongly poetic, and often unsettling in their violence. 197pp. UK. FABER & FABER

New edition. First published in 1959 while the author was in exile, this frank and moving autobiography portrays his struggles against the apartheid regime and the segregated school system from which he was barred as a teacher. 211pp, SOUTH AFRICA. PICADOR AFRICA.

Autobiography of the former South African High Commissioner to Tanzania. B/w photos, 144pp, SOUTH AFRICA. UNISA PRESS.

The author has been a hospital surgeon, a flying doctor, a ship's medical officer and a battlefield surgeon. He has worked in places as diverse as Burma, Kurdistan, America, Mozambique, England and Eritrea. This book provides a vivid account of the varied faces of medicine he has encountered. 407pp. UK. PICADOR.

Jim Bailey, son of mining magnate Abe Bailey, author, World War II hero and publisher of Drum magazine was a South African icon - and a true eccentric. In 1950, Barbara, then a girl of 12, met the dashing Jim when he threw a dachshund at her. That night she wrote in her diary: I have fallen in love with the most beautiful person ... I love him as much as Beethoven. The life they created together is charted here, in diary entries and narratives spanning fifty extraordinary years. B/w photos, 276pp, SOUTH AFRICA. TAFELBERG.

Eddie Barlow personified those sportsmen who through willpower maximise their ability. There were more talented players than he in the superb South African sides of the late 1960s - Graeme Pollock, Barry Richards, Mike Procter among them - but none exceeded his desire to succeed. No one who played alongside him or under his captaincy during a 21-year career for his country, his province (he played for Eastern and Western Provinces and Transvaal) or for Derbyshire, whom he led in a forthright manner for two seasons could fail to be dragged along by his natural competitive instincts. 300pp, SOUTH AFRICA. TAFELBERG.

2006 9780624044635 Paperback

Chris van Wyk's second childhood memoir about growing up in Riverlea and his colourful interactions with the men and women who lived the African proverb that 'it takes a village to raise a child'. 304pp, SOUTH AFRICA. PICADOR AFRICA.

The memoirs of one of South Africa's most famous political satirists and creator of Evita Bezuidenhout. Gloss, 230pp, UK. NEW HOLLAND.

Khotso Sethuntsa, the near-legendary millionaire medicine man, was believed to be a worker of powerful and dangerous magic. Renowned and feared throughout South Africa and beyond, even after his death in 1972, he created a fabulous, eccentric kingdom around himself. This book takes us into the world of one of southern Africa's best-known herbalists. Khotso was famed, especially, as a seller of ibangalala, a herbal remedy for sexual potency, and ukuthwala, a terrifying procedure for acquiring long-term wealth. He claimed to be in spiritual contact with Paul Kruger, hinting that his fortune derived from the long-lost Kruger millions. This book recovers a section of South African history that is in danger of being lost, as well as telling a tale full of astonishing twists and turns. With photographs by Obie Oberholzer. Index, bib, notes, b/w & col photos, 368pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JACANA MEDIA.

The autobiography of Deirdre Barnard, the South African champion water-skier and the daughter of the pioneering heart surgeon, Chris Barnard. Illustrated with b/w photographs. 243pp, SOUTH AFRICA. DOUBLE STOREY BOOKS.

Tenth anniversary edition of the evolution of a postcolonial writer. Foreword by Ngugi Wa Thiong'o. B/w illus, xi, 317pp, USA. FEMINIST PRESS.

Like any country, South Africa has its dual personalities, and 2010 gave the World a great study of its good side with the FIFA World Cup - but what of the ugly truth? 2010 has given the world a chance to examine that too, with a parade of 50 of SA's shadiest figures (some who have been caught in the worlds spotlight, other who hide behind the curtains) , whose efforts have gone into pulling the rug from under the country's feet, and stunting its truly great potential. With cartoons by Zapiro. 208pp, SOUTH AFRICA. TWO DOGS.

John Dube is a revered and important figure in the history of South Africa. He was a leading member of the educated African elite in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a clergyman and teacher, the founder of Ohlange Institute near Durban (where Nelson Mandela cast his vote in the first democratic elections of 1994) and the first president of the ANC. In this splendid biography, Heather Hughes traces the story of his life, uncovers much about the man and his world that has been either hidden or forgotten, and restores him to his rightful place. 288pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JACANA MEDIA.

The biography of Bram Fischer who became one of the most resilient activists against apartheid in South Africa. As a defence lawyer, he saved Nelson Mandela from the death penalty, and when most of the anti apartheid conspirators had fled into exile or were imprisoned, he held out against the government by leading a complex double life of both respectability and political intrigue. Illustrated with b/w photographs. Index, viii, 164pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JONATHAN BALL.

2001 1868421317 Paperback

Two wildlife travelogues in one volume which follow the author into horse and fishing country in the Cape region of South Africa and in Europe. Gloss, 251pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JACANA,.

New edition. A sequel to the much-acclaimed TO MY CHILDREN'S CHILDREN, this autobiog-raphy covers the following years in a tough but triumphant life. 240pp, SOUTH AFRICA. DAVID PHILIP.

New in paperback. Andre Brink grew up in the deep interior of South Africa, as his magistrate father moved from one dusty dorp to the next. With searing honesty he describes his conflicting experiences of growing up in a world where innocence was always surrounded by violence. From an early age he found in storytelling the means of reconciling the stark contrasts of is upbringing. While living in Paris in the sixties his discovery of a wider artistic life, allied to the exhilaration of the student uprising of 1968, confirmed in him the desire to become a writer. At the same time the tragedy of Sharpeville crystallised his growing political awareness and sparked the decision to return home and oppose the apartheid establishment with all his strength. This resulted in years of harassment by the South African secret police, in censorship, and in fractured relationships with many people close to him. His long love affair with music, art, the theatre, literature and sport illuminate this memoir as do relationships with remarkable women, among them the poet Ingrid Jonker, who have shared and shaped his life, and encounters with people like Ariel Dorfman, Anna Netrebko, Nadine Gordimer, Gunter Grass, Beyers Naude, Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela. B/w photos, 438pp, UK. VINTAGE.

Raymond Ackerman is the chairman and founder of Pick 'n Pay, the most successful retail chain in southern Africa, with over 350 outlets. In this, his second book, he reveals the secret of his success with a marketing philosophy based on the model of 'the four legs of the table' that can be applied worldwide. Index, 206pp, SOUTH AFRICA. DAVID PHILIP.

Biography of the ancestor of a great many modern South Africans,a century after Francois Renier Duminy’s death in 1811, even the whereabouts of his grave was unknown and sand blew over the lost ruins of his farm, Compagniesdam, at Bloubergstrand. In 1938 the Van Riebeeck Society published a selection of Francois Renier Duminys journals (some had been lost for ever), together with the cash book and diary of his wife, Johanna. Drawing on this and an array of genealogical sources, his descendant, Andrew Duminy, constructs a fascinating portrait of this French sea captain and prominent servant of the French and Dutch East India Companies in the Cape. Well illustrated throughout. 188pp SOUTH AFRICA. PROTEA BOOK HOUSE.

Despite a premature death in 1947, Lembede is remembered as one of the leading members of the ANC's Youth League which helped revive and develop its political influence through an Africanist ideology. This volume collects his articles and speeches and the tributes paid to him after his death. Forewords by A.P. Mda and Walter Sisulu. Index, bib, notes, 203pp, SOUTH AFRICA. MAYIBUYE BOOKS.

1996 1868082970 Paperback

In his earlier works, Sachs wrote of his experiences of detention, exile and survival of an assassination attempt. This new book deals with happier subject material Sachs's travels with his partner Vanessa September through Europe, literally from London to St Petersburg. 232pp, SOUTH AFRICA. RANDOM HOUSE SOUTH AFRICA.

