Browsing Category Biography & Autobiography

Allen (J.) RABBLE-ROUSER FOR PEACE, the authorised biography of Desmond Tutu
481 pp., maps, illus., paperback. d.w., London, 2006. R147
"As a religious correspondent of a major South African daily newspaper, John Allen covered Desmond Tutu's rise to prominence in the years following the Soweto uprising in 1976. He served with Tutu for 13 years from 1987, first as his press secretary and then as Communications Director of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and at Emory University in the United States."
Allen (V.) LADY TRADER, a biography of Mrs Sarah Heckford
307 pp., paperback, Reprint, Pretoria, (1979) 2010. R225
A reprint of Vivien Allen's biography of Sarah Heckford (1839 - 1903), who sailed from England to Durban in 1878, trekked to the Transvaal and worked as a governess, doctor, builder, nurse and farmer. When her farm failed she made her fortune as a "smous", trading goods with hunters and miners in the Lowveld. In 1882 she published an account of her life and adventures entitled "A Lady Trader in the Transvaal".
Andersen (I.) et. al BREAKING THE SILENCE, stories from the other(ed) woman, POWA Women's Writing Project 2009
143 pp., colour illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2010. R100
The fifth annual POWA "Breaking the Silence" collection. Includes poetry, short stories and autobiographical essays on the theme "untamed, unruly and immoral: stories from the other(ed) woman".
Ash (C.) THE IF MAN, Dr Leander Starr Jameson: the inspiration for Kipling's masterpiece
328 pp., maps, illus., paperback, Solihull and Durban, 2012. R250
A biography of the British colonial statesman Dr Leander Starr Jameson (1853-1917), friend of Cecil John Rhodes and leader of the doomed raid against Paul Kruger's Transvaal Republic in 1896. His life inspired Rudyard Kipling to write his famous poem, "If".
Asmal (K.) & Hadland (A.) KADER ASMAL, politics in my blood, a memoir
313 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2011. R250
Son of a shopkeeper from Natal, Kader Asmal trained as a lawyer, spent time in exile in the UK, taught at Trinity College Dublin, and returned to South Africa to become a member of the ANC's Constitutional Committee and negotiating team. He later became an MP and a cabinet minister under Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki.
Baai (S.) OLIVER REGINALD TAMBO, teacher, lawyer & freedom fighter
312 pp., illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2006. R196
Preface by Dr N.C.Dlamini-Zuma. Foreword by Desmond Tutu. Includes an edited selection of Tambo's articles, papers, speeches, statements and other documents compiled by E.S.Reddy.

A biography of Oliver Tambo by Dr Sandi Baai, who is originally from Kwa Ndunge village Bizana, Pondoland, Tambo's birthplace.
Barham (J.E.) ed. ALICE GREENE, teacher and campaigner, South African correspondence 1887-1902
649 pp., maps, illus., paperback,, Leicester, 2007. R395
Alice Greene (1858-1920) left England in 1887 to teach at the Collegiate School for Girls in Port Elizabeth. She became friends with Elizabeth Molteno who became principal of the school. They left in 1900 and moved to Cape Town where they were involved in helping Boer women and children held in the British camps. They assisted Emily Hobhouse, were friends with Olive Schreiner, and knew many of the politicians of the day.

John Barham is Alice Greene's great nephew. He has edited the letters she wrote from the time of her departure for South Africa up to a visit she made to England after the end of the Boer War, as well as her 1901 diary.
Barnard (M.) & Norval (S.) DEFINING MOMENTS, an autobiography
440 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2011. R250
The autobiography of cardiac surgeon Marius Barnard. A member of the medical team that performed the world's first human heart transplant at Groote Schuur Hospital in 1967, with his brother Chris, he became a pioneer in heart surgery around the world. He was also an active anti-apartheid campaigner and MP for the Progressive Federal Party, and for the last thirty years he has played a leading role in the creation of critical illness insurance.

Simon Norval has known the Barnard family for many years. He is the author of the novel "Adamastor Rising".
Batley (K.) ed. A SECRET BURDEN, memories of the Border War by South African soldiers who fought in it
133 pp., paperback, Johannesburg, 2007. R110
A collection of prose and poetry by white South African conscripts deployed during the "Border War" in Namibia and Angola. All contributions are published anonymously.

Foreword by Justice Yvonne Mokgoro. Introduction by Carol Allais and Ian Liebenberg.

Includes the essay, "Socialised Warriors: anti-heroic subversion in writing by South African soldiers in the Border War" by Karen Batley.
Beckett (D.) RADICAL MIDDLE, confessions of an accidental revolutionary
228 pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2010. R180
Denis Beckett's memoir about his experiences as a journalist, political activist and editor of the anti-apartheid magazine,"Frontline", in the turbulent 1980s in South Africa.
Beresford (D.) TRUTH IS A STRANGE FRUIT, a personal journey through the apartheid war
349 pp., paperback, Johannesburg, 2010. R180
David Beresford's account of his experience as a journalist in apartheid South Africa. He borrows from evidence given to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, makes use of his own journalism and includes extracts from the letters "station bomber" John Harris wrote to his wife while awaiting execution in 1964/5.

David Beresford was born in South Africa and moved to the UK in 1974. He joined the Guardian newspaper and covered the conflicts in Ireland, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the first Gulf War. In 1984 the Guardian posted him to South Africa. He is also the author of "10 Men Dead" (1986) on the Irish hunger strike.
Bizos (G.) ODYSSEY TO FREEDOM, a memoir by the world-renowned human rights advocate, friend and lawyer to Nelson Mandela
616 pp., illus., hardback, d.w., Johannesburg, 2007. R270
George Bizos was born in 1928 in the Greek village of Vasilitsi. During the Second World War he escaped from his occupied homeland, becoming a refugee in South Africa. Graduating from the University of the Witwatersrand with a legal degree and called to the Bar, he acted for many of Nelson Mandela's and Oliver Tambo's clients. He was involved with the Treason Trial of the late 1950s and the subsequent Rivonia Trial, the trials of Braam Fischer and Namibian Toivo ja Toivo, the trials of Winnie Mandela, the Delmas Trial, and other human-rights trials through the 1970s and 1980s. He acted for the ANC at the post-1994 constitutional hearings, was associated with the amnesty hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the 2004 treason trial of Zimbabwean opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai.
Bloem (T.) KROTOA-EVA, the woman from Robben Island
239 pp., maps, paperback, Cape Town, (1999) 2002. R140
Krotoa, a member of the Goringhaikona tribe, was employed by Maria van Riebeeck and given the name Eva. She became the chief interpreter of the Dutch and later married Pieter van Meerhoff, who was appointed overseer on Robben Island. Shortly after her arrival there in 1665 she became an alcoholic and after his death was frequently confined on Robben Island because of her drinking. She died in 1674.
Bloomberg (D.) MY TIMES, the memoirs of David Bloomberg, man of the theatre, lawyer, businessman and former mayor of Cape Town
286 pp., illus., hardback, d.w., Cape Town, 2007. R200
David Bloomberg was mayor of Cape Town from 1973-1975. As an impresario he brought a number of famous performers to Cape Town and produced many acclaimed theatre productions between 1956 and 1967. He was a director of the Cape Performing Arts Board and closely involved with the Cape Town Municipal Orchestra. He was also an attorney and defended Demitrio Tsafendas, the assasin of Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd. He and his wife left South Africa in 1988.
Boehmer (E.) NELSON MANDELA, a very short introduction
204 pp., map, illus., paperback, Oxford, 2008. R90
A biography of Nelson Mandela, published in the Very Short Introductions series.

Elleke Boehmer is Professor of World Literature at the University of Oxford. She is the author of "Colonial and Postcolonial Literature: migrant metaphors" (1995), "Empire: the national and the postcolonial" (2002) and "Stories of Women: gender and narrative in the postcolonial nation" (2005). She has also published four novels.
Boesak (A.) RUNNING WITH HORSES, reflections of an accidental politician
427 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2009. R209
A collection of essays in which Rev. Allan Boesak, co-founder of the United Democraic Fronf (UDF), reflects on 30 years as a theologian and political activist.
Boraine (A.) A LIFE IN TRANSITION,
332 pp., b/w & colour illus., hardback, d.w., Cape Town, 2008. R220
Foreword by Desmond Tutu.

Alex Boraine was born in Cape Town in 1931. He entered the ministry and was appointed youngest-ever President of the Methodist Church of Southern African in 1970. In 1974 he was elected to Parliament as an MP for the Progressive Federal Party. He resigned in 1986 and, together with Frederick van Zyl Slabbert, founded IDASA, which organised the 1987 meeting with ANC leaders in Dakar, Senegal. He was one of the main architects of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and served as its deputy chairperson from 1996 to 1998. After teaching transitional justice at the New York University Law School, he became founding president of the International Center for Transitional Justice.
Botha (W.) BURNING BRIGHT, extraordinary women of KwaZulu-Natal
200 pp., 4to., illus., paperback, Durban, 2009. R228
Wilma Botha tells the stories of twelve women of different ages and from diverse cultures and walks of life, including Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) spokesperson Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, Miss South Africa Peggy-Sue Khumalo, Leona Theron, the first black woman judge appointed to the High Court of South Africa, newspaper columnist, psychologist and former Dean of Student Development Devi Rajab, and Gugu Moloi, CEO of Umgeni Water.
Bould (G.) ed. CONSCIENCE BE MY GUIDE, an anthology of prison writings
294 pp., paperback, Second Revised Edition, Harare & London, 2005. R160
A collection of prison literature by prisoners of conscience, including Breyten Breytenbach, Pitika Nulti, Steve Biko, Frank Chikane, Anita Kromberg, Dennis Brutus, Rommel Roberts, Bram Fischer, Cedric Mayson, Richard Steele, Ruth First, Beyers Naude and Albie Sachs from South Africa, Welshman Mabhena, Gertrude Mthombeni, Vincent Ndlovu, Lovedale Madhuku, Wilfred Mhanda, Paul Themba Nyathi and Fletcher Dulini Ncube from Zimbabwe, Henrique Guerra and Agostinho Neto from Angola, Magdelena from Namibia, Wole Soyinka from Nigeria and Ngugi wa Thiong'o from Kenya.
Breytenbach (B.) A VEIL OF FOOTSTEPS, (memoir of a nomadic fictional character)
302 pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2008. R165
In a book which blurs the borders between fact and fiction, Breyten Breytenbach weaves together memories, impressions of real events, surreal fantasies, dreamlike sequences, philosophical thoughts and fictions.

Writer, poet and artist Breyten Breytenbach left South Africa in 1960, and settled in Paris, and became a leading anti-apartheid campaigner. In 1975 he was arrested in Johannesburg, charged with terrorist activities, and sentenced to 9 years imprisonment. Since his release in 1983 he has received wide recognition as a leading poet and his books have been translated into many languages. In 1999 he was awarded the Hertzog Prize for poetry for "Papierblom".
Brink (A.) A FORK IN THE ROAD, a memoir
438 pp., illus., hardback, d.w., London, 2009. R290
André Brink writes about his childhood, his love for the arts, his relationships with women, among them the poet Ingrid Jonker, and encounters with Ariel Dorfman, Günter Grass, Beyers Naudé, Nadine Gordimer, Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela.

This memoir is shortlisted for the 2010 Alan Paton Award for non-fiction.

André Brink is the author of 27 novels. He has won the CNA Award three times and has twice been shorlisted for the Booker Prize. His novels have been translated into thirty languages.

Also published in Afrikaans as "'n Vurk in die Pad".
Butler (A.) CYRIL RAMAPHOSA,
442 pp., illus., paperback, Revised Edition, Johannesburg, 2007 (2011). R225
A revised and updated edition of Anthony Butler's biography of Cyril Ramaphosa, general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers in the 1980s, secretary-general of the ANC after its unbanning and its chief negotiator of the new democratic constitution, and now successful businessman.