Biography of an AIDS care worker who established a sanctuary God's Golden Acre for children in Kwazulu Natal, the site of the worst rates of HIV infection in the world. 24 col plates, 319pp, UK. MONARCH BOOKS.

Born in Cape Town in 1915 of Irish parents, Dennis Hurley became the youngest Catholic bishop in the world in 1947 at 31 and would later come be regarded, along with Desmond Tutu, as one of the South African state's 'most wanted' political opponents. His inspiring life as a courageous opponent of South Africa's apartheid regime for over 50 years and as a champion of the reforms and spirit of Vatican II is chronicled in this indispensable work. 382pp, UK. CONTINUUM.

Guy Butler was a substantial public figure in South Africa over the second half of the twentieth century: professor, poet, playwright, autobiographer, historian and cultural politician. Nevertheless, his is not a familiar name to the majority of South Africans and - where he is known - Butler remains a problematic figure. Even before his death in 2001, he was seen as a 'grand old man' in South African literature rather than as a writer for a new generation of readers. Yet much of Butler's work was (and still is) subversive and intellectually compelling; it has enduring literary value. His response to the South African situation presents us with a challenge: to acknowledge frankly those elements in his oeuvre that distance him from us, without losing sight of the significance it holds. This title makes use of Butler's private correspondence and unpublished archive material, combining biographical insight with criticism of his publications in various genres to offer a balanced explication of his life and work. 392pp, SOUTH AFRICA. UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL PRESS.

An account of the notorious life of Hazel Crane, who was gunned down in Johannesburg in 2003. Written from her perspective, the author describes her ascent from poverty in Ireland to diamond dealing in South Africa and her involvement with princes, presidents, conmen and killers. Illustrated with b/w photographs. 189pp, SOUTH AFRICA. DAVID PHILIP.

The story of one of South Africa's most successful retailers, describing the highs and lows of his career as a businessman in a highly politicised society. Illustrated with b/w photographs. Index, 342pp, SOUTH AFRICA. DAVID PHILIP/NEW AFRICA BOOKS, 0864863829

The biography of a woman whose life centred upon helping women and men understand the violence in their lives. Born into a family of healers, the author resisted her calling and was entrapped by the ideals of western living and comforts. This book details her journey to her status as healer, using ancient transformative and liberating tools used by African elders to break cycles of violence. Mmatshilo has been awarded several distinctions by Human Rights groups and has established a variety of foundations designed to help people with legal matters and domestic violence. 189pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JACANA.

A brief biography which presents the political views of the Pan African Congress and its influence on the history of South Africa. Written by a PAC activist this liveley volume is well illustrated and is accompanied by notes on the further history of the PAC and by vital extracts from Sobukwe's political speeches. USA. CENTURY-TURN PUBLISHERS.

1995 9991270027 Paperback

A biography of the controversial Bishop of Natal, John William Colenso who scandalised Victorian society by exposing the injustices inflicted upon the Africans of Natal and Zululand by the British. The author investigates different aspects of his life and writing, his relationship with his congregation, and discusses the reasons for his excommunication from the Anglican Church. Index, bib, notes, b/w illus, xii, 378pp, SOUTH AFRICA. University of Kwazulu Natal Press.

1983 0869751689 Paperback

James Ngculu was one of the mass of young people inspired by the 1976 Soweto Uprising to join Umkhonto we Sizwe in exile to fight against South Africa's apartheid regime. They were not in search of a comfortable life, and they did not find one. But like many of his comrades, the young Ngculu found inspiration and education in more than equal measure with frustration and hardship. This is both his personal story and a fascinating, painstaking history of those aspects of the ANC's struggle that formed its context. It is a memoir of his life in exile, accounts of his involvement in ANC's military wing, Umkhonto Wesizwe, recollections of various MK operations in Southern Africa, and military training in Europe and other parts of the world. 272pp, SOUTH AFRICA. DAVID PHILIP.

Kaleidoscope vision of a childhood and youth in Johannesburg in the 1950s and 1960s, tracing his Russian Jewish origins and contemplating exile at the release from prison and deportation of his activist father. 99pp, SOUTH AFRICA. DAVID PHILIP.

Updated edition. The story of the man who lead the defiance campaign against pass laws, and articulated a non-violent and non-racial philosophy of resistance in South Africa. Index, b/w photos, 419pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JONATHAN BALL.

Blaise Koch is an award-winning actor who has appeared in 263 professional productions. His repertoire is wide and he is considered one of South Africa's most talented and versatile actors. Blaise Koch is also HIV positive. This is his story of fame and success and remarkable courage that is coloured with his wry sense of humour and self-deprecation. 16 pages of b/w photos, 320pp, SOUTH AFRICA. SPEARHEAD.

During the struggle to end apartheid, Blanche La Guma led a complex and demanding life as a nurse-midwife by day and underground activist within a clandestine Communist cell by night. Harassed, banned, and at one time imprisoned, Blanche worked tirelessly to support her family in Cape Town while providing safe houses for anti-apartheid leaders, such as Walter Sisulu and Govan Mbeki. Forced into exile in 1966, Blanche continued the fight for justice in London and, later, in Havana, where she mentored hundreds of African National Congress students sent to Cuba after the 1976 Soweto Uprising. This rare firsthand account chronicles Blanches life as a South African exile in Fidel Castros Cuba, travelling through the Communist world at large, and finally returning to her country with dignity and freedom. With Martin Klammer. B/w photos, 214pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JACANA.

A distinguished writer-playwright's look back on his long and varied career. At once light-hearted and deadly serious, it unlocks the hidden histories of sports, journalism and the arts in this country, and explores the legacy of the indentured Indian labourers who built the community of Cato Manor and made major contributions particularly to political change and the nation's economy. But this is also a deeply personal story in which the writer, assuming the persona of his alter ego, Sathie, looks back on his childhood in Cato Manor, his misspent schooldays and his early forays into journalism, teaching and the theatre. B/w photos, 222pp, SOUTH AFRICA. DAVID PHILIP.

Focuses on the first 40 years of his life: from his troubled childhood in Durban and Bloemfontein to his intense student days at Wits University (where he also taught from 1945 until his retirement in 1993) and the prolific research, correspondence and travels of his early career. Vividly recounts his interactions with some of the great names in twentieth-century science - such as Raymond Dart, Robert Broom, Wilfrid LeGros Clark and Theodosius Dobzhansky - as well as their impact on him. Through his dedication to the people of Africa, Tobias opens windows on the San of Botswana, the Tonga of Zambia, and he recounts his role in the fight against racism during the harrowing decades of South Africa's apartheid regime. Index, bib, notes, 277pp, SOUTH AFRICA. PICADOR AFRICA.

investigation of the lives of the author's mother, the activist, mystic and painter Lesley, who was married to the novelist Jack Cope, and the characters surrounding her. It looks at South African political, literary, and artistic events and personalities of the fifties and sixties through the eyes of a left-wing, bohemian family and delves into the colonial roots of their presence, tracing their attempts to live creative lives through the darkest years of apartheid. In doing so, it probes at themes of memory, mortality, loss and longing. B/w photos, 288pp, SOUTH AFRICA. DOUBLE STOREY BOOKS.

Mantras of remembrance about growing up white in South Africa. "Extraordinary. This is unlike anything I have ever read... The form is as surprising as its subtle ability to tell tales of our past" (Antjie Krog). 135pp, SOUTH AFRICA . JACANA MEDIA.

She called herself Silent Anna because she couldn't tell anyone what happened between her and her stepfather. Now, many years later, she breaks the silence to reveal the sexual abuse she suffered, its impact on her life and how she has finally managed to overcome it. It's me, Anna is based on a true story. The original title in Afrikaans, 'Dis ek, Anna', has been reprinted five times since publication in June 2004. It has consistently been on the South African Sunday Times Bestseller Top Ten list for non-fiction. 224pp, SOUTH AFRICA. KWELA BOOKS.