"a thoughful, fair-minded and scrupulously researched book about the internationally renowned union boss turned politician turned businessman." Drew Forrest, Mail & Guardian

"After Mandela, Ramaphosa was probably the most important figure in South Africa's transition to democracy. Here for the first time is the full story of his remarkable career to date, told with great skill by one of the leading analysts of South Africa today." Professor Chris Saunders, University of Cape Town

Anthony Butler, educated at St Anne's College, Oxford, and King's College, Cambridge, now teaches politics at the University of the Witwatersrand. He also writes a weekly column for the newspaper, Business Day.
Callinicos (L.) THE WORLD THAT MADE MANDELA, a heritage trail
338 pp., map, 4to., b/w & colour illus., hardback, d.w., Johannesburg, (2000) 2006. R450
Traces 70 places of meaning in Nelson Mandela's life. Sites include Nelson Mandela's birthplace at Mvezo; Clarkebury, the Methodist school he attended; Tyhalarha, where he was initiated into manhood; Sol Plaatje's home in Mafikeng; Dr Xuma's home in Sophiatown; Chief Albert Luthuli's house in Groutville; The Old Fort prison in Johannesburg; Freedom Square in Kliptown, where the Congress of the People approved the Freedom Charter; Lilliesleaf Farm in Rivonia, where the ANC set up its underground headquarters; Robben Island, Pollsmoor Prison and Victor Verster Prison; the Grand Parade in Cape Town where Nelson Mandela made his first public speeech on his release; East London City Hall, where the first hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation were held; the World Trade Centre in Johannesburg, venue for the CODESA convention; and Qunu, where he has rebuilt his family home.

Luli Callinicos is the author of the award-winning trilogy "Gold and Workers" (1981), "Working Life" (1987) and "A Place in the City" (1993), as well as a biography of Oliver Tambo.
Canale (N.) SNAKES IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN, memoirs of a sportswriter
328 pp., paperback, Cape Town, 2010. R176
The memoirs of sports journalist Norman Canale, who worked for various South African newspapers, including the Rand Daily Mail. the Sunday Times and the Sunday Express, and later as a freelance sports and news feature writer and columnist.
Carneson (L.) RED IN THE RAINBOW, the life and times of Fred and Sarah Carneson
315 pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2010. R220
Fred Carneson (1920-2000) was a leader of the Communist Party of South Africa, a defendant in the Treason Trial and business manager of the left-wing newspaper "New Age". He was detained in 1965 and served a prison sentence for contraventions of the Suppression of Communism Act. After his release in 1972 he left South Africa for Britian.
Sarah Carneson (1916- ), a member of the Communist Party of South Africa and a trade unionist, was banned in 1954 and imprisoned in 1967 for breaching her banning order. Shortly after her release she went into exile.
Fred and Sarah Carneson returned to South Africa in 1991.

"It would have been virtually impossible to sustain an environment of non-racism in South Africa today if there had not been a minority of whites like Fred and Sarah, who visibly diametrically opposed apartheid, who actually lived non-racism and who were persecuted for their pains. It says a great deal about tenacity, perseverance and just plain guts. That is a hell of a legacy." Pallo Jordan

"Lynn Carneson's frank account of her parents and their times reminds us of how countless ordinary South Africans, many black and some white, fought and eventually defeated the apartheid regime. It's a story of perseverance and wry humour, of putting together family lives disrupted over and over again, of passions, foibles, confusions. If South Africa's democratic transition was a 'miracle', then it was this miracle - decades of everyday acts of courage and basic human solidarity." Jeremy Cronin

Lynn Carneson, daughter of Fred and Sarah Carneson, was brought up in Cape Town and exiled at the age of eighteen to London. She is currently a senior fellow at the Corporate Governance Unit at Stellenbosch University.
Cesare (M.) THE MAN WITH THE BLACK DOG,
306 pp., map, colour illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2011. R195
Game ranger and conservationist Mario Cesare's tribute to his beloved dog, Shilo. He is also the author of the memoir, "Man-Eaters, Mambas and Marula Madness: a game ranger's life in the Lowveld".
Claassen (W.) WYNAND CLAASSEN, kaalvoetklong tot rugbytoks
346 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Pretoria, 2011. R190
Retired ex-Springbok rugby player Wynand Claassen writes about his childhood years in Schweizer-Reneke in what was then the Western Transvaal (now North-West Province).

Wynand Claassens was born in 1951. In 1981, as captain of the Springbok rugby team, he led the infamous "Rebel Tour" to New Zealand. His autobiography, "More Than Just Rugby", was published in 1985, and re-issued in a revised edition, "The Final Chapter", in 1996.
Coetzee (J.M.) BOYHOOD, scenes from provincial life
166 pp., paperback, Reprint, London, (1997) 1998. R112
J.M.Coetzee writes about his childhood in a small country town in South Africa.

J.M.Coetzee was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003.
Coetzee (J.M.) SCENES FROM PROVINCIAL LIFE,
484 pp., hardback, d.w., London, 2011. R330
J.M.Coetzee's trilogy of fictionalised memoir, "Boyhood" (1997), "Youth" (2002), and "Summertime" (2009) in one volume. They have been revised for republication.
Coullie (J.) et. al. (eds.) SELVES IN QUESTION, interviews on southern African auto/biography
487 pp., paperback, Honolulu, 2006. R230
Includes "I Speak Their Wordless Woe", Dennis Brutus interviewed by Simon Lewis;
"All Autobiography is 'Autre'-biography", J.M.Coetzee interviewed by David Atwell;
"We Would Write Very Dull Books If We Just Wrote about Ourselves", Sindiwe Magona interviewed by Stephan Meyer;
"Metaphors of Self", Es'kia Mphahlele interviewed by N.Chabani Manganyi; "Writing Autobiography and Writing Fiction", Doris Lessing interviewed by M.J.Daymond;
"Reflections in Identity", Breyten Breytenbach interviewed by Marilet Sienaert;
"'Every Secret Thing' as Family Memoir", Gillian Slovo interviewed by Margaretta Jolly;
"Reflections in a Cracked Mirror"' Pieter-Dirk Uys interviewed by Mervyn McMurty;
"Philosophical Reflections on Chronicles of Conversion", Wilhelm Verwoerd interviewed by Stephan Meyer;
"Group Portrait: self, family and nation on exhibit", Paul Faber, Rayda Jacobs and David Goldblatt interviewed by Stephan Meyer, and much more.
Couper (A.) ALBERT LUTHULI, bound by faith
291 pp., illus., paperback, Pietermaritzburg, 2010. R245
The biography of Albert Luthuli, in which Scott Couper argues that, contrary to contemporary nationalist understanding, Luthuli did not countenance abandoning non-violence in favour of armed struggle in 1961.

"This impassioned and provocative account locates Luthuli as a man of uncompromising Chistian faith and principle who has been woefully - and perhaps wilfully - misinterpreted in ANC historiography. Couper produces a considerable body of fresh evidence to support his view that Luthuli was never persuaded of the moral or strategic imperative to abandon non-violence in favour of the armed struggle. " Saul Dubow, Sussex University

Scott Couper serves the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa as the Development Manager of the Inanda Seminary through the auspices of Global Ministries, United Church of Christ and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
Crais (C.) & Scully (P.) SARA BAARTMAN AND THE HOTTENTOT VENUS, a ghost story and a biography
232 pp., illus., hardback, d.w., First S.A.Edition, Johannesburg, 2009. R220
A reconstruction of the life of Sara Baartman, who was displayed in Europe from 1810 to 1815 as the Hottentot Venus.

"In the very act of demonstrating the impossibility of knowing Sara Baartman, the authors of this remarkable book have restored her humanity. This is less a biography than an anti-biography, a searing work of social history that acknowledges the deep silence that surrounds so much of human history. A richly researched and deeply moving work." Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

"Finally, an authoritative account of the mythologized life of Sara Baartman." Zoë Wicomb

Clifton Crais is professor of history at Emory University.
Pamela Scully is associate professor of women's studies and African studies at Emory University.
Crawford-Browne (L.) comp. & ed. TUTU AS I KNOW HIM, on a personal note
224 pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2006. R140
Reminiscences from people who have known Desmond Tutu, including Njabulo Ndebele, Justice Richard Goldstone, Ahmed Kathrada, Allan Boesak, Nelson Mandela, Kofi Annan, Nadine Gordimer, Pieter-Dirk Uys, Mamphela Ramphele, HH The Dalai Lama, Jonathan Shapiro, Antjie Krog, Justice Edwin Cameron and Bono.
Crompton (C.) & Johnson (P.) LUCK'S FAVOURS, two South African Second World War memoirs
310 pp., maps, illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2010. R185
Includes the memoirs of two South Africans soldiers:
"For the Adventure of It" by Cyril Crompton
"On the Run in Wartime Italy" by Peter Johnson
Daniels (E.) THERE AND BACK, Robben Island 1964-1979
264 pp., illus., paperback, Third Edition, Cape Town, 2002. R195
Foreword by Nelson Mandela.

The autobiography of Eddie Daniels who spent 15 years on Robben Island in the company of Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada and others.
de Villiers (I.) STROOIDAK EN TORING, van mense en my tyd
301 pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2009. R220
A collection of autobiographical writings by Izak de Villiers. Author and poet Izak de Villiers is a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church and was editor of Sarie, the Afrikaans women's magazine, and of the Afrikaans newspaper, Rapport.

Text in Afrikaans.
de Villiers (S.) & Slabbert (M.) DAVID KRAMER, a biography
384 pp., colour illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2011. R195
The biography of musician David Kramer, famous for albums such as "Bakgat!", "The Story of Blokkies Joubert", "Delicious Monster" and "Hanepootpad", the musicals "District Six" and "Kat and the Kings" which he produced together with Taliep Petersen, and the show "Kitaar Blues" in which he popularised the music of Karoo artists.

Dawid de Villiers and Mathilda Slabbert are lecturers in the English Department at the University of Stellenbosch.

Also available in Afrikaans.
Desai (A.) & Vahed (G.) MONTY NAICKER, between reason and treason
534 pp., illus., paperback, Pietermaritzburg, 2010. R310
A biography of Dr Gagathura (Monty) Mohambru Naicker, a key political figure in the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) and the Congress Alliance. Dr Naicker was born in Durban in 1910. In 1945 he was elected president of the NIC, a post he held until 1963. In the 1950s he was president of the South African Indian Congress (SAIC). He was one of the accused in the Treason Trial of 1956-1961, although the charges against him were withdrawn in 1958. He was imprisoned several times and between 1956 and 1968 served with banning orders which effectively put an end to his political activities. He died in 1978.

"This book is more than a biography of Monty Naicker. While Monty's sterling contribution is recorded with a sure hand, this is essentially the political history of Indian South Africans in the critical period from the 1940s to the 1970s; more pointedly, it is the history of the Natal Indian Congress, an organisation founded by Mohandas K.Gandhi in 1894 and nurtured into the beginnings of non-racialism during these decades." Fatima Meer

Ashwin Desai is Associate Professor of Sociology at Rhodes University.
Goolam Vahed is Associate Professor of History, Uhniversity of KwaZulu-Natal.
Dlamini (J.) NATIVE NOSTALGIA,
169 pp., paperback, Johannesburg, 2009. R180
Jacob Dlamini's account of his childhood in Katlehong, a township east of Johannesburg, in which he examines what it means for black South Africans to remember their lives under apartheid.

Jacob Dlamini is a 2009 Ruth First Fellow and a PhD student in History at Yale University.
Dommisse (E.) FIRST BARONET OF DE GRENDEL, Sir David Pieter de Villiers Graaff
366 pp., illus., hardback, d.w., Cape Town, 2011. R250
The biography of Sir David Graaff, the pioneer of large-scale refrigeration in South Africa. He was also mayor of Cape Town and a member of the first cabinet in South Africa after Unification in 1910. He is the father of Sir De Villiers Graaff, who was leader of the United Party from 1956-1977.
Drew (A.) BETWEEN EMPIRE AND REVOLUTION, a life of Sydney Bunting, 1873-1936
294 pp., illus., paperback, First SA Edition, Pretoria, (2007) 2009. R175
A biography of Sydney Bunting, founding member of the Communist Party of South Africa.

"This superbly researched and beautifully written work illuminates the diverse worlds of Bloomsbury and Oxford, of dusty South African mining towns, and of the Moscow of Lenin's day - and tells us much about the unexpected connections between these disparate realities" Jonathan Hyslop
Duka (M.M.M.) CANON JAMES ARTHUR CALATA, a biography of one of the greatest sons of Africa
334 pp., 4to., maps, illus., hardback, Queenstown, 2011. R316
James Arthur Calata was born in 1895 near King Williamstown. A teacher and priest in the Anglican church, he joined the African National Congress in 1930 and was secretary-general from 1936 to 1949. He also served as canon of the Grahamstown Cathedral from 1959 until his death in 1983.
Ecott (T.) STEALING WATER, a secret life in an African city
304 pp., paperback, London, 2008. R220
Author Tim Escott's memoir of growing up in Ireland and then in Johannesburg durring the 1970s.
Eglin (C.) CROSSING THE BORDERS OF POWER, the memoirs of Colin Eglin
374 pp., illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2007. R225
Colin Eglin was a founding member of The Progressive Party, becoming leader in 1970. "He served in parliament through the terms of seven successive prime ministers and presidents - from J.G.Strijdom to Thabo Mbeki; and under five constitutions, from the union constitution to the constitution of 1996. In the constitutional negotiations that followed Nelson Mandela's release from jail in February 1990, Mandela described Eglin as 'one of the architects of our democracy'".
Farred (G.) LONG DISTANCE LOVE, a passion for football
209 pp., paperback, Philadelphia, 2008. OUT OF PRINT
Grant Farred explores how, as a boy growing up disenfranchised in apartheid South Africa, he became a life-long supporter of Liverpool Football Club.

Grant Farred grew up on the Cape Flats. He now lives in the USA where he teaches in the Literature Programme at Duke University. He is also the author of "Midfielder's Moment" Coloured literature and culture in contemporary South Africa: (1999) and "What's My Name? Black vernacular intellectuals" (2003).
Feinberg (B.) TIME TO TELL, an activist's story
169 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2009. R160
Foreword by Pallo Jordan.

Activist, poet, painter and filmmaker Barry Feinberg went into exile in Britain in 1961, becoming one of the leading activists in the international solidarity movement. He was also involved in the secret work of both the ANC and the SACP and was one of the founding members of Mayibuye, an ANC music and poetry performance ensemble. He also headed up the information division of the International Defence and Aid Fund (IDAF). He returned to South Africa in 1991, after the unbanning of the ANC.
Field (R.) ALEX LA GUMA, a literary & political biography
258 pp., illus., paperback, First S.A.Edition, Johannesburg, 2010. R220
In his book on novelist and political activist Alex la Guma (1925-85) Roger Field combines biography with literary and political analyses to offer fresh insights into la Guma's major texts.

This book was first published in the U.K. in 2010.

Alex la Guma
Forman (S.) LIONEL FORMAN, a life too short, a personal memoir
254 pp., paperback, Alice, 2008. R220
A memoir about Lionel Forman written by his wife, Sadie.

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.
Frankel (G.) RIVONIA'S CHILDREN, three families and the cost of conscience in white South Africa
381 pp., illus., paperback, Reprint, New York, (1999) 2001. OUT OF PRINT
The story of a group of mostly Jewish, mostly communist activists, including Hilda and Rusty Bernstein, Ruth First and Joe Slovo, James Kantor and Harold and AnneMarie Wolpe, who either went into exile or were imprisoned for their anti-apartheid activities.
Fuller (A.) COCKTAIL HOUR UNDER THE TREE OF FORGETFULNESS,
238 pp., map, illus., paperback, London, 2011. R195
A memoir by Alexandra Fuller, author of "Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight", in which she explores her family's roots in Scotland and England and writes about the turbulent lives her parents have led, primarily in Kenya, Rhodesia/Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Garfield (B.) THE MEINERTZHAGEN MYSTERY, the life and legend of a colossal fraud
352 pp., hardback, d.w., Washington DC., 2007. R260
Col Richard Meinertzhagen was a British war hero, secret agent and dean of international ornithology. Brian Garfield reveals how many of the events recorded in Meinertzhagen's diaries are imaginary and how he committed scientific, military and political fraud.
Gevisser (M.) THABO MBEKI, the dream deferred
892 pp., maps, illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2007. R225
Journalist Mark Gevisser is well-known for his insightful political profiles, originally published in Mail & Guardian and later collected in the book, "Portraits of Power: profiles in a changing South Africa". He began working on his biography in 1999.
Gevisser (M.) THABO MBEKI, the dream deferred, the updated international edition
376 pp., illus., paperback, Revised Edition, Johannesburg, 2009. R195
An updated shortened edition of Mark Gevisser's biography of Thabo Mbeki, first published in 2007, which won the Sunday Times Alan Paton Award in 2008.
Godwin (P.) WHEN A CROCODILE EATS THE SUN, a memoir
342 pp., illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2006. R149
An account of Peter Godwin's family, and their lives in Zimbabwe.

Peter Godwin is the author of the award-winning "Mukiwa", an account of his childhood and early adulthood in Zimbabwe.
Goldberg (D.) THE MISSION, a life of freedom in South Africa
427 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, DVD, Johannesburg, 2010. R220
An autobiography by political activist Denis Goldberg, sentenced with Mandela and others to life imprisonment at the Rivonia Treason Trial. On his negotiated release in 1985 he went into exile in London. He returned to South Africa in 2002 to become a Member of Parliament. Now retired, he lives in Hout Bay.

Foreword by Pallo Jordan.

Includes a DVD with footage ofr Denis' life and work.
Gool-Ebrahim (N.) THE TRUTH IS ON THE WALLS,
204 pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2011. R198
With co-authors Donna Ruth Brenneis and Shahena Wingate-Pearse.

Foreword by John Battersby.

Naz Gool Ebrahim, the niece of Cissie Gool, was a leading voice of resistance to the destruction of District Six under the Group Areas Act. She led the District Six residents' association in the late 1970s. She also travelled to the United States and Canada on speaking tours. On one of these trips she met Donna Ruth Brenneis, an American writer, who conducted many hours of interviews with Naz over several years. Naz died in 2005.

This informal history is created around Naz's memoirs, Donna Brenneis's recorded interviews, and a diary Naz's daughter, Shahena, kept during her three decades of exile in the USA. Shehena's daughter, Nasiema, played a key role in preparing this new manuscript.
Gordin (J.) ZUMA, a biography
390 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Second Revised Edition, Johannesburg, (2008) 2010. R145
A revised and updated edition of Jeremy Gordin's sympathetic biography of Jacob Zuma that covers his early life as a herd boy, his adult life as a member of the ANC, his incarceration on Robben Island, his time in exile and the transitional years of the early 1990s. In this new edition Gordon includes Zuma's 2010 visit to Buckingham Palace during which he was maligned by the British press, evaluates his presidency to date, and includes information on his wives and children and the 1985 "Pedro" document.

Award-winning journalist Jeremy Gordin is associate editor of The Sunday Independent.
Goudvis (B.) SOUTH AFRICAN ODYSSEY, the autobiography of Bertha Goudvis
218 pp., illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2011. R195
Edited by Marcia Leveson.

Bertha Goudvis (née Cinamon) was born in England in 1876 and came with her family to South Africa at the age of five. She spent her youth trekking by ox-wagon from one small mining town to another. She worked as a correspondent for The Natal Mercury, as a journalist for Johannesburg's The Star, published a novel, "Little Eden" (1949) and short stories in "The Mistress of Mooiplaas and Other Stories" (1956). She also wrote a libretto for a musical and several plays. She died in 1966.
Govender (P.) LOVE AND COURAGE, a story of insubordination
261 pp., paperback, Johannesburg, 2007. R165
The autobiography of activist, feminist, teacher and trade unionist Pregs Govender who, from 1994 to 2002, was a member of South Africa's democratic parliament.
Govender (R.) IN THE MANURE, memories and reflections
222 pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2008. R162
Writer and playwright Ronnie Govender is the author of 15 plays including "The Lahnee's Pleasure" and "At the Edge", a collection of short stories called "At the Edge and Other Cato Manor Stories" and the novel "Song of the Atman".
In these memoirs he looks back on his childhood in Cato Manor, Durban, and his experiences in journalism, teaching and the theatre.
Grant (R.) THE WAH-WAH DIARIES, the making of a film
264 pp., colour illus., paperback, 2006, London. R135
Well known actor Richard Grant wrote and directed "Wah-Wah" based on his childhood in Swaziland
Green (P.) CHOICE, NOT FATE, the life and times of Trevor Manuel
602 pp., map, b/w & colour illus., hardback, d.w., Johannesburg, 2008. R320
A biography of Trevor Manuel that covers his birth into a working-class family on the Cape Flats, his childhood under apartheid, his role as one of the most prominent leaders in the United Democratic Front (UDF) in the 1980s and his rise through the ranks of the ANC to become minister of finance in 1996. This book was shortlisted for the 2009 Alan Paton Award.

Journalist Pippa Green has been a deputy editor of The Sunday Independent and Pretoria News. She was a recipient of the Nieman Fellowship at Harvard in 1999, and was Ferris Visiting Professor of Journalism at Princeton University in 2006.
Gumede (W.M.) THABO MBEKI AND THE BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF THE ANC,
476 pp., paperback, Revised Edition, Cape Town, (2005) 2007. R200
A revised and updated edition of journalist and academic William Mervyn Gumede's unauthorised biography of Thabo Mbeki. Gumede analyses Mbeki's rise within the ANC, his political career, personality and politics, and examines issues such as the President's controversial position on AIDS and Zimbabwe, the impact of Jacob Zuma, the ANC-SACP-COSATU alliance, and the succession battle within the party.

William Gumede is Senior Associate and Oppenheimer Fellow at St Antony's College, Oxford University. Formerly a deputy editor of the Sowetan newspaper, he is on the faculty of the Graduate School of Public and Development Management, University of the Witwatersrand, is a contributing analyst to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and the BBC World Service, and writes a blog on global politics for the Washington Post.
Gunn (S.) & Krwala (S.) eds. KNOCKING ON, mothers and daughters in struggle in South Africa
264 pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2008. R95
A collection of life stories told by six pairs of mothers and daughters, who talk about how activism in the struggle against apartheid affected their sense of self, family relationships, life options, and hopes for the country's future.

Shirley Gunn is Director of the Human Rights Media Centre.
Gunn (S.) & Visser (R.) eds. LABOUR PAINS FOR THE NATION, eight women workers share their stories
254 pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2007. R95
As part of their Women Workers Life Story Project the Human Rights Media Centre (HMRC) compiled this collection of stories from taped interviews with eight South African women workers in the Western Cape: Charlotte Petersen, Lizzie Phike, Florence De Villiers, Darlina Tyawana, Myrtle Witbooi, Pat Van Voore, Rachel Vissr and Sarah Claasen.

Foreword by Pregs Govender.
Hall (S.) ZULU, with some guts behind it, the making of the epic movie
431 pp., b/w & colour illus., hardback, d.w., Revised Edition, Sheffield, (2005) 2006. R400
The 1964 film, "'Zulu', produced by Stanley Baker and directed by Cy Endfield, tells the story of the Battle of Rorke's Drift in 1879.

Includes first-hand accounts of shooting the film, extracts from the screenplay, script notes, letters and production documents, biographies of all the principal actors and filmakers and screenwriter John Prebble's original article on Rorke's Drift.

Sheldon Hall lectures in film history, theory and criticism at Sheffield Hallam University. A former freelance journalist, he has published articles and contributed to numerous books.
Harrison (R.) THE BLACK CHRIST, a journey to freedom
180 pp., colour illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2006. OUT OF PRINT
Foreword by Dr Albertina Luthuli. Introduction by Marilyn Martin.

In his oil painting, "The Black Christ", unveiled in Cape Town in 1962, artist Ronald Harrison portrayed Chief Albert Luthuli as Christ and modelled the two centurions on John Vorster and Hendrick Verwoerd. This is Harrison's account of the context in which the painting was made, the state's response and his subsequent imprisonment, torture and harrassment, the banned painting's tour abroad and it's return to South Africa more than 30 years later. It is now in the permanent collection of the Iziko South African National Gallery.
Hermann (D.) BASTA!, ons voetspore is in Afrika
88 pp., illus., paperback, Pretoria, (2010). R115
Dirk Herman's letter to his four daughters, in which he outlines the history of their family, and of the Afrikaner in general. In an attempt to re-awaken cultural pride and a sense of belonging he challenges them, and all Afrikaners, to be proud of their Afrikaner identity and to claim their rightful place in Africa.
The book was launched at the Boer Concentration Camp Cemetery in Irene.

Dirk Herman is deputy general secretary of Solidarity, the largest independent trade union in South Africa, with mainly white members.

Text in Afrikaans.
Hilton-Barber (B.) GARDEN OF MY ANCESTORS,
200 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Reprint, Johannesburg, (2007) 2008. R130
Bridget Hilton-Barber's story about her family's farm, Kings Walden, outside Tzaneen in Limpopo Province.
Hirson (D.) WHITE SCARS, on reading and rites of passage
197 pp., paperback, Johannesburg, 2006. R155
Denis Hirson discusses four books which influenced him at important times in his life: "Shooting at Sharpville" by Ambrose Reeves, "Die Ysterkoei Moet Sweet" by Breyten Breytenbach, "In a Marine Light" by Raymond Carver and "Je me souviens" by George Perec.