Raised in the middle of a game preserve where his father worked, Retief's warm nuclear family was a preserve of its own, against chaotic forces just outside its borders: a childhood friend whose uncle led a death squad, while his cultured grandfather quoted Shakespeare at barbecues and abused Glen's sister in an antique-filled, tobacco-scented living room. But it was when Retief was sent to boarding school, that he was truly exposed to human cruelty and frailty. When the prefects were caught torturing younger boys, they invented the jack bank, where underclassmen could save beatings, earn interest on their deposits, and draw on them later to atone for their supposed infractions. Retief writes movingly of the complicated emotions and politics in this punitive all-male world, and of how he navigated them, even as he began to realize that his sexuality was different than his peers. 288pp, USA. ST MARTIN'S PRESS.

Anders Sparrman, b.1748, the son of a country rector in Uppsala, studies medicine and becomes an apostle of the botanist Carl Linnaeus. He sails as a ship's doctor to China. In 1772 becomes tutor to the children of the Swedish Resident in Cape Town, from there joins Cook's second voyage to Antarctica and Tahiti as assistant to the German botanists Johann and Georg Forster. He travels to the African interior with his guide, Daniel Immelman and later writes A voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, towards the Antarctic polar circle, and round the world: But chiefly into the country of the Hottentots and Caffres, from the year 1772 to 1776. In Stockolm, he is appointed keeper of natural historical collections but quarrels with his colleagues. He then travels to Senegal, witnesses the cruelty of slavery. Anders testifies for abolitionists in London. In Stockholm he is dismissed from his post at the Academy and works as a doctor among the poor. He falls in love with his housemaid, Lotta Fries. They have a daughter. Sparrman died in 1820. 352pp, UK. GRANTA.

Kader Asmal was one of the most respected senior statesmen in South Africa. He followed several careers: as a legal academic teaching at Trinity College Dublin where he became Dean of the Humanities Faculty and as a politician and leading member of the ANC, serving in the Mandela cabinet and the first Mbeki administration as Minister of Water Affairs and then as Minister of Education. He also played a crucial role in the drafting of South Africa's democratic constitution. After retirement, Kader Asmal still kept a very busy schedule, delivering talks and addresses worldwide on the subjects closest to his heart, above all human rights and democracy. He published numerous papers and articles and is the author and editor of several books, including RECONCILIATION THROUGH TRUTH: Apartheid's Criminal Governance. This book is his political memoirs which he finished shortly before his death in June 2011. In them he reveals how his life had been shaped, recalls the events in which he participated and provides an insider's view of the ANC in government. 352pp, SOUTH AFRICA

2011 9781770099036 Paperback

The story of the doomed love affair between Prince Lobengula, a black South African showman and Kitty Jewell, the daughter of a Cornish mining engineer. This historical story provides a window into popular racism, popular journalism, and feminism in the 1890s. Index, bib, notes, maps, x, 278pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JONATHAN BALL.

Recreates the world of Sophiatown before apartheid uprooted and relocated a whole community, the novel is centred on an infamous resident who was a boxer and gang leader. Illustrated with b/w photographs. 104pp, SOUTH AFRICA. KWELA BOOKS.

Sarah Heckford, born in 1839, was a remarkable figure of the Nineteenth Century. Despite disability and the confines of upper-class expectations, she broke all boundaries; first to volunteer at a cholera hospital; then to start a children's hospital in London's East End with her husband. Newly widowed, she left first for Italy and India, and then for South Africa. Arriving at Durban in 1878, Sarah set out for the Transvaal. Here she became a governess and then a farmer; later she became a transport-rider, trading goods with hunters and miners in the Lowveld. She made a life for herself in Africa despite considerable drawbacks, all the while trying to find ways of bettering the lives of those around her. 306pp, SOUTH AFRICA. PROTEA BOOK HOUSE.

Narrative of an ordinary person who grew up in the rural Transkei and faced a cultural shock when he came into contact with Westernised urban life, which appeared to abjure all his formative values. Working as a clerk, he became involved in solving labour disputes and later served as a prosecutor at the Mqanduli district court and as a magistrate in the Transkei, motivated by a deep sympathy for the detained and abused people under his jurisdiction. Bib, notes, 151pp, SOUTH AFRICA. UNISA PRESS.

In this detailed and meticulously researched account of the life and work of Charles Michell, the first surveyor-general and civil engineer of the South African Cape Colony, author Gordon Richings examines in depth, the many interests and achievements of the man, as well as the essence of the time in which he lived, by referring to unpublished personal diaries, sketchbooks and letters. This first biography of Charles Michell is lavishly illustrated with his sketches, watercolours and engravings of Cape scenery, plants, insects and rock paintings, as well as Cape personalities, maps of the colony and architectural plans - the majority of which are published for the first time. New light is shed on the socio-economic life at the Cape, particularly the Tsitsikamma region of the southern Cape, the Frontier War of 1834-35, as well as on the personalities of Michell's colleagues and contemporaries in England and at the Cape. 224pp, SOUTH AFRICA. FERNWOOD PRESS.

These memoirs presenting a society in the midst of change begins with the Freedom Charter rally and ends with Nelson Mandela's imprisonment. In those years Tyler covered the Sharpeville massacre and worked with Can Themba, Zeke Mphahlele, Casey Motsisi and Todd Matshikiza as one of Drum magazine's editors. Illustrated with b/w photographs. 106pp, SOUTH AFRICA. KWELA BOOKS.

Reisenberger is a Bible scholar, a rabbi, a mother, a wife, and a poet. In all these selves she grapples with translating her life from Hebrew to English and back again. 66pp, SOUTH AFRICA. MODJAJI BOOKS.

Second edition. Born among the black landed gentry in the Transkei in the 1920s, this is a life story of a search for identity in a racist and sexist world, in South Africa, and later in the USA. Ntantala describes evocatively and with searing honesty her life of rich experience as the wife and mother of famous men - the pioneering scholar, A.C., and the ANC activist, Pallo Jordan. 256pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JACANA MEDIA.

The story of the woman behind a cinematic masterpiece. Sagan directed Madchen in Uniform, a controversial film about pupil-teacher relationships in a Prussian boarding school, which appeared on the even of Hitler's rise to power. In this memoir she describes her life as a schoolchild in Johannesburg, her later work as an actress and director in Britain, Germany and the United States, and her pioneering role in founding a national theatre in South Africa. With an introduction, some b/w photos, 270 pages, SOUTH AFRICA. WITWATERSRAND UNIVERSITY PRESS.

South African communist Lionel Forman was born in Johannesburg in 1927. At the age of fourteen he joined the Young Communist League. As a student he was active in NUSAS and edited the student newspaper, Witwatersrand Student. He was also editor of Advance, the South African Communist Party newspaper. As an advocate working in Cape Town he defended trade unionists and victims of apartheid. A Treason Trialist, he died during a heart operation in 1959, at the age of 31. 254pp, SOUTH AFRICA. FORT HARE PUBLICATIONS.

Insider account of an ANC MP in the first parliament after 1994, telling of her part in such matters as the arms deal and the governments handling of the AIDS pandemic. In this way she develops her own thoughts on how power ought to be exercised and from where the true sources of lasting power derive. For those many in South Africa who are increasingly disenchanted with the use of power by those in positions of authority to garner influence and wealth, to promote their individual interests instead of those of the people who have elected them, and to bully, manipulate and coerce others, this account offers a refreshing vision. 262pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JACANA MEDIA.

The memoirs of a South African diamond prospector. First published in 1939, the author describes his impressions of President Kruger, Cecil Rhodes, Alfred Beit, Dr Jameson, Sir Percy Fitzpatrick amongst others and his involvement in important historical events in the country's history. B/w illus, xviii, 205pp, SOUTH AFRICA. STONEWALL BOOKS.