Hirson is the author if "The House Next Door to Africa", "I Rembember King Kong (The Boxer)" and "We Walk Straight So You Better Get Out the Way".
Ho (U.) PAPER SONS AND DAUGHTERS, growing up Chinese in South Africa
229 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2011. R205
A memoir by journalist Ufrieda Ho, in which she explores her family's history. In the mid-1950s her father, Ho Sing Kee, was a stowaway aboard a ship travelling from China via Durban and lived as an illegal immigrant in Johannesburg running a gambling business in the black townships during the apartheid years.

"'Paper Sons and Daughters is a deeply moving narrative, filled with love, pain and a delicate wistfulness." David Medalie, author of "The Mistress's Dog" and "The Shadow Follows".



Ufrieda Ho won the 2007 Anthony Sampson Foundation Award for Journalism.
Hodgson (R.) FOOT SOLDIER FOR FREEDOM, a life in South Africa's liberation movement
273 pp., b/w & colour paperback, Johannesburg, 2010. R225
An autobiography by political activist Rita Hodgson, born in 1920 in Johannesburg, a child of emigrant Jews. She was a member of the Springbok Legion, the Communist Party and the African National Congress, working full time for the movement.
Holland (H.) THE COLOUR OF MURDER, one family's horror exposes a nation's anguish
270 pp., illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2006. R110
The story of Sabrina van Schoor who, in 2002, aged 22, had her mother murdered. She is the daughter of Louis van Schoor, a security guard who was convicted in 1991 of murdering at least 90 people.

Journalist Heidi Holland's previous books include "Born in Soweto", "African Magic", "From Jo'burg to Jozi" with Adam Roberts, and "The Struggle: a history of the African National Congress".
Holland (H.) DINNER WITH MUGABE, the untold story of a freedom fighter who became a tyrant
254 pp., illus., paperback, Reprint, Johannesburg, (2008) 2009. R150
A biography of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe. Heidi Holland was granted a rare interview with Robert Mugabe in his office at State House.

Journalist Heidi Holland is the author of "The Struggle: a history of the African National Congress" and "The Colour of Murder, one family's horror exposes a nation's anguish".
Holmes (R.) THE HOTTENTOT VENUS, the life and death of Saartjie Baartman: born 1789 - buried 2002
239 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2007. R150
Saartjie Baartman was born in 1789 in the Gamtoos River Valley. At twenty-one years old she was taken to London where she was put on display as a Hottentot Venus. Saartjie died in Paris in 1815. After an international campaign launched by Nelson Mandela her remains were finally returned to South Africa and buried in 2002.
Holmes (R.) THE SECRET LIFE OF DR JAMES BARRY, Victorian England's most eminent surgeon
335 pp., illus., paperback, Reprint, Stroud, 2007. R215
First published by Viking in 2002 as "Scanty Particulars".

James Barry, "innovative medical pioneer, radical humanitarian and flamboyant dandy"arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1816. He became Medical Inspector for the Colony and Lord Charles Somerset's personal physician and close friend. He left the Cape in 1828.

Writer Rachel Holmes is also the author of "The Hottentot Venus: Saartjie Baartman's life, adventures and death."
Hopkins (P.) JOHNNY GOLIGHTLY COMES HOME, a portrait of eccentricity
234 pp., paperback, Johannesburg, 2009. R190
This book "defies a neat categorisation. The narrative follows a journey of discovery by author Pat Hopkins - discovery of himself, of the nature of eccentricity and the multiple identities of a unique South African conceptual artist, John Anthony Boerma." John Boerma is otherwise known as Johnny Golightly.

Author and journalist Pat Hopkins is also the author of "Voëlvry: the movement that rocked South Africa".
Hughes (H.) FIRST PRESIDENT, a life of John L.Dube, founding president of the ANC
312 pp., illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2011. R225
A biography of John L.Dube, founding president of the African National Congress in 1912.

"'First President' is indispensable for anyone wishing to understand the intellectual and political history of South Africa. An exquisite narrative about a complex personality and a formative period in South Africa's past, it unfolds as smoothly as a silk scroll. The ANC has a rich history and at last we are getting to know the first generations of its leaders and members as real people living multi-dimensional lives." André Odendaal, Honorary Professor in History and Heritage Studies, University of the Western Cape

Heather Hughes is a Principal Teacher Fellow at the University of Lincoln in the UK.
Human (K.) 'N LEWE MET BOEKE,
176 pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2006. R150
Koos Human was born in 1931 in Witfield, Transvaal. This memoir tells of the founding of Human & Rousseau publishers, together with Leon Rousseau, in 1959, and of the many great Afrikaans authors they published, such as André P.Brink, Jan Rabie, Etienne Leroux, Antjie Krog, Uys Krige, Breyten Breytenbach, and many others.
Jaffer (Z.) LOVE IN THE TIME OF TREASON, the life story of Ayesha Dawood
224 pp., paperback, Cape Town, 2008. R145
Biography of activist, ANC member and Treason Trialist Ayesha Dawood.

Journalist Zubeida Jaffer has also written an autobiography, "Our Generation".

Jeal (T.) STANLEY, the impossible life of Africa's greatest explorer
570 pp., maps, illus., hardback, d.w., London, 2007. R240
With access to a previously closed family archive Tim Jeal reappraises Henry Morton Stanley's reputation.

Tim Jeal is the author the acclaimed biographies, "Livingstone" and "Baden-Powell". He is also a novelist and a former winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize.
Jordan (Z.P.) ed. OLIVER TAMBO REMEMBERED,
463pp., illus., hardback, d.w., Johannesburg, 2007. R250
A compilation of memories in celebration of what would be Oliver Tambo's 90th birthday. Contributions by Thabo Mbeki, Z.Pallo Jordan, Kader Asmal, Nelson Mandela, Ruth Mompati, Sam Njoma, Wally Serote, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Ronnie Kasrils, Reg September, and many others.
Joubert (E.) REISIGER,
488 pp., hardback, d.w., Cape Town, 2009. R300
The second volume of award-winning Afrikaans novelist Elsa Joubert's autobiography. The first volume, "'n Wonderlike Geweld" (2005), is also available @ R275

Elsa Joubert's first novel, "Ons wag op die Kaptein" (1963) won the Eugene Marais Prize. Her 1978 novel "Die swerfjare van Poppie Nongena" was awarded the WA Hofmeyr Prize, the CNA Prize and the Louis Luyt Prize. In 1981 she was awarded the Winifred Holtby Prize by the British Royal Society of Literature, also becoming a member. Her novel, "Die reise van Isobelle" (1995) won the Hertzog Prize.

Text in Afrikaans.
Kasrils (R.) THE UNLIKELY SECRET AGENT,
183 pp., illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2010. R170
Ronnie Kasrils' account of his wife Eleanor's arrest by the Security Police in 1963, her detention and interrogation, and her escape from Fort Napier, a mental hospital in Pietermaritzburg where she had been sent for assessment.

"Eleanor Kasrils was catapulted into the politics of the national democratic movement by the terrible events at Sharpville and Langa of March 1960. Because her conscience would not allow her to stand by passively muttering complaints she threw herself heart and soul into the struggle to eradicate racism and apartheid. That commitment led her to being cast in the unlikely roles of burglar, saboteur, underground courier and ultimately that of exile. For twenty-seven years Eleanor and her husband Ronnie were engaged in some of the most clandestine aspects of the struggle for liberation. Leading a life filled with the tensions, anxieties and suspense typical of a spy thriller, Eleanor was still able to run a household and bring up two sons. Perhaps it was precisely her image, belying the work she was engaged in, that made her successful. This slim volume retells the story of one more dimension of our multifaceted liberation struggle that has remained secret until now." Z.Pallo Jordan

"This 'little' book about an 'ordinary' woman with the heart of a lioness confirms the truth that our freedom was not free." Thabo Mbeki

"Fugitives, freedom fighters, lovers: 'The Unlikely Secret Agent' is the remarkable true story of the South African liberation struggle's very own Bonnie and Clyde." John Carlin, journalist and author of "Invictus"

Ronnie Kasrils became South Africa's Minister of Intelligence Services in 2004. He has also written an autobiography, "Armed and Dangerous".
Kathrada (A.) A SIMPLE FREEDOM, the strong mind of Robben Island prisoner, no.468/64
148 pp., b/w & colour illus., hardback, d.w., DVD, Johannesburg, 2008. R149
Introduction by Nelson Mandela. Preface by Tim Couzens.

While in prison on Robben Island Ahmed Kathrada kept clandestine notebooks in which he noted down quotations from library books and newspapers that inspired him. This book offers a selection of these quotations, together with personal memories Tim Couzens collected in informal conversations with Ahmed Kathrada.

Also includes a DVD, directed by Anant Singh, which "shows the waves of Robben Island as they are washing up against the voice of Kathrada, interviewed by Couzens, off camera." Maureen Isaacson

This book was shortlisted for the 2009 Alan Paton Award.
Katjavivi (J.) UNDISCIPLINED HEART,
300 pp., paperback, Cape Town, 2010. R170
A memoir by writer, publisher and book development activist Jane Katjavivi who moved from London to newly independent Namibia with her Namibian husband in 1990.
Kearney (P.) GUARDIAN OF THE LIGHT, Denis Hurley: renewing the Church, opposing apartheid
382 pp., illus., hardback, d.w, Pietermaritburg & New York, 2009. R395
A biography of Denis Hurley, Catholic Archbishop of Durban from 1951 to 1992 and Chancellor of the University of Natal from 1993 to 1998. He was an outspoken opponent of apartheid.

"Archbishop Hurley was one of our greatest South Africans. This biography reveals what gave him that stature - his integrity, fealessness, gentleness of spirit and his magnaminity. It is a must read for all of us." Desmond Tutu

Keim (M.) comp. & ed. UMAMA, recollections of South African mothers and grandmothers
176 pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2009. R150
Forty South Africans celebrate their mothers and grandmothers.
Includes contributions from Mac Maharaj, Desmond Tutu, Sibongile Khumalo, Antjie Krog, Kader Asmal, André Brink, JM Coetzee, Richard Goldstone, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Miriam Makeba, Rian Malan, Nelson Mandela, Trevor Manuel, Zakes Mda, Albie Sachs, Helen Suzman and Pieter-Dirk Uys.

Marion Keim is associate professor at the University of the Western Cape, Advisory Boards member of Women for Peace Western Cape and an advocate of the High Court.
Klatzow (D.) & Warner (S.) STEEPED IN BLOOD, the life and times of a forensic scientist
314 pp., colour illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2010. R240
Internationally recognised forensic scientist David Klatzow discusses many of the cases he has investigated in his career. These include the deaths of Brett Kebble and Inge Lotz, the Helderberg aeroplane crash, the Guguletu Seven and Trojan Horse massacres, and the assasination of David Webster.

Foreword by George Bizos.
Knighton-Fitt (J.) BEYOND FEAR,
350 pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2003. R150
Foreword by Charles Villa-Vicencio.

The story of Theo and Helen Kotze. Rev. Kotze was born in Knysna in 1920. A Methodist minister, in 1969 he became regional director of the Christian Institute, responsible for the Cape and Namibia. The Institute was banned in 1977, and he was placed under house arrest. Eventually he and his family escaped, going into exile in Holland and then the UK. They returned to Cape Town in the early 1990s. He died in 2003.
Kombuis (K.) SHORT DRIVE TO FREEDOM, a personal perspective on the Afrikaans rock rebellion
256 pp., paperback, Cape Town, 2009. R190
The memoir of Koos Kombuis, musician and author, about his involvement in the Alternative Afrikaans Movement of the 1980s and the Voëlvry tour.

Koos Kombuis has also written an autobiography, "Seks, Drugs & Boeremusiek: die memoires van 'n volksverraaier" (2000) and several novels and short story collections, some under the name André LeToit.

Also available in Afrikaans.

Kombuis (Koos) DIE DIEPER DORS, 'n innerlike gesprek
192 pp., paperback, Cape Town, 2006. R125
A collection of reflections, essays and poetry witten over the last three years by Koos Kombuis, Afrikaner musician, poet and cultural icon.
Kotzé (D.J.) DAPPER KINDERS VAN SUID-AFRIKA,
223 pp., maps, illus., hardback, Reprint, Pretoria, (1962) 2010. R180
A collection of thirty-seven stories of brave children in the history of South Africa, including stories of the many children who participated in the Anglo-Boer War.