Luka Jantjie is today a largely forgotten hero of resistance to British colonialism. His place in South African history has tended to be overshadowed by events elsewhere in the region. This book attempts to redress the balance by recording his remarkable story. In 1870, at the beginning of the Kimberley diamond mining boom that was to transform southern Africa, Luka Jantjie was the first independent African ruler to lose his land to the new colonial-ists, who promptly annexed the diamond fields. His outspoken stand against the hypocrisy of colonial 'justice' earned him the epithet: 'a wild fellow who hates the English'. As the son of an early Christian convert, Luka was brought up to respect peace and non-violence; his boycott of rural trading stores in the early 1890s was perhaps the earliest use of non-violent resistance in colonial South Africa. His steady refusal to bow to colonial demands of subservience intensified the enmity of local colonists determined to 'teach him a lesson'. As many of his people succumbed to colonial pressures, Luka was twice forced to take up arms to defend himself and his people from colonial attacks. His life ended in a dramatic and heroic last stand in the ancestral sanctuary of the Langeberg mountain range; its tragic consequences stretched far into the next century. 320pp, UK. ALDRIDGE PRESS.

As the author of 'Abantu Abamnyama Lapa Bavela Ngakona' (1922), Magema Fuze is a classic example of how first-generation converts made the transition from oral to literate cultures, the homestead to the mission and from being native informants to being kholwa intellectuals. The kholwa had no secure cultural or political identity, caught as they were in the Natal-Zululand divide, between the promise of full and equal incorporation into colonial society and the ties that bound them to traditional society and culture. In this book, Hlonipha Mokoena suggests that kholwa identity was fashioned through the practice of bricolage the cobbling together, in indeterminate and sometimes contradictory ways, of elements from both colonial and indigenous cultures. The amakholwa used the instruments of cultural imperialism, namely petitions, letters, books and newspapers, to create a signature resistance to subjugation and conquest. 350pp, SOUTH AFRICA. UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL PRESS.

Critically acclaimed memoir, the sequel to Way Up, Way Out, this is a boisterous mix "of Spike Milligan and Herman Charles Bosman" (Sam Sole). 260pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JACANA MEDIA.

Jan Christian Smuts was one of the key figures behind the creation of the League of Nations; Woodrow Wilson was inspired by his ideas on the League and borrowed heavily from them. Alarmed at the turn that peacemaking was taking, Smuts took the lead in urging moderation on reparations and Germany's frontiers with Poland and pleaded for a magnanimous peace, warning that the treaty of Versailles would lead to another war. He became Prime Minister of South Africa and a leading Commonwealth statesman. He made important contributions to the British cause in the Second World War. 208pp, UK. HAUS PUBLISHING.

First in a new series, 'Hidden Histories', that seeks to establish a new intellectual discourse, which, by addressing various forms of African memory (captured in both written and unwritten cultural productions), will move beyond the limits of the historical representations of Africans in dominant narratives. This short study of Mofutsanyana's eventfull ife, drew extensively on interviews and archival research both in South Africa and Russia. Index, bib, b/w photos, 58pp, SOUTH AFRICA. UNISA PRESS.

Illustrated biography in the Women Changing the World series on this remarkable doctor, academic, author and feminist. 112pp, B/w photographs, USA. FEMINIST PRESS.

The autobiography of a Zulu boy who ran away from his father's kraal in the early 1930s to create a flourishing business in Johannesburg with a British partner. The author describes the development of his business, eventual exile to London when apartheid takes hold, and his homecoming in the 1990s. Gloss, b/w illus, 160pp, SOUTH AFRICA. KWELA BOOKS.

Part diary, part guidebook, part spiritual memoir, this absorbing book records Rayda Jacobs's preparation and departure for hajj; her stay in Medina and journey to the city of Mecca; her experience of the five days of hajj; and, finally, her return to South Africa. Illustrated throughout with her own photographs, Jacobs's candid diary lifts the veil from the life-changing experience of hajj, for Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Gloss, 160pp, SOUTH AFRICA. DOUBLE STOREY BOOKS.

In 1902 Harry Wolhuter was one of the first game rangers in the Sabi Nature Reserve, which would eventually, along with the Shingwedzi Nature Reserve, become the Kruger National Park. Originally a hunter, Wolhuter made the protection of the Kruger's wildlife his life's work. This posthumous account tells of his days in the bush, when rangers went on horseback and lions considered them fair game - like the infamous time Harry was ambushed by two lions and managed to kill one of them while it was dragging him off into the grass. 296pp, SOUTH AFRICA. PROTEA BOOK HOUSE.

A personal memoir of a life in South African resistance politics from the late 1930s to the 1960s. He was in the dock alongside Mandela, Sisulu, Mbeki and other leaders of the ANC at the notorious Rivonia Trial. Finally acquitted in June 1964, he was immediately rearrested. When he was released on bail he and his wife Hilda fled into exile. Illustrated with b/w photographs. Index, xi, 377pp, SOUTH AFRICA. PENGUIN BOOKS SOUTH AFRICA.

1999 0670887927 Paperback

Born in 1935 in Western Native Township (now Westbury) across the road from Sophiatown, Mattera can lay claim to an intriguingly diverse lineage: his paternal grandfather was Italian, and he has Tswana, Khoi-Khoi and Xhosa blood in his veins. This is the story of his life from 1948 to 1962 when Sophiatown was bulldozed out of existence, weaving together both his personal experience and political development. 178pp, SOUTH AFRICA. AFRICAN PERSPECTIVES.

Denis Goldberg, one of the Rivonia trialists along with Nelson Mandela, served 22 years in an apartheid prison. Following his release he worked for the African National Congress in exile and with the ending of apartheid he founded the charity Community HEART (Health, Education and Reconstruction Training) to assist in the building of a new South Africa. He returned to South Africa as Adviser to the Minister of Water Affairs. In 2009 Denis was awarded the Order of Luthuli in Silver (OLS) by the President of South Africa recognising his contribution to the struggle for freedom in South Africa. Also includes a free DVD with footage of Denis's life and work. Index, b/w photos, 424pp, SOUTH AFRICA. STE PUBLISHERS.

A book that pays homage to artist Peter Clarke and writer James Matthews, who both turned 70 in 1999, it celebrates the vibrant 'alternative' culture in the W Cape, during the 50s in particular. It opens with background pieces on the period by Hein Willemse and Crain Soudien, and recent interviews with the two artists. Part two consists of two interesting short prose pieces by Clarke and a discussion of his art by the art historian Elza Miles. This is a full-colour section. Part three contains short stories by Richard Rive and Alex La Guma, and writings by Rive, Clarke and Matthews that were published in Drum magazine. Part four consists of a short story and autobiographical article by Matthews, plus a discussion of his literary work by Kayzuran Jaffer. Beautifully produced, with more than 60 images, photo-graphs and full-colour reproductions of Clarke's paintings and drawings. 216x276mm, 144pp, SOUTH AFRICA. KWELA BOOKS.

A tale of personal reconciliation within the broader context of political change in South Africa. B/w photos, 336pp, SOUTH AFRICA. DAVID PHILIP.

First published abroad and banned under apartheid, this is the 3rd edition of the biography of one of South Africa's most important and influential revolutionaries. Kotane was a leader of both the ANC and the Communist Party and served as general secretary of the latter from 1939 until his death in 1978. Index, notes, 325pp, SOUTH AFRICA. MAYIBUYE CENTRE.

1999 1868083799 Paperback

Now in paperback. Blends fiction and biography to tell the story of Dimitri Tsafendas, the 'forgotten' assassin of apartheid's 'architect' Hendik Verwoerd. Tsafendas died after forty four years of incarceration. This book highlights his perennial status as an outsider and seeks to make sense of a man usually dismissed as 'mad'. 168pp, UK. GRANTA.