Dirk Kotzé was Professor of General History at the University of Stellenbosch from 1959 to 1985.
Krog (A.) BEGGING TO BE BLACK,
291 pp., paperback, Cape Town, 2009. R220
"In 1992, a gang leader was shot dead by an ANC member in Kroonstad. The murder weapon was then hidden on Antjie Krog's stoep. In 'Begging to Be Black', Krog begins by exploring her position in this controversial case. From there the book ranges widely on scope, both in time - reaching back to the days of Basotho king Moshoeshoe - and in space - as we follow Krog's experiences as a research fellow in Berlin, far from the Africa that produced her." from the flyleaf

This book is shortlisted for the 2010 Alan Paton Award for non-fiction.

Award-winning journalist and poet Antjie Krog has published eight volumes of poetry, several of which have been translated. The book, "Country of My Skull" (1998), her account of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which she covered for the SABC and Mail & Guardian newspaper, won numerous awards, including the Alan Paton Award and the Olive Schreiner Award. It was followed in 2003 by "A Change of Tongue", in which she examines issues of transformation.
Kuajeua (J.) TEARS OVER THE DESERTS, an autobiography
140 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, DVD, Reprint, Windhoek, (1994) 2009. R275
Namibian musician Jackson Kaujeua was born in 1953 in Keetmanshoop. In the 1960s his family were forced to move to an area designated for Hereros under the Odendaal Commission. In 1975 he went into exile in Botswana, Zambia, the UK, Angola and Sweden, contributing to the liberation struggle as one of SWAPOs leading musicians. He returned to Namibia in 1989. In 2004 he was awarded the NBC/Sanlam Music Lifetime Achievement Award.

Includes the 7 minute music DVD, "Kalahari".
la Guma (B.) & Klammer (M.) IN THE DARK WITH MY DRESS ON FIRE, my life in Cape Town, London, Havana and home again
214 pp., illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2010. R165
The autobiography of Blanche La Guma, who worked as a nurse-midwife in poor communities in Cape Town and Athlone in the 1950s and 1960s while supporting her writer husband, Alex La Guma. She also operated as an underground activist.

"The ironic title of this book captures two important dimensions of Blanche La Guma: a woman of the people who served as district nurse among the poor of Cape Town during the 1950s and 1960s, she was also a liberation movement activist, subsequently driven into exile by relentless persecution. This is a biography that truly enriches the tapestry and South Africa's recent history." Z.Pallo Jordan

The editor of these memoirs, Martin Klammer, is Professor in the Africana Studies Department, Luther College, Iowa.
La Vita (M.) GESPREKKE MET MERKWAARDIGE MENSE,
252 pp., paperback, Cape Town, 2011. R165
A collection of journalist Murray La Vita's conversations with South African writers, artists, musicians, chefs, and activists, including Breyten Breytenbach, André Brink, Joan Hambidge, Antjie Krog, Ingrid Winterbach, Deon Meyer, Pieter Dirk-Uys, Abdullah Ibrahim, David Kramer, Desmond Tutu, Rhoda Kadalie, Helen Suzman and Frederick Van Zyl Slabbert.

These interviews were originally published in "Die Burger", an Afrikaans newspaper published in Cape Town.

Text in Afrikaans.
Lawrence (J.) ASIDES & INDISCRETIONS,
139 pp., illus., hardback, d.w., Cape Town, 2010. R177
Jeremy Lawrence (born in 1935), son of the South African politician, Harry Lawrence, writes about his Cape childhood. Harry Lawrence was Minister of the Interior in General Smuts's wartime Cabinet.Jeremy was educated in Cape Town and Cambridge. His memoir ends when her returns to Cape Town in 1967.
Lazar (K.) HEMISPHERES, inside a stroke
85 pp., paperback, Cape Town, 2011. R145
A collection of essays on life after a stroke. Karen Lazar had a stroke in 2001, from which she has partially recovered. She lives in Johannesburg and is an English educator at the Wits School of Education.

"A filigree of finely-crafted pieces, 'Hemispheres' narrates the journey of recomposing life, joy and love from a body made alien through stroke. Wry, ironic, comic, joyous, desolate, celebratory, surreal, the mosaic of text reconfigures love from loss; each subtle fragment a tessera against time. A book of desolation and consolation. I will return to it often." Isabel Hofmeyr, Professor of African Literature, University of the Witwatersrand.

"A collection of rare/nuanced and tender insights, Lazar takes us into the gyre of re-orientation post-stroke, sharing what is lost and what is claimed when what you've always been and known changes. A book that pulses with quiet courage and celebrates it in others." Joanne Fedler, author of "Things Without a Name" amnd "When Hungry Eat".
Lenta (M.) ed. PARADISE, THE CASTLE AND THE VINEYARD, Lady Anne Barnard's Cape diaries
311 pp., illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2006. R180
Lady Anne Barnard lived at the Cape from 1797 to 1802. For the first two years she was the official hostess of the colonial administration. This book is an abridged version of her diaries of the years 1799 and 1800 and is illustrated with her drawings, paintings and handwriting.

Introduction and annotations by Margaret Lenta, an emeritus professor and senior researcher at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She co-edited the two-volume, unabridged "The Cape Diaries of Lady Anne Barnard, 1799-1800", published in 1999 and still available @ R500, as well as "The Cape Journals of Lady Anne Barnard, 1797-1798", which is out of print.
Lentin (A.) JAN SMUTS, man of courage and vision
221 pp., map, illus., paperback, First S.A.Edition, Johannesburg, 2010. R160
A biography of Jan Smuts. Antony Lentin discusses Smuts' role in the birth and development of South Africa but his main focus is on his contribution on the world stage, especially at the Paris Peace Conference of 1918-19.

Professor Antony Lentin is a Senior Member of Wolfsohn College, Cambridge, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and a Barrister.
Leon (T.) ON THE CONTRARY, leading the opposition in a democratic South Africa
766 pp., illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2008. R250
From 1994 to 2007 Tony Leon (b.1956) led the Democratic Alliance and it's predecessor, the Democratic Party. For eight of those years, from 1999 to 2007, he was leader of the Official Opposition. After standing down he was awarded a Fellowship to the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He lives in Cape Town.

Also available in hardback @ R325.
Levy (L.) RADICAL ENGAGEMENTS, a life in exile
213 pp., illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2009. R180
An autobiography by South African trade unionist Lorna Levy, forced into exile in London in 1963 where she became a Labour Party Councillor. She also involved herself in the work of the ANC in exile. She and her husband Leon returned to live in Cape Town in 1997.
Levy (N.) THE FINAL PRIZE, my life in the anti-apartheid struggle
478 pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2011. R340
"Norman Levy was born in South Africa in 1929 and entered the liberation struggle at an early age. A defendant in the Treason Trial in 1956 he was later detained under the 90 Day Detention Law before being imprisoned in 1965 for three years under the suppression of Communism Act. Exiled for twenty-two years in the UK, where he taught history at Middlesex University, he returned to South Africa in 1990 to work on the transformation of the new public service. He was Professor Extraordinary at the School of Government at the University of the Western Cape before retiring in 2002." from the inside front cover
Lewin (H.) STONES AGAINST THE MIRROR, friendship in the time of the South African struggle
189 pp., paperback, Cape Town, 2011. R180
"This is the book that was waiting to be written. There have been many accounts of life in the active struggle against the apartheid regime but this one is a fearless exploration of the deepest ground - the personal moral ambiguity of betrayal under brutal interrogation - actual betrayal of the writer by the most trusted associate and closest friend and the lifetime question of whether one would have betrayed that same friend under such circumstances, oneself. Hugh Lewin is the man to have faced this with the courage of a fine writer. Unforgettable, invaluable in facing now the ambiguities of our present, and future." Nadine Gordimer

Hugh Lewin is the author of "Bandiet Out of Jail", about his time in jail. It won the 2003 Olive Schreiner Prize. After serving a seven year sentence for sabotage activities against the apartheid state he left South Africa in 1971. After spending ten years in exile in London and another ten years in Zimbabwe, he returned to South Africa in 1992 to become director of the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism in Johannesburg. He works as a freelance media trainer.
Lewis (H.P.) OLIVE SCHREINER, the other side of the moon
242 pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2010. R115
A biography of Olive Schreiner that draws on her letters, some of them previously unpublished.
Liebenberg (P.) DAAR'S 'N GAY PASTOOR IN MY KOP,
373 pp., paperback, Johannesburg, 2008. R190
The autobiography of Philip Liebenberg's struggle as a gay man and a Christian minister. He is currently pastor at The Chapel in Melville, Johannesburg.
Limb (P.) NELSON MANDELA, a biography
144 pp., hardback, Westport, 2008. R282
Peter Limb is Africana bibliographer and associate professor (adjunct) of history at Michigan State University.
Lipman (A.) ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN, colliding with apartheid and other authorities
220 pp., illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2009. R175
A memoir by retired South African architect, architectural critic and academic Alan Lipman. A professor emeritus in the School of Architecture at the University of Wales, he is also the author of "Architecture on My Mind: critical readings in design" (2003).

Lodge (T.) MANDELA, a critical life
274 pp., illus., paperback., Reprint, Oxford, (2006) 2008. R155
This biography provides insight into the shaping of Nelson's Mandela's personality and public persona, examines the sources of his almost mythic appeal and the extent to which he self-consciously created the status of political hero he enjoys.

Tom Lodge was a member of the Department of Political Studies at the University of Witwatersrand between 1978 and 2005. He is now Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Limerick University in Ireland. He is the author of five other books on South African politics.
Lovell (L.) FOR THE LOVE OF JUSTICE, the autobiography of Leo Lovell
182 pp., paperback, Cape Town, 2009. R106
The memoirs of lawyer and politician Leo Lowell (1907-1976). A member of the Labour Party, he was elected as the Member of Parliament for Benoni in a 1949 by-election. He was an outspoken opponent of apartheid in Parliament until 1958, when he lost the election and returned to law. In 1961 he opened a law office in Mbabane in Swaziland, and went on to become Swaziland's first Minister of Finance from 1967 to 1972.

Preface and postscript by Leo Lovell's daughter, Barbara Brown.
Lubowski (G.) ON SOLID GROUND, one women's search for identity and the truth
283 pp., illus., paperback, (Cape Town), 2011. R140
Gabrielle Lubowski's account of her marriage to Namibian advocate and SWAPO member Anton Lubowski, the family's fight for justice after his death, and her Christian faith. Anton Lubowski was assassinated by operatives of South Africa's Civil Cooperation Bureau (CCB) in 1989. No-one has ever been prosecuted for his murder.

Foreword by Tony Weaver.
Prologue by John Carlin.
Luthuli (A.) LET MY PEOPLE GO, the autobiography of Albert Luthuli
253 pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2006. R150
Orignally published in 1962.

Introduction by Kader Asmal. Includes President Thabo Mbeki's address at the launch of the Luthuli Legacy Project.
Magona (S.) FROM ROBBEN ISLAND TO BISHOPSCOURT, the biography of Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane
300 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2011. R260
Njongonkulu Ndungane succeeded Desmond Tutu as Archbishop of Cape Town.
Magubane (B.) & Mzamane (M.V.) BERNARD MAGUBANE, my life & times
387 pp., illus., paperback, Pietermaritzberg, 2010. R265
An autobiography by prominent ANC member, academic and author Bernard Magubane.

Bernard Magubane was born on a farm near Colenso in Natal in 1930. He grew up in Cato Manor in Durban, became a teacher, and in 1961 was awarded a scholarship to study in the USA. He taught anthropology at the University of Connecticut for twenty-seven years and returned to South Africa after his retirement in 1997. He is Professor Emeritus in Anthropology at the University of Connecticut and Director of the South Africa Democracy Education Trust. His books include "The Political Economy of Race and Class in South Africa" (1979), "The Ties That Bind" (1987" and "The Making of a Racist State" (1996).
Magubane (P.) photo. MAN OF THE PEOPLE, a photographic tribute to Nelson Mandela
204 pp., 4to., b/w & colour illus., hardback, d.w., Johannesburg, 2008. R300
Includes the essays, "Through the Lens of a Resilient Storyteller" by Melanie Lawrence,
"'The Goodest Man in the World'" by Raymond Louw, and
"Generosity of Spirit" by Benjamin Pogrund.

Photographer Peter Magubane began his career in 1954 with Drum magazine. He joined the Rand Daily Mail newspaper in 1966. In 1990 he was selected as Nelson Mandela's offocial photographer to chronicle South Africa's transition to democracy.
Maharaj (M.) & Kathrada (A.) eds. MANDELA, the authorised portrait
356 pp., 4to., b/w & colour illus., hardback, d.w., Johannesburg, 2006. R350
Text by Mike Nicol. Includes more than sixty interviews with Nelson Mandela's friends, associates and comrades: Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Bono, Thabo Mbeki, Muhammad Ali, Hilda Bernstein, George Bizos, Albie Sachs, Dennis Goldberg, Arthur Chaskalson, Mac Maharaj, Ahmed Kathrada, Neville Alexander, Helen Suzman, Nadine Gordimer, Andre Brink, Cyril Ramaphosa, Allister Sparks, Pallo Jordan, Gillian Slovo, Antjie Krog and many others. The interviews were conducted by Tim Couzens, Rosalind Coward and Amina Franse.

Foreword by Kofi Annan. Introduction by Desmond Tutu.
Maharaj (Z.) DANCING TO A DIFFERENT RHYTHM, a memoir
201 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2006. R140
Zarina Maharaj, the wife of Mac Maharaj, former Minister of Transport, tells of her life in exile while her husband was on Robben Island.
Malan (R.) comp. CHEESECUTTERS AND GYMSLIPS, South Africans at boarding school
107 pp., paperback, Cape Town, 2008. R140
Foreword by John van de Ruit.

37 southern African writers reflect on their boarding school experiences, from the 1910s to the 1990s. Some pieces are extracts from published autobiographies while other pieces were written specifically for this collection. Writers include Ellen Kuzwayo, Don Mattera, Peter Abrahams, Es'kia Mphahlele, ZK Matthews, Anthony Akerman, Stephen Gray, Jonty Driver, Guy Butler, Patrick Cullinan, Shimmer Chinodya, Doris Lessing, Nelson Mandela, William Plomer, Lionel Abrahams, Mamphela Ramphele, Bessie Head, Dambudzo Marechera and Imraan Coovadia.

Robin Malan has complied many collections, including "Being Here", No Place Like" and "Leaves to a Tree", as well as the poetry anthologies "Worldscapes", "New Inscapes" and "New Poetry Works".
Mandela (N.) LONG WALK TO FREEDOM, the autobiography of Nelson Mandela
768 pp., illus., paperback, Reprint, London, (1994) 2007. R220
Nelson Mandela's autobiography.
Mandela (N.) NELSON MANDELA BY HIMSELF, the authoried book of quotations
189 pp., hardback, d.w., First S.A.Edition, Johannesburg, 2011. R160
The authorised collection of quotations gathered from Nelson Mandela's private papers, speeches, correspondence and audio recordings, organised into over 300 categories for easy reference.
Manjoo (S.) CLASSROOMS IN THE SHADE,
300 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2008. R145
An autobiography by Shanthee Manjoo, a retired teacher who lives in Pietermaritzburg, where she grew up.

"Shanthee contributes richly to our history of education in KwaZulu Natal, then known as the Province of Natal. She experiences this education altogether in eight institutions, mostly Indian, in terms of the prevailing apartheid policies." Fatima Meer, in her foreword.
Marais (J.) TIME BOMB, a policeman's true story
185 pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2010. R180
Johan Marais was sixteen years old when he joined the South African Police Force. He was transferred to Koevoet, took part in the Border Wars and in the 1980s worked in the townships of the East Rand as a member of the Riot Unit. He writes about how daily exposure to extreme violence destroyed his life.
Marinovich (G.) & Silva (J.) THE BANG-BANG CLUB, snapshots from a hidden war
320 pp., illus., paperback, Reprint, London, (2000) 2001. R112
Foreword by Desmond Tutu.

Photographers Greg Marinovich, Joao Silva, Ken Oosterbroek and Kevin Carter covered the war in the townships of South Africa in the 1990s. In 1994 Ken Oosterbroek was killed by a stray bullet and Kevin Carter committed suicide weeks after he won a Pulitzer Prize. The two surviving members of the group tell the story.
Martin (J.) A MILLIMETRE OF DUST, visiting ancestral sites
269 pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2008. R165
A travel memoir in which Julia Martin describes her journey with her family from Cape Town to the Northern Cape to visit Stone Age archaeological sites.

"A delightful journey through the natural and cultural history of the Cape. This is an odyssey that explores the living landscape and allows Martin to excavate its underlying stories. It's well worth the trip". John Parkington, Professor of Archaeology, University of Cape Town.

"It is a story of our past and our present and our future. It is a poem to the country, then and now." Mike Nicol

Julia Martin teaches in the English Department at the University of the Western Cape. She is also the author of the novel, "Writing Home".
Masilela (E.) NUMBER 43 TRELAWNEY PARK, KwaMagogo, untold stories of ordinary people caught up in the struggle against apartheid
227 pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2007. R165
Number 43 Trelawney Park, in Manzini, Swaziland, was for many years a safe house and base of operations for the ANC. The house became known as "KwaMagogo" (place of the grandmother), after Rebecca Makgomo Masilela - the author's mother - who sheltered and supported many of the ANC cadres who operated from Swaziland.

Elias Masilela tells the story of the ANC and PAC cadres who passed through the house in which he grew up and provides background information on the Church Street bombing, the activities of Eugene de Kock, Craig Williamson and Dirk Coetzee, and the defection of Glory September.
Masire (Q.K.J.) VERY BRAVE OR VERY FOOLISH?, memoirs of an African democrat
358 pp., maps, b/w & colour illus., paperback, Gaberone, 2006. R195
Sir Ketumile Masire played a central role in Botswana's journey to independence. In 1962 he joined Sir Seretse Khama in founding the Botswana Democratic Party. He was Minister of Finance and Development Planning for 14 years, served as Vice-President from 1966 to 1980 and succeeded Sir Seretse Khama as President in 1980. He retired in 1998.

Text edited by Stephen R.Lewis, Jr.
Matfield (V.) & Borchardt (d J.) VICTOR, my journey
337 pp., colour illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2011. R220
Springbok rugby player Victor Matfield's autobiography.
Mattera (D.) MEMORY IS THE WEAPON,
152 pp., paperback, Reprint, Johannesburg, (1987) 2009. R160
A reprint of Don Mattera's famous autobiographical essay about his life in Sophiatown, covering his teenage years from 1948 to 1962.

Award-winning writer Don Mattera was born in 1935 in Western Native Township across the road from Sophiatown, a multicultural suburb bulldozed by the apartheid government in 1955 and replaced by the white suburb of Triomf. Partly under the influence of Trevor Huddleston, Don Mattera began writing about the struggle for liberation and produced many poems, stories and plays, among them "Azanian Love Song". He also worked as a journalist and was imprisoned, tortured and banned by the authorities.
Matthews (C.) WALKING ON AIR,
149 pp., illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2006. R80
The story of ANC activist John Edward Matthews written by his oldest daughter, Colleen Matthews.

Foreword by Hugh Lewin. Prologue by Jeremy Cronin, whose poem about Matthews provides the title for this book.

John Matthews was a member of the South African Communist Party. In 1964 he was charged under the Suppression of Communism Act and was in prison for fifteen years in Pretoria.
McGregor (L.) KHABZELA, the life and times of a South African
240 pp., paperback, Johannesburg, 2005. R125
Foreword by Zackie Achmat.

A biography of Fana Khaba a.k.a. Khabzela. Born and raised in dire poverty in Soweto he managed to realise his dream of becoming a DJ, only to fall ill with AIDS. He died in 2004, aged 35.
McGregor (L.) & Nuttall (S.) eds. AT RISK, writing on and over the edge of South Africa
246 pp., paperback, Johannesburg, 2007. R130
A collection of non-fiction pieces by academics and journalists including Deborah Posel, Fred Khumalo, Sarah Nuttall, Liz McGregor, Achille Mbembe, Jonny Steinberg and Njabulo Ndebele.
McGregor (L.) & Nuttall (S.) eds. LOAD SHEDDING, writing on and over the edge of South Africa
250 pp., paperback, Johannesburg, 2009. R140
A collection of non-fiction pieces by authors, academics and journalists, including Imraan Coovadia, Deborah Posel, Achille Mbembe, Jonathan Hyslop, Jacob Dlamini, Pamila Gupta, Kgomotso Matsunyane, and Makhosazana Xaba. This book is a successor to the collection, "At Risk, writing on and over the edge of South Africa", published in 2007.

Journalist Liz McGregor is the author of "Khabzela: the life and times of a South African" and co-author, with Sarah Nuttall, of "At Risk".
Sarah Nuttall is a senior researcher ar WISER. She is the author of "Entanglement" and co-editor, with Liz McGregor, of "At Risk", with Achille Mbembe, of "Johannesburg", and with C. Coetzee of "Negotiating the Past".
Mda (Z.) SOMETIMES THERE IS A VOID, memoirs of an outsider
559 pp., hardback, d.w., Johannesburg, 2011. R260
South African playwright and novelist Zakes Mda is also a musician, film maker and beekeeper. He is also a professor of creative writing at Ohio University. His novels include "Ways of Dying" (M-Net Book Prize), "Heart of Redness" (Commonwealth Writers' Prize), "Cion", and "Black Diamond". His plays include "We Shall Sing for the Fatherland" and "The Hill' (Amstel Playwright of the Year Award). He has also published short stories, poetry and literary criticism.
Meredith (M.) MANDELA, a biography
652 pp., map, illus., paperback, Revised S.A. Edition, Johannesburg, (1997) 2010. R210
An updated edition of Martin Meredith's biography of Nelson Mandela.

Journalist, biographer and historian Martin Meredith is the author of many books on Africa, including "Diamonds, Gold and War: the making of South Africa", "Mugabe: power, plunder and the struggle for Zimbabwe", and "Coming to Terms: South Africa's Search for the Truth".
Metelerkamp (P.) comp. INGRID JONKER, beeld van 'n digterslewe
253 pp., 4to., illus., paperback, Reprint, Hermanus, (2003) 2007. R250
Journalist Petrovna Metelerkamp's interest in Ingrid Jonker began when she got to know some of the poet's close friends shortly after her suicide in 1965. This biography is based largely on extracts from her correspondence and conversations with her friends and colleagues.
Mokae (S) THE STORY OF SOL PLAATJE,
90 pp., illus., paperback, Kimberley, 2010. R195
A biography of Sol Plaatje.

Foreword by Kgalema Motlanthe.

"Sabata-mpho Mokae's expert sifting of the records, published and unpublished, reliably and wonderfully brings the entire saga to light in a form both manageable and enthralling." Stephen Gray

Journalist and poet Sabata-mpho Mokae works for the Diamond Fields Advertiser in Kimberely and is a research associate at the Sol Plaatje Museum.
Mokgatla (K.) LOVE ON DEATH ROW,
115 pp., paperback, (Glasgow), (2009). R150
Kathi Mokgatla worked for the Black Sash in the 1980s and 1990s and visited political prisoners on death row. On one of these visits she met Zonga Mokgatla, one of the Upington Four. In this book she tells the story of their relationship.
Mokoena (H.) MAGEMA FUZE, the making of a "kholwa" intellectual
338 pp., paperback, Pietermaritzburg, 2011. R238
Hlonipa Mokoena examines the life of Magema Fuze, a first-generation convert to Christianity, a printer, a "kholwa" intellectual, and the first Zulu author to write a book in Zulu, "Abantu Abamnyama Lapa Ngakona" (1922), in order to understand "what it meant for Fuze and his contemporaries to write as colonised subjects." from the introduction

"Hlonipha Mokoena's groundbreaking book on Fuze, written with incisive clarity and penetration, examines material from the vernacular press which has hardly been taken into consideration in the study of South African literature. This is a must-read for anyone interested in the turbulent colonial history of Natal and the emergence of black intellectuals in South Africa." Professor Jonathan Draper, School of Religion and Theology, University of KwaZulu-Natal

Hlonipha Mokoena is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Columbia Univesity.
Mphahlele (L.) CHILD OF THIS SOIL, my life as a freedom fighter
214 pp, paperback, Reprint, Johannesburg, (2002) 2010. R196
An autobiography by Letlapa Mphahlele, who was a cadre of the Pan Africanist Congress's Azanian People's Liberation Army (Apla).
Mqhayi (S.E.K.) ABANTU BESIZWE, historical and biographical writings, 1902-1944
625 pp., paperback, Johannesburg, 2009. R220
Edited and translated by Jeff Opland.