Former TV journalist and now South African police spokesman, McIntosh Polela has been on the television screens for many years. Bright, articulate and charismatic, his career looks dazzling. But behind McIntosh's smile, a troubled past haunts him. Both his parents disappeared when he was just a little boy, leaving him and his sister Zinhle to suffer years of brutal abuse. This is the story of his journey to uncover the truth. McIntosh has to confront his father about his mother's brutal death. Soon, he comes face to face with the worst dilemma a son can ever have. How can he possibly forgive, when his father remains a remorseless, brutal and heartless murderer? 272pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JACANA MEDIA.

Autobiography of a leading ANC member telling of her involvement in campaigns against pass law and against forced removals from Sophiatown. Apps, 269pp, UK. COSAW.

1991 1872086020 Paperback

Magubane's early life in country and town under apartheid, his years in exile and his intellectual development as an African scholar. We learn of his close involvement with various members of the ANC, including Oliver Tambo, and the vital role he played in developing the anti-apartheid struggle in the United States and beyond. 398pp, SOUTH AFRICA. UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL PRESS.

Author returns to South Africa, after eight years in exile. 425pp. UK. VINTAGE.

This book is about nostalgia, an affliction of the heart that began life as a passing ailment but became an incurable modern condition. The book uses the life of a young black South African who spent his childhood under apartheid to ask the following question: What does it mean to remember a (black) life lived under apartheid with fondness and longing? 200pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JACANA MEDIA.

Eight years in the making, this is a comprehensive account of one of South Africa's most fascinating literary personalities. More than just a chronicle of Gordimer's life, Roberts' work gives the reader a window into her evolving world of political conflict and struggle, of style and celebrity. Index, notes, 733pp, SOUTH AFRICA. STE PUBLISHERS.

George Bizos is one of a distinguished group of human rights lawyers who in the dark days of apartheid sought to uncover the state's role in eliminating its opponents. Some, like Biko, Timol and Aggett, were arrested and died in detention, while others, like Matthew Goniwe, were abducted and killed. As counsel for the families of the deceased, George Bizos was centrally involved in many of the inquests following these high-profile deaths well placed to tell the story of the great courtroom dramas. 256pp, SOUTH AFRICA. DAVID PHILIP.

In his autobiography, the author explains how his immigrant Jewish background and childhood experience of anti-Semitism in Cape Town predisposed him to strongly identify with the victims of racial hatred and steered him towards radical left-wing politics. Index, b/w photos, 320pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JONATHAN BALL.

James Thompson Bain led such an extraordinary life that it is strange he is now forgotten. Born into poverty in Scotland, he educated himself in the radical philosophies of William Morris and Thomas Carlyle. He fought for the British against the Zulus in 1879 and for the Boers against the British in 1899. On the Rand he struggled against the mineowners and was a spy for Paul Kruger's government. JT Bain was a pioneer of socialist ideas in South Africa. He played a leading part in the great Rand strike of 1913. His deportation along with eight other strike leaders in 1914 rocked the governments of South Africa and Britain and for a while he was the sensation of London. Index, bib, b/w photographs, 372pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JACANA MEDIA.

Story of Jama, a girl who grew up in a poor village in Limpopo Province, South Africa. In her teens Jama leaves her home village to seek greener pastures in the City of Johannesburg, where she survives a long, violent relationship and the death of her two sons. A story of a very ordinary woman's enduraqnce. 256pp, SOUTH AFRICA . NEW VOICES PUBLISHING.

The memoirs of Michael Nuttall who, with Desmond Tutu, played an important role in opposing apartheid. He describes dealing with political violence during his close partnership with Archbishop Tutu while the latter chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Index, notes, b/w illus, 178pp, SOUTH AFRICA. CLUSTER PUBLICATIONS.

In 1955 Noni Jabavu returned to her family in South Africa. This story is an account of what she saw and felt as she travelled around the country. 261pp, SOUTH AFRICA. RAVAN PRESS.

Autobiography of one of a much-admired human rights advocate. His story, told on a grand scale, begins with his daring rescue of six New Zealand soldiers from the Nazis as a boy in Greece. He arrives in Johannesburg with his father, penniless and unable to speak English. He studies law at Wits and becomes an advocate, building a career on defending the downtrodden against apartheid abuses in a hostile justice system. He becomes the defender of Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and the families of Steve Biko, Chris Hani and the Cradock Four. He mediates in the events around Winnie Mandela and defends Morgan Tsvangirai in Zimbabwe. These cases are related as gripping courtroom dramas, augmented by the drama behind the scenes. Index, 616pp, SOUTH AFRICA. UMUZI.

Born in 1917 in Bizana in the Eastern Cape, Oliver Reginald Tambo became Nelson Mandela's legal partner and a prominent member of the ANC's Youth League. Following the Sharpeville massacre in 1960, he left South Africa to set up the ANC's international mission. As President of the ANC in exile, he led the fight against apartheid on both the diplomatic and military fronts. He died in 1993 on the eve of liberation. Tambo had a profound influence on the ANC during the difficult years of uncertainty, loneliness and homesickness in exile. This is the story of one of South Africa's greatest contemporary figures. "Here at last is the first biography of that strong and gentle, brilliant and courageous man, who inspired so much loyalty and so much love." - Ronald Segal. Foreword by Thabo Mbeki. Index, app, notes, 16 half-tones, 672pp, SOUTH AFRICA. DAVID PHILIP PUBLISHERS.

A celebration of Oliver Reginald Tambo, South African leader, clergyman and comrade, with contributions from those who encountered Tambo and knew him when he was living in South Africa and the UK on his travels, including Nelson and Winnie Mandela and Desmond Tutu. In the year that would have been Oliver Tambo's 90th birthday, friends and associates remember the leader and celebrate his impact on South Africa's future and his unyielding commitment to raising the profile of the ANC. 300pp, UK. PALGRAVE.

Lifts the lid on many of the most important chapters of South Africa's recent political history: the constitutional negotiations, the birth and near death of the Democratic Alliance, his struggle with Thabo Mbeki over AIDS, Zimbabwe and race. In a no-holds-barred assessment he provides an insider's account of the dramas and events which have helped shape and define modern South Africa. He also charts the future course of South Africa after the rise of Jacob Zuma and the struggle for power inside the ANC. B/w photos, 766pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JONATHAN BALL.

"This is a personal reflection on a fascinating period in my life which coincided with fundamental shifts in the political life of South Africa. I was fortunate to be in a position where I knew and had access to persons of influence across the political spectrum. This is my account of their interaction with each other and mine with them." F van Zyl Slabbert. 180pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JONATHAN BALL.

The memoirs of one woman's struggle against apartheid and her role in the resistance movement in the Western Cape, in the formation of the United Democratic Front and as a journalist. Spanning fifteen years, from her first detention in 1980 up to her testimony at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Jaffer describes this important period and how it affected her life as a young mother. Illustrated with b/w photographs. 164pp, SOUTH AFRICA. KWELA BOOKS.

Biography of the woman who did most to advance the cause of ordinary working people in South Africa. As one of the most senior representatives of the Pan Africanist Congress, Mandela called her his favourite opposition politician. Index, app, bib, 202pp, SOUTH AFRICA. SPEARHEAD.

The story of the editor of Contact who became the first white member of the Pan Africanist Congress. This book traces his political development from his privileged upbringing and his non-violent liberalism, to his role as an activist in the armed struggle. Notes, bib, index, b/w illus, maps, xxv, 326pp, UK. JAMES CURREY PUBLISHERS.

A biography of Sol T, Plaatje, the South African writer, traveller and politician. This account of his remarkable life looks at the forces which shaped him and his influence on South African history. Index, bib, notes, b/w photographs, xvi, 314pp, SOUTH AFRICA. SOL PLAATJE EDUCATIONAL TRUST.