Author, poet, newspaper editor, historian and translator S.E.K.Mqhayi (1875-1945) was a great Xhosa praise poet and earned the title "Imbongi yesizwe jukelele", the poet of the whole nation. Although a great figure in the history of South African literature his achievement has never been fully appreciated as he wrote only in Xhosa. This new volume of Mqhayi's writings, edited and translated by Jeff Opland, with the assistance of Luvo Mabina, Koliswa Moropa, Nosisi Mpolweni and Abner Nyamende, contains 65 historical and biographical essays contributed to newspapers between 1902 and 1944, as orginally published, with facing English translations.

Jeff Opland is Visiting Professor of African Language Literatures at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and Research Fellow in the Department of African Languages, University of South Africa (UNISA).
Muller (C.A.) & Benjamin (S.B.) MUSICAL ECHOES, South African women thinking in jazz
348 pp., illus., paperback, Durham, 2011. R310
A biography of the South African jazz vocalist and composer Sathima Bea Benjamin. Born in 1936, she came to know and love American jazz and popular music, especially the voice of Billie Holiday. In 1962 she and South African pianist Dollar Brand (Abdullah Ebrahim) left South Africa together for Europe, and moved between Europe, New York City and South Africa until 1977, when they settled in New York and declared their support for the African National Congress. In New York Benjammin established her own record company and recorded her music independently from Ibrahim. She has released a dozen recordings including "Dedications", "Cape Town Love" and "Musical Echoes". In 2004 Thabo Mbeki honoured her with the Order of Ikhamanga Silver Award, in recognition of her musical artistry and anti-apartheid activism. "Musical Echoes" is based on twenty years of archival research and conversation between Benjamin and South African musicologist Carol Ann Muller.

Carol Ann Muller is Professor of Music at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the authour of "Focus: music of South Africa" and "South African Music: a century of traditions in transformation".
Naidoo (I.) ISLAND IN CHAINS, prisoner 885/63
296 pp., illus., paperback, Second S.A.Edition, Johannesburg, (2000) 2006. R110
Foreword by Mac Maharaj. Includes the postscript to the first edition by Albie Sachs and the foreword to the first edition by Francis Meli.

Indres Naidoo's account of the ten years he spent as a political prisoner on Robben Island. First published in the UK in 1982 this book was written together with Albie Sachs after Indres Naidoo had been released from prison in 1973 and gone into exile in 1977.
Naidoo (J.) FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE, a lifetime of political and social activism
393 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2010. R210
An autobiography by Jay Naidoo, the first General Secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). He served as Nelson Mandela's Minister responsible for the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), and later as Minister of Communi
Naidoo (P.) MORE FOOTPRINTS THAT SHAPED OUR WORLD,
208 pp., illus., paperback, Durban, 2009. R285
Veteran struggle activist Phyllis Naidoo remembers some of her comrades and friends, including John Matshikeza, Mike Lapsley, Brian Bunting, Dennis Goldberg, Dulcie September, Eli Wienberg, Helen Suzman, and Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge.
Naidu (S.) NAVI PILLAY, realising human rights for all
172 pp., paperback, London, 2010. R125
Navi Pillay was born in 1941 in Durban to descendants of Indian indentured labourers. In 1967 she was the first black woman in South Africa to set up a law practice and in 1995 Nelon Mandela nominated her as the first black female judge in the Supreme Court. In the same year she joined the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. In 2008 she was appointed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and in 2009 Forbes magazine voted her the 64th most powerful woman in the world.

Currently Sam Naidu is a Research Associate with the Department of English at Rhodes University. She lives in London.
Naudé (J.) MAKING THE CUT IN SOUTH AFRICA, a medico-political journey
172 pp., illus., paperback, London, 2007. R320
Renowned urologist and trnasplant surgeon Johan Naudé developed pioneering surgical procedures and revolutionized urological practice in Mozambique. At one time he shared the organ transplant unit at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town with Dr Chris Barnard. He was also involved in medical politics and struggled with issues such as racism, the treatment of prisoners, HIV/AIDS, and the place of affirmative action in medicine and the universities.
Neethling (E.) OF LOSS, HOPE & HEALING,
271 pp., paperback, Cape Town, 2010. R190
A memoir by Estelle Neethling who works for the South African Red Cross Society's Restoring of Family Links programme. Her involvement with displaced family members uncovers her own troubled family history.
Newman (S.), Piegl (P.) & Maughan (K.) LOLLY JACKSON, when fantasy becomes reality
257 pp., colour illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2012. R185
Emmanuel "Lolly" Jackson, founder of Teazers, an adult entertainment and revue bar, was murdered in May 2000. In this book the authors reveal a story of fast cars, money laundering, tax dodges, and mafia-style killings.

Sean Newman worked for Lolly Jackson as his media, marketing and public relations manager.
Karyn Maughan is a legal reporter who currently works for eNews.
Peter Piegl was the editor of Playboy South Africa.
Ngcelwane (N.) SALA KAHLE DISTRICT SIX, an African woman's perspective
136 pp., illus., paperback, Reprint, Cape Town, (1998) 2006. R65
Nonvuyo Ngcelwane describes the general social life in District Six, where she grew up. Her family were forcibly removed to Nyanga West in 1968. She now lives in Khayelitsha.
Ngenelwa (T.) THE DAY I DIED,
127 pp., paperback, Cape Town, 2007. R95
In October 2003 Thembelani Ngenelwa was shot five times from close range by gangsters, but managed to survive.
Nicol (M.) THE FIRM, a biography of Webber Wentzel Bowens
240 pp., illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2006. R250
Mike Nicol was commissioned by Webber Wentzel Bowens, one of the oldest legal firms in South Africa, to write this history of the firm's growth from its beginnings in 1868 in Fort Beaufort, its move to King William's Town and then, with the discovery of diamonds, to Johannesburg, where it has been based ever since. This authorised "biography" covers the history of the firm, the role it and its corporate clients played in the growth and development of Johannesburg and the country, and its transformation over the past 30 years into a multi-cultural firm. It also provides two recent examples of high-profile work handled by Webber Wentzel Bowens: the De Beers delisting and a case involving asbestosis handled by the litigation department.

Nicol has written four previous works of non-fiction, including "A Good-Looking Corpse", a history of Drum magazine, and "The Waiting Country", a memoir of the 1994 election, as well as several novels.
Nkabinde (N.Z.) BLACK BULL, ANCESTORS AND ME, my life as a lesbian sangoma
162 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2008. R120
Nkunzi Zandile Nkabinde was born in Soweto in 1975. She works as a sangoma and as a tour guide at Constitution Hill.
Nkoli (S.) TILL THE TIME OF TRIAL, the prison letters of Simon Nkoli
48 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, (Johannesburg), (2007). R95
A collection of edited extracts from gay activist Simon Nkoli's letters to his lover Roy Shepherd, written between 1985 and 1987 while he was in prison as one of the Delmas Treason trialists. Simon Nkoli died in 1998 of AIDS-related complications.
Noakes (T.) & Vlismas (M.) CHALLENGING BELIEFS, memoirs of a career
323 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2011. R220
Medical doctor Tim Noakes is the Discovery Health Professor of Exercise and Sports Science at the University of Cape Town and author of the book, "Lore of Running". He is the co-founder of the Sports Science Institute of South Africa, together with Morné du Plessis. In 2008 he was awarded the Order of Mapungubwe by the president of South Africa for his "excellent contribution to the field of sport and the science of exercise".
Ntantala (P.) A LIFE'S MOSAIC, the autobiography of Phyllis Ntantala
238 pp., paperback, Revised Edition, Johannesburg, (1992) 2009. R190
A new edition of Phyllis Ntantala's autobiography in which she describes her life in South Africa before she moved to North America. She writes about being the wife and mother of famous men - the pioneering scholar A.C.Jordan and the ANC activist and intellectual, Pallo Jordan, the current Minister of Arts and Culture.
Nyarota (G.) AGAINST THE GRAIN, memoirs of a Zimbabwean newsman
352 pp., maps, b/w & colour illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2006. R180
The memoirs of independent newspaper editor Geoffrey Nyarota, founding editor of the "Daily News". Nyarota was forced to flee Zimbabwe in 2003 to go into exile in the USA after years of harassment, intimidation, arrest, the bombing of his printing press and, finally, a contract on his life. The book also reads as a history of the first 25 years of the Republic of Zimbabwe and its decline under the Mugabe regime.

Nyarota was a Fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism and the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, both at Harvard University. He has received nine international journalism awards, including the Golden Pen of Freedom, presented by the World Association of Newspapers, and Unesco's Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Award.
O'Malley (P.) SHADES OF DIFFERENCE, Mac Maharaj and the struggle for South Africa
648 pp., hardback, d.w., New York, 2007. R240
Foreword by Nelson Mandela.

A South African of Indian descent, Mac Maharaj was a member of the South African Communist Party and the African National Congress for nearly forty years. He spent twelve years on Robben Island with Nelson Mandela and was Minister of Transport in Mandela's government before retiring in 1999.

Padraig O'Malley draws on extensive interviews with Maharaj over the last eleven years, as well as previously unavailable documentation, to tell Maharaj's story.

O'Malley is the John Joseph Moakley Professor for International Peace and Reconciliation at the McCormack Graduate School of Studies, University of Massachusetts, and a visiting professor of political studies at the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town. He edited the books "Uneven Paths: advancing democracy in Southern Africa" and "Southern Africa: the people's voices".
Otter (S.) KHAYELITSHA, Umlungu in a township
294 pp., map, b/w & colour illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2007. R110
Journalist Steven Otter's lived in Khayeltisha in 2002 and 2005.
He now lives in Cape Town and serves as the media officer for Patricia de Lille, leader of the Social Democrats.
Owen-Smith (G.) AN ARID EDEN, a personal account of conservation in the Kaokoveld
610 pp., maps, b/w & colour illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2011. R275
Conservationist Garth Owen-Smith's account of Namibia's "world-renowned community-based natural resource management programme" which he helped to found and develop.
Palmer (E.) RETURN TO CAMDEBOO, a century's Karoo foods and flavours
323 pp., map, paperback, Reprint, Johannesburg, (1992) 2011. R150
A reprint of Eve Palmer's book on food and cooking on the farm Cranmere in the Karoo, where she grew up. She records recipes and culinary observations from generations of cooks at Cranmere, and explores the activities of choosing, cooking and eating food created from local seasonal ingredients.
Palmer (E.) THE PLAINS OF CAMDEBOO, a classic book of the Karoo
348 pp., maps, illus., paperback, Reprint, Johannesburg, (1966) 2011. R150
A reprint of Eve Plamer's famous book on the Karoo, a vast semi-desert that extends across parts of the Western and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. Eve Palmer grew up on the farm Cranemere, situated on the Plains of Camdeboo, where her family have lived for generations.

"Here is a book which is a unique combination of history, natural history, autobiography and research in many fields" Sunday Times

"Eve Palmer recreates with lovely prose the magical landscape of the Karoo and the East Cape where she grew up...If you love a good read, and if you love South Africa, buy a copy of this immediately and settle down for an enchanting trip to the nostalgic past in the company of a fine soul, Eve Palmer!" Panayoti Kelaidis, Senior Curator, Denver Botanic Gardens
Papenfus (T.) PIK BOTHA AND HIS TIMES,
1029 pp., illus., paperback, Pretoria, 2010. R408
A biography of politician, diplomat and negotiator Pik Botha, National Party Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1977 to 1994. He retired in 1996 and joined the African National Congress in 2000.

Also available in Afrikaans.
Parsons (N.) CLICKO, the wild dancing Bushman
251 pp., map, illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2009. R195
A biography of Franz Taibosh (Clicko), who performed in circuses, music halls and freak-shows around the world in the 1920s and 1930s.

Neil Parsons is Professor of History at the University of Botswana. His previous books include "King Khama, Emperor Joe, and the Great White Queen: Victorian Britian through African eyes" (1998).
Paton (A.) ALAN PATON, selected letters
496 pp., map, illus., hardback, d.w., Van Riebeeck Society, Second Series No.40, Cape Town, 2009. R247
A collection of nearly 350 previously unpublished letters by Alan Paton, edited and introduced by Peter Alexander.