2003 0620290986 Hardback

Born the son of the well-know missionary Alexander Merensky at Botshabelo in the eastern Transvaal, trained as a geologist in Germany and drawn back to South Africa by his creative ambition to explore the potential of the country of his birth, Hans Merensky (16 March 1871 - 21 October 1952) proved to be far more than the wizard geologist the press dubbed him during his heyday. Today it is obvious that Merensky was not only a scientist of note, but also an extremely far-sighted economic strategist, agricultural trendsetter, humanitarian and philanthropist. Nothing could extinguish his enthusiasm for his adopted homeland's undiscovered treasures and despite bankruptcy, internment, illness, political obstacles and later, old age, Hans Merensky saw only opportunity wherever he went. From the discovery of the richest deposit of alluvial gem diamonds ever found at Alexander Bay to the initial attempt at the commercial cultivation of avocados and pecan nuts - almost everything Hans Merensky touched turned to gold. 308pp, SOUTH AFRICA. PROTEA BOOK HOUSE.

Memoir in the form of a series of postcard vignettes, relating anecdotes from his childhood, when he could get away with just about anything except Mama's wrath, while also charting the growth of the township. 104pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JACANA MEDIA.

Now available in paperback. Combining travelogue, autobiography and history, the South African author maps out his passion for cryptic crosswords and their peculiar hold on the British. Notes, 198pp, UK. ATLANTIC BOOKS.

Francois Stephanus Malan (1871-1940), an Afrikaner newspaper editor and politician, is one of the most complex figures in South African history. In an era of racism, oppression and exploitation when whites regarded blacks as a barbarous threat to their supremacy he refused to pander to these fears. With the fervour of an Old Testament prophet he argued that white survival could be secured only through the extension of equal political rights to all races. Yet he was also an Afrikaner nationalist, playing a leading role in the Cape Colony defending the volk's interests against British domination. 168pp, SOUTH AFRICA. PROTEA BOOK HOUSE.

New in paperback. The first book to tell the full story of how a boy from South Africa's poverty-stricken black townships became one of the world's best-known religious figures, a moral icon to those who work for peace and justice everywhere. Published to coincide with his 75th birthday, Rabble-Rouser for Peace contains never before seen material, including details of secret files of the apartheid government, how the Nobel Peace Prize was actually won by Tutu, the truth about his relationship with F W de Klerk, as well as his criticism of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Drawn from 30 years of the author's first-hand contact with Tutu, this is not only a vivid charac-ter study of a public figure with a unique capacity to communicate warmth, humour and compassion but also a rich account of his dynamic place in history. Index, notes, b/w photos, 481pp, UK. RIDER.

A personal journey that began with a conventional white upbringing in the Johannesburg of the 1950s. Shaken out of her privileged lifestyle by what she saw around her, Lorna Levy became involved in radical political movements after leaving Wits University. In 1963 she was sent overseas to campaign on behalf of the trade unions and found herself stranded in London when her husband, Leon Levy, was detained by the security police. Later he joined her in exile, and Lorna, still in her mid-twenties, decided to change course and make a new life for herself in an unfamiliar country. She became a Labour Party Councillor in London and put down roots in the UK. Over the years she rediscovered her South African identity and became absorbed in the work of the ANC in exile. Soon after casting their votes in the first democratic elections of 1994 in South Africa House, London, she and her husband decided to return to South Africa. 244pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JACANA MEDIA.

Memoirs of the ANC/SACP stalwart and former Rivonia Trialist. Comes highly recommended by Nelson Mandela, Jay Naidoo and Blade Nzimande. B/w illus, index, 192pp, SOUTH AFRICA. HUMAN SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL.

2001 0796919747 Paperback

Portraits and interviews that range across the spectrum of arts, music, media and politics, from poor to rich, black to white, politicians to grassroots activists, celebrities to the forgotten members of society. All of those interviewed have dedicated their lives to their community and have made an inspiring and sustainable impact on South Africa. 301pp, SOUTH AFRICA. FONART IB PUBLISHING.

A biography of Frank Glass, the youngest delegate to the founding conference of the South African Communist Party in 1921, the party's first full time organiser and the first adherent in South Africa to the International Left Opposition in 1928/1929. Glass also lived and worked in China and the United States and made significant contributions to the Chinese Trotskyist movement. Index, bib, sources, 260pp, UK. PORCUPINE PRESS.

A political autobiography from one of the leading figures of critical left wing activism: Hirson tells of his life in South Africa; the NEUM, the WIL, the COD, the NRM and armed struggle, arrest, 9 year detention, exile. . WITWATERSRAND UNIVERSITY PRESS.

New edition. This is the story of Hilda and Rusty Bernstein, long-time Communists so committed to the cause that even the threat of life imprisonment did not stop them; of Ruth First, a fiery activist held for months without charge; and of AnnMarie Wolpe, an innocent bystander sucked into this conflict, who had to decide whether or not to risk her own freedom and the life of her sick infant by helping her activist husband escape from prison. It was at their underground headquarters in Rivonia, a Johannesburg suburb, that their dreams of revolution were shattered after a police raid in 1963. 408pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JACANA.

Following his acquittal on charges of treason in 1958, Alfred Hutchinson decided to flee South Africa. One evening he said goodbye to the woman he loved, boarded a train travelling northwards, and headed off into the unknown. This is the true story of one man's flight across colonial Africa. Afterword by Es'kia Mphahlele. 201pp, SOUTH AFRICA. PENGUIN.

The story begins in Ireland during the Second World War where O'Riain tells an extraordinary tale of a family at war with one another and the violence that lurks behind their love. O'Riain forbidden by his mother to join the Boy Scouts or the reserve national army eventually puts on a uniform the irregular uniform of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). A couple of spells in prison a threat from a girlfriend a daring run from the police and eventual capture all combine and the early indications of a psychological split between the 'good' and 'bad' O'Riain are made manifest. These are the threads that take the writer to the present day and to his search for a way of telling his story and eventually telling the tale of his marriage to his beloved Verne. That begins one day as he finds himself on a Johannesburg street kicking his wife. He is forced to look at the 'other' O'Riain the one who is a violent and abusive man. Gloss, 391pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JACANA MEDIA.

An autobiography describing the author's childhood in Cape Town's District Six and in a community which created its own ways of living and solidarity, mixing aspects of white culture with African culture. Gloss, b/w photos, 136pp, SOUTH AFRICA. KWELA BOOKS.

Recounts the inspirational life of one of Africa's most prominent black businessmen. From working underground as a shovel boy to his appointment as the CEO of the trailblazing African gold mining company, Ashanti Goldfields Corporation, Sam Jonah's determination to surmount every obstacle in a career strewn with hurdles makes for compelling reading. Index, bib, notes, b/w photos, 300pp, SOUTH AFRICA. PICADOR AFRICA.

Displayed on European stages from 1810 to 1815 as The Hottentot Venus, Sara Baartman was one of the most famous women of her day, and also one of the least known. As the Hottentot Venus, she was seen by Westerners as alluring and primitive, a reflection of their fears and suppressed desires. But who was Sara Baartman? Who was the woman who became the Hottentot Venus? Based on research and interviews that span three continents, this book tells the entwined histories of an illusive life and a famous icon. In doing so, the book raises questions about the possibilities and limits of biography for understanding those who live between and among different cultures. Index, bib, notes, 232pp, USA. PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS.

This biography of a prominent figure in 20th century British and Commonwealth science sheds light on the increasing engagement between science and the military, and on changing military and diplomatic relationships between Britain and South Africa. 600pp, UK. INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS.

Personal record of a trip through South Africa made for the purpose of gathering materials for novels and stories. The journal is revealing of the creative process, also of the issues in South Africa at the time. B/w illus, gloss, bib, index, 447pp, SOUTH AFRICA. UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL PRESS.

An acclaimed author reconsiders Cape Town, past and present, as he resettles in a changed environment after a year-long sojourn in Berlin. 158pp, SOUTH AFRICA. KWELA BOOKS.

A deeply moving portrait of a family divided, set against the turbulence and paranoia of post-revolutionary Russia, Stalinism and war. Hilda Bernstein looks back across the wide sweep of the 20th century to rediscover her lost father, Simeon, and her secretive sister, Olga, and traces their parallel experiences of being trapped in the Soviet Union. 'Historically vivid, intimately personal ... This is a book that has been missing among the chronicles of our time.' - Nadine Gordimer. x, 281pp. UK. CORVO BOOKS.

The worldwide movement to force South Africa to abandon apartheid was one of the great moral crusades of the latter part of the twentieth century. This is one insider's story of that struggle. Index, bib, notes, 648pp, USA. VIKING.

New paperback edition. An account of four friends and the development of their relationships over thirty years. Their childhood is rooted in the Cape Town of the 1950s an engaging account, set against the backdrop of apartheid era white South African society. B/w photographs, 335pp, UK. VIRAGO.

Tells the story of how a young man became a hardened criminal as the result of a minor incident. Nongoloza's disillusionment had a profound effect on his worldview, he became deeply resentful and cynical - characteristics that would define the rest of his life. In an attempt to escape his unjust surround-ings, Nongoloza found himself in Johannesburg, where he formed the Regiment of the Hills - a group of criminals that laid the foundation for notorious present-day prison gangs such as the 28 gang. Non-goloza's life is a poignant illustration of how political circumstances affect lives and how those lives encourage myths, setting in motion a spiral of events that eventually neither politics nor people have any control over. 68pp, SOUTH AFRICA. PROTEA BOOK HOUSE.

A new edition of this evocative story of Sachs's recovery after being car-bombed by agents of apartheid in Mozambique. With an insider's view Sachs describes the major events of the last decade in South Africa and his own role in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Was it worth it? he asks. His unforgettable and inspiring answer is a resounding yes . The soft vengeance he has achieved is not to inflict pain and injustice on those who attacked him but to help in the creation of a society where humanity and justice triumph over cruelty and racist division. 288pp, UK. SOUVENIR PRESS.

New in paperback. Memoir of an extraordinary family -- unexpectedly poor and forced to live on their wits amidst 1970s South African affluence, Tim Ecott's story is at times poignant, funny, affecting and moving. 320pp, UK. SCEPTRE.

Now in paperback. The autobiography of pioneering South African musician, Hugh Masekela describing his thirty-year pilgrimage around the world, perfecting his craft and meeting a host of famed musicians, from Bob Marley to Miriam Makeba and Dizzy Gillespie to Fela Kuti. Masekela also describes the backdrop of social and political changes that were taking place in across the world during the last forty years and looks at how apartheid, revolutions and coups affects his life and music. Illustrated with b/w photographs. Index, 400pp, USA. THREE RIVERS PRESS.

2005 2004 1400083176 Paperback

From a young age Albie Sachs played a prominent part in the struggle for justice in South Africa. As a result he was detained in solitary confinement, tortured by sleep deprivation and eventually blown up by a car bomb which cost him his right arm and the sight of an eye. His experiences provoked an outpouring of creative thought on the role of law as a protector of human dignity in the modern world, and a lifelong commitment to seeing a new era of justice established in South Africa. After playing an important part in drafting South Africa's post-apartheid Constitution, he was appointed by Nelson Mandela to be a member of the country's first Constitutional Court. Over the course of his fifteen year term on the Court he has grappled with the major issues confronting modern South Africa, and the challenges posed to the fledgling democracy as it sought to overcome the injustices of the apartheid regime. As his term on the Court approaches its end, Sachs here conveys in intimate fashion what it has been like to be a judge in these unique circumstances, how his extraordinary life has influenced his approach to the cases before him, and his views on the nature of justice and its achievement through law. The book provides unique access to an insider's perspective on modern South Africa, and a rare glimpse into the working of a judicial mind. 320pp, UK. OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS.

While trained in the Western tradition and with many years of practice in that system, Dr Helman's anthropological insight leads him to view illness in a wider personal, social and cultural context, considering elements beyond the purely physical. In pleading for this holistic approach he celebrates family medicine which 'in its quiet and unassuming way, and every day of the week, is still at the very frontline of human suffering'. These stories range from apartheid South Africa, where he did his medical training, to the London of the early 1970s, where for a short time he foreswore medicine to become an anthropologist and poet; from ship's doctor on a Mediterranean cruise to family practitioner in London; from observing curative trance dances in the favelas of Brazil to interviewing sangomas in South Africa. 240pp, UK. HAMMERSMITH PRESS LTD.

Shipwrecks and castaways from the East-West trade routes passing South Africa's Shores were common. Crampton examines the history of castaways, specifically the case of a seven year old English girl washed up on the Eastern Cape coast in the 1730s. Her adoption by the amaMpondo and the story of her descendants, is set against the turbulent history of the period. Index, endnotes, genealogy lists, bib, timeline, gloss, notes, apps, b/w illus, maps, 375pp, UK. SAQI BOOKS.

Poet, painter and film-maker, Barry Feinberg won acclaim for his work abroad, which helped to galvanize international opposition to the apartheid government. He was one of the founding members of Mayibuye, a successful ANC music and poetry ensemble. He also headed up the information division of the International Defence and Aid Fund (IDAF), which, under his leadership became an invaluable resource for the liberation movement. Foreword by Pallo Jordan. Index, b/w photos, 169pp, SOUTH AFRICA. STE PUBLISHERS.

"Plummeting to the earth from high up at Johannesburg's John Vorster Square police HQ in 1971, was one of the most callous acts engineered by the apartheid state, at that stage at the zenith of its power and terror." (from the foreword by President Thabo Mbeki). 200pp, SOUTH AFRICA. STE PUBLISHERS.

Personal account about a young man who reported for military service with the South African Defence Force in the late 1980s, from Basic- and Officer-Training to the bush of Namibia and Angola during the last battles of the Border War, including the battle of Cuito Cuanavale. 208pp, SOUTH AFRICA. SELF-PUBLISHED TITLES/NO IMPRINT.

An autobiography of the author's eventful first 23 years, written as a letter from South Africa in the 1940s and 1950s to her grandchildren, the generation now growing up in the hope of a new country. 183pp, SOUTH AFRICA. DAVID PHILIP.

A no-holds-barred autobiography of coming of age in a Durban township in the 1980s, written with both warm humour and angry revelations. As a teenager, Fred Khumalo greeted his friends with a handshake and the phrase touch my blood. It implied friendship and trust. This saying became the name by which he was known. More than that, it became the way he viewed the world. Everything touched Fred, from his country bumpkin father and his city girl mother to the conmen and criminals and gardeners and whiteys. And then the bloody violence of KwaZulu Natal in 1980s South Africa threatened to destroy him. When a friend died in his arms with the words They really got me, Touch My Blood, Fred realised that if he was to outlive the madness he had to run. 196pp, SOUTH AFRICA. UMUZI.

Now in paperback. A biography of Trevor Huddleston, who as young monk from the Community of the Resurrection lived in the squats of Sophiatown, where he saw first hand, the conditions that black South Africans were forced to endure. A major figure in the battle against apartheid, this study describes his long, turbulent life and looks at his legacy. Foreword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Index, b/w illus, 226pp, UK. CONTINUUM.

In Britain, Michael Scott is one of the forgotten heroes of twentieth-century resistance against injustice and racial discrimination, though there are parts of Southern Africa and India where he is still regarded as a prophet or a saint.. His activities got him banned by the governing white regimes of three countries - South Africa, South West Africa (now Namibla) and Nyasaland (now Malawi) - in later life he was deported from India, and he served four terms in jail, three in Britain and one in South Africa. Even in his lifetime he was a mysterious and paradoxical figure, a one-time undercover agent for the Communist Party who became a scourge of totalitarianism, a Gandhian exponent of non-violence who trained as a rear gunner in the RAF, a Christian who enjoyed the company of atheists, a clergyman who berated his own church, a modest orator who once held the United Nations spellbound. Index, bib, 338pp, b/w photos, UK. AURUM PRESS.

A celebration of eighty years of the life of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, an icon whose humanity and compassion have touched the lives of millions around the world. Born in Klerksdorp, South Africa, and trained as a teacher because his family could not afford to send him to medical school, Desmond Tutu was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1960. He vigorously opposed apartheid and has dedicated his life to fighting all forms of oppression, advocating non-violence, peaceful reconciliation and social justice for all. This tribute features a biography by Allister Sparks, authorised by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and includes over forty interviews conducted by Tutu's daughter Reverend Mpho Tutu with close family, friends, colleagues, comrades and critics. Complemented by an unprecedented collection of images and unpublished artefacts drawn from Tutu's private papers. Includes interviews with Kofi Annan, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President Barack Obama. Foreword by the Dalai Lama. 356pp, UK. MACMILLAN.

It is 1963. South Africa is in crisis and the white state is under siege. On 19 August the dreaded Security Police swoop on Griggs bookstore in downtown Durban and arrest Eleanor, the daughter of the manageress. They threaten to break her or hang her if she does not lead them to her lover, 'Red' Ronnie Kasrils, who is wanted on suspicion of involvement in recent acts of sabotage, including the toppling of electricity pylons and explosions at a Security Police office in Durban. Though she comes under intense pressure during interrogation, Eleanor has her own secret to conceal. She has been acting as a clandestine agent for the underground ANC and must protect her handlers and Ronnie at all costs. Astutely, she convinces the police that she is on the verge of a nervous breakdown and, still a prisoner, is sent off to a mental hospital in Pietermaritzburg for assessment. It is here that she plots her escape. This is the remarkable story of a young woman's courage and daring at a time of increasing repression in apartheid South Africa is told here for the first time with great verve by her husband, Ronnie Kasrils, who eventually became South Africa's Minister of Intelligence Services in 2004. 192pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JACANA MEDIA.

John Matthews was a member of the South African Communist Party and was one of the activists prosecuted in the mini Rivonia Trial of 1964. He was charged under the Suppression of Communism Act and would have been sentenced for 3-5 years had he appealed, but out of solidarity with his fellow inmates, he served for 15 years in Pretoria's political prison instead. John worked mainly as a courier for Umkhonto we Sizwe but he was also involved in the production of explosives and he built the wooden platform on which the Freedom Charter was signed. While in prison, he became friendly with Jeremy Cronin, whose poem about him provides the title for this book, and other white activists like Bram Fischer. Written by John's oldest daughter, Colleen, the book traces the events leading up to John's arrest. B/w photos, 149pp, SOUTH AFRICA. STE PUBLISHERS.

In this, his latest offering, the Paris-based author continues the theme of delving deeply into sense memories, making the reader hum long-forgotten tunes, summoning up familiar pictures through his delicate and finely-tuned phrasing. Hirson deals with the army years, the Grateful Dead years, the loss of his father (Baruch Hirson) to prison years and the losing of himself to Paris years. This book will not leave you untouched. Bib, 163pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JACANA MEDIA.

The Sandra Laing case serves as an example of the insanity of apartheid's racial classifications. In 1966, nine-year-old Sandra, who was darker than her light-skinned parents, was reclassified as Coloured and expelled from her whites-only school. At 11, she was reclassified as white again, and at 26, at her own insistence, she became Coloured once again. This is her story as told to Judith Stone. B/w photos, notes, 324pp, USA. MIRAMAX BOOKS.

New Edition. In 1987, after a twelve year absence, Christopher Hope returned to South Africa to observe the year's whites only elections and the bitter defeat of the liberals. This visit led him to write this satirical portrait of his homeland, describing growing up in a country gripped by racism and cruelty. 272pp, UK. PICADOR.

A lively autobiography describing The author's childhood in Lithuania and her youth in Durban before and during World War Two. As an immigrant, a Jew and an independent thinker involved with the black trade unions, Podbrey was at odds with established white attitudes. When she fell in love with H.A. Naidoo, a leading communist, she and her family moved to Cape Town and later into exile, when the Nationalist government come to power. Index, b/w illus, 204pp, SOUTH AFRICA. UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU NATAL PRESS.

Explores the moments at which Hirson read four books obsessively in different phases of his life - both as a youth in South Africa and during his decades in Paris, where he still lives: SHOOTING AT SHARPEVILLE by Ambrose Reeves, a report on the killing on 69 anti-pass protesters by police in 1960; DIE YSTERKOI MOET SWEET (The Iron Cow Must Sweat), Breyten Breytenbach's first collection of poems; IN A MARINE LIGHT, a selection of Raymond Carver's poems; and JE ME SOUVIENS (I remember), a book of fragments of post Second World War memories by Georges Perec. The key moments at which he read and re-read these texts include the arrest of his anti-apartheid activist father, Baruch Hirson in the early 1960's; his own move to Paris in the 1970's; his father's death, and the end of a period of mourning for him. In weaving together these two strands in this book, he explores a constellation of key words, which trace, in different ways, the political space of apartheid South Africa and the transience of one who is now looking back at that time through the prism of distance. Bib, 196pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JACANA MEDIA.

This is the story of the band of black writers who created the magazine Drum and the long hunt to reveal who or what killed so many of them so young. The author, an ex editor of Drum, describes how in their reporting work they routinely ran the gauntlet of police and political persecution as reporters and editors were jailed, offices raided, cameras smashed. Illustrated with b/w photographs and images. 298pp, UK. CORVO BOOKS.

Growing up in a loving family, with the affection and support of his best friend Levi, and universal boyhood exploits - shooting rats with ketis, learning karate, stoning street lamps. Also more sinister experiences: dodging stones and avoiding enemies when you had to cross territories, running the gauntlet of dogs, bullies and thugs. The world Chimeloane sketches contained both the 1976 rising and endless wonder: the Valiant Regal taxi which produced money from its back seat, the magic of seeing bioscope and emulating the starrings, a world where you shared sweets with your chomis. Photos, 136pp, SOUTH AFRICA. KWELA BOOKS.

A biography of Hugh van Oppen examining the colourful phases of his life as a soldier, policeman and a spy in Africa and a lecturer against Communism in America. 256pp, UK. MPEMBA BOOKS.

2002 0954202007 Paperback

An in depth biography of one of the most controversial women in South Africa. The author reveals the sources of the character in he upbringing and childhood, and shows how the history of South Africa shaped her turbulent life and marriage to Nelson Mandela. The author also investigates the allegations that have dogged her life in recent years. Illustrated with b/w photographs. Index, gloss, bib, xv, 287pp, SOUTH AFRICA. STRUIK.

The true story of Agnes Lottering and her mother, Winnefred begins with the marriage of her grandmother, a Zulu princess to an Irishman from County Dublin. She chronicles the complicated lives of their descendants who lived through apartheid. 248pp, SOUTH AFRICA. KWELA BOOKS.

Nakasa wrote once: 'I may shut up for some time because of fear. Yet even this will not make me feel ashamed. For I know that as long as the ideas remain unchanged within me, there will always be the possibility that, one day, I shall burst out and say everything that I wish to say in a loud and thunderous voice.' In this collection of some of the finest writings by Nat Nakasa, that loud and thunderous voice speaks with such clarity and insight as to create a book that has been read and reread since its first appearance in 1975. 237pp, SOUTH AFRICA. PICADOR AFRICA.

The autobiography of the Archbishop of Cape Town whose life has been marked by growing up under apartheid and his imprisonment on Robben Island. The author weaves his memoirs with his work fighting poverty and HIV/AIDS in South Africa and how this work can be continued. Refs, 129pp, UK. SPCK.