Peter Alexander is Professor of English at the University of New South Wales. His previous publications include "Roy Campbell: a critical biography" (1982), "William Plomer: a biography" (1989) and "Alan Paton: a biography" (1994).

Pauw (J.) DANCES WITH DEVILS, a journalist's search for truth
393 pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2006. R190
"This is not an autobiography...but rather a collection of events and encounters with extraordinary people in places where 'ordinary' people don't go. The journey stretches from the last, dark days of apartheid and its aberrations to the apocalyptic events in several African states around and since the dawn of the new millennium".

Jacques Pauw is the author of two previously published books: "In the Heart of the Whore: the story of apartheid's death squads" and "Into the Heart of Darkness: confessions of apartheid's assassins".

He was a founder member and assistant editor of the anti-apartheid Afrikaans newspaper "Vrye Weekblad" in 1988. In 1998 he was a founder member of the SABC's "Special Assignment" current affairs programme and is currently executive producer.
Pick (W.) THE SLAVE HAS OVERCOME,
292 pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2007. R170
The autobiography of William Pick, who grew up in Elsies River, a coloured suburb of Cape Town. He is Professor Emeritus and former Head of the School of Public Health at the University of the Witwatersrand. William Pick holds honorary professorships at the universities of Cape Town and the Western Cape and was a Fellow in International Health at Harvard University, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine. He was also Temporary Advisor to the World Health Organisation, and is a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa.
Pienaar (A.) THE GRIQUA'S APPRENTICE, ancient healing arts of the Karoo
143 pp., colour illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2009. R190
Translated from the Afrikaans by Catherine Knox.

In 2000 Afrikaans singer and actress Antoinette Pienaar met Oom Johannes Willemse and became his apprentice to learn from him about the healing power of Karoo herbs. Includes an index of herbs and their uses.
Profusely illustrated, with photographs of the Karoo landscape and indigenous herbs.

Also available in Afrikaans as "Kruitjie Roer My".
Pincott (S.) THE ELEPHANTS AND I, pursuing a dream in troubled Zimbabwe
280 pp., map, colour illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2009. R195
In 2001 Sharon Pincott moved from Australia to South Africa to live and work among elephants on land bordering Hwange National Park.

"Sharon Pincott has written a brave and passionate book about her work in Zimbabwe trying to protect the special herd called the 'Presidential Elephants'. Against all odds and her own safety she has stayed in this troubled country for over eight years trying to deal with poaching, land grabbing, unethical hunters and personal harassment. Sharon vividly portrays both the tragedies and the joys of her mission. Her writing about individual elephants and their behaviour is fascinating." Cynthia Moss, world-renowned elephant expert

"A moving account of Africa's power to attract, inspire, and change the course of one's life, giving it a new meaning. Sharon's story is of courage, adventure, love and commitment to the elephant of Zimbabwe." Kuki Gallmann

Pogrund (B.) HOW CAN MAN DIE BETTER, the life of Robert Sobukwe
419 pp., illus., paperback, Reprint, Johannesburg, (1990) 2006. R150
Robert Sobukwe, leader of the Pan-Africanist Congress, and journalist Benjamin Pogrund, former Deputy Editor of the Rand Daily Mail, were personal friends and this biography of Sobukwe is also the story of their relationship.
Polela (M.) MY FATHER, MY MONSTER,
256 pp., paperback, Johanneburg, 2011. R180
An autobiography by police spokesperson and former TV journalist McIntosh Polela, in which he tells of his mother's murder, abandonment by his father, and a childhood filled with brutal abuse.
Poplak (R.) JA, NO, MAN, a memoir of pop culture, girls, suburbia...and Apartheid
225 pp., paperback, Johannesburg, 2007. R160
Writer Richard Poplak was born in Johannesburg in 1973 and emigrated to Canada with his family in 1989, where he now lives. This is his first book.
Potgieter (D.) ROSE OF SOWETO, the Dingaan Thobela story
288 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2009. R140
The biography of boxer Dingaan Thobela. Born in Chiawelo, Soweto, in 1966 he went on to win three world titles and make boxing history by being the first boxer to win credible lightweight world titles and then move up five weight divisions to win a credible super middlewieght world title.

Writer, producer and journalist Deon Potgieter was the boxing writer for the Mail & Guardian newspaper from 1999-2004. In 1991 he received a meritorious award at the South African Boxing Awards for his contribution to uplifting the sport.
Raath (A.W.G.) NIKLAAS VAN RENSBURG - DIE SIENER,
431 pp., 4to., illus., paperback, Pretoria, 2011. R357
A biography of Niklaas van Rensburg (1884-1926), the Boer prophet whose predictions of future events made him a trusted companion of General de la Rey and President Steyn.

Andries Raath is senior professor in law at the University of The Free State.
Rall (M.) PEACEABLE WARRIOR, the life and times of Sol T Plaatje
314 pp., illus., hardback, d.w., Kimberley, 2003. R355
A biography of journalist, interpreter, author and politician Sol Plaatje (1876-1932), author of "Boer War Diary", "Native Life in South Africa" and "Mhudi".
Ramgobin (M.) PRISMS OF LIGHT, "within my memory"
204 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, East London, 2009. R115
The autobiography of struggle activist and politician Mewa Ramgobin, born in 1932 in Natal. In 1970 he founded the South African Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners and revived the Natal Indian Congress, becoming its president. In the 1980s he was treasurer of the United Democratic Front and has been an ANC Member of Parliament since 1994.

"This collected book of the experience of an extraordinary man of courage and principle supplants conventional ways of historical evidence in the phenomenon of personal growth in testing times. A reference work in the deep sense of the word; a vivid testimony of the spirit committed to justice." Nadine Gordimer
Rautenbach (E.) THE UNEXPLODED BOER,
240 pp., paperback, Cape Town, 2011. R190
In 1975 Erich Rautenbach was arrested for selling marijuana. In this memoir he recounts his experiences at the hands of drug squad policemen in Johannesburg and his time at Sterkfontein Sanatorium, where he was sent for observation.

Erich Rautenbach was born in Namibia and grew up in Cape Town. He currently lives near Vancouver, Canada.
Reeder (M.) A SANGOMA'S STORY, the calling of Elliot Ndlovu
199 pp., colour illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2011. R190
Journalist Melanie Reeder's biography of Eliot Ndlovu, a "sangoma" (spiritual diviner) and "inyanga" (healer who uses plants in medicinal remedies). He lives in the Drakensberg Mountains in KwaZulu-Natal, commuting between two consultation huts: his room in Thendela and a newly acquited hut at the luxury hotel and spa at Fordoun, where he consults to wealthy tourists. He is also a passionate conservationist who had been led to create sustainable gardens of the traditional herbs used by "inyangas".
Richings (G.) THE LIFE AND WORK OF CHARLES MICHELL,
224 pp., oblong 4to., maps, b/w & colour illus., hardback, d.w., Cape Town, 2006. R350
Charles Michell (1793 - 1851) came to the Cape in 1828 to take up his appointment as the first surveyor-general and civil engineer and spent the next 25 years building roads, bridges and mountain passes, including Sir Lowry's Michell's and Montagu Passes. He also designed lighthouses at Mouille Point, Cape Agulhas and Cape Recife. Included in the book are the majority of Michell's watercolours, sketches and drawings, published for the first time.
Rickard (C.) THANK YOU, JUDGE MOSTERT!,
253 pp., illus., hardback, d.w.,, Johannesburg, 2010. R270
The account of Judge Mostert's appointment heading a commission of inquiry into exchange control regulations in 1978. Despite warnings from then Prime Minister PW Botha not to disclose his findings, he released all the evidence that had been led before him, exposing leading National Party politicians in what became known as the Information Scandal.

"Anton Mostert's story should be told. Times have changed but its lesson remains for all who value freedom under law." Sir Sydney Kentridge QC, from his foreword

"Anton Mostert's life is an eloquent statement of the principles of judicial independence." Dr Mamphela Ramphele

Journalist Carmel Rickard was legal editor of the Sunday Times newspaper.

Robb (N.) THE SASH AND I, a personal memoir and a tribute to the Black Sash
119 pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2006. R180
Foreword by Mary Burton.

Noël Robb helped to establish the Black Sash in Cape Town in 1955 and was deeply involved in the organisation for fifty years. The Black Sash, a group of white suburban housewives and mothers, opposed apartheid legislation and alerted the white community to its devastating effects by wearing black sashes and standing or marching in protest. They also established advice offices to help black women cope with the pass laws.
Robbins (D.) PRIVATE EXCAVATIONS, exploring the roots of dogma
204 pp., paperback, Johannesburg, 2010. R175
David Robbins travels in Germany, Sweden and Norway seeking to understand the Pietist-inspired convictions that brought his Scandinavian ancestors as missionaries to the Zulu people in the 19th century. He also reflects more generally on the historical links between one-truth beliefs and totalitarianism and how this was reflected in the violence that erupted in KwaZulu-Natal in the late 1980s.

David Robbins' other books include the novels "Wasteland", "Inside the Last Outpost" and "Aspects of Africa", and the travel trilogy "The 29th Parallel", "Driving South" and "After the Dance".
Roberts (R.S.) NO COLD KITCHEN, a biography of Nadine Gordimer
733 pp., paperback, Johannesburg, 2005. R220
This biography, drawing upon "unpresedented access to Gordimer and her documents", charts the Nobel Laureate's life and times and discusses her work in depth.

Nadine Gordimer attempted to stop publiscation of this book.

Ronald Suresh Roberts was born in London, grew up in Trinidad, graduated from Balliol College Oxford and Harvard Law School, worked in New York and came to Johannesburg in 1994 as coordinator of an international election monitoring delegation. He is co-author of "Reconciliation Through Truth: a reckoning of apartheid's criminal governance" (1997).
Rogers (D.) THE LAST RESORT, a memoir of Zimbabwe
312 pp., map, paperback, 2009, Jhbg. R195
Award-winning journalist and travel writer Douglas Rogers' memoir about his parents' daily struggles to hold onto their farm in present day Zimbabwe.

"Do we really need another memoir by a white Zimbabwean? The surprising answer is yes, if it's as good as Douglas Rogers' 'The Last Resort'". Alex Perry, Time magazine

"I read it in a single sitting. I loved it." Rian Malan
Sampson (A.) THE ANATOMIST, the autobiography of Anthony Sampson
283 pp., illus., hardback, d.w., First S.A.Edition, Johannesburg, 2008. R225
Journalist and author Anthony Sampson was born in England in 1926. He came to South Africa in 1951 to edit Drum magazine and later joined the Observer in London. He returned to South Africa many times, attending the Rivonia trial. Later, Nelson Mandela asked him to write his biography, published as "Mandela" in 1999. Sampson died in 2004 and this autobiography was completed by his wife, Sally.
Saul (J.S.) REVOLUTIONARY TRAVELLER, freeze-frames from a life
436 pp., paperback, Winnipeg & Johannesburg, 2009. R250
A memoir by John Saul in which he links together a series of his own occasional papers written over the years to trace his career as an anti-apartheid activist and liberation support movement activist in both Canada and southern Africa. He also recounts the history of the various struggles in which he has been involved.

John Saul's other books include "Recolonization and Resistance: southern Africa in the 1990s", "Namibia's Liberation Struggle: the two-edged sword", "The Next Liberation Struggle: capitalism, socialism and democracy in southern Africa", and "Decolonization and Empire: contesting the rhetoric and reality of resubordination in southern Africa and beyond".
Schoeman (K.) TITAAN, 'n roman oor die lewe van Michelangelo Buonarroti
727 pp., paperback, Cape Town, 2009. R310
Karel Schoeman's biographical novel, in Afrikaans, on the life of painter, sculptor and architect Michelangelo Buonarroti.
Schoeman (K.) RIVIERELAND, twee besoeke aan Nederland
398 pp., map, hardback, d.w., Pretoria, 2011. R250
Karel Schoeman describes two visits to the Netherlands, one in 1999 and a longer stay in 2003 while doing research on the VOC-period at the Cape.

Text in Afrikaans.

Karel Schoeman is the author of many works of fiction and non-fiction, including "Stamland: 'n reis deur Nederland" (1999).
Schoeman (K.) ed. DIE BOSMANS VAN DRAKENSTEIN, persoonlike dokumente van die familie Bosman van Drakenstein, 1705-1842
393 pp., paperback, Pretoria, 2010. R250
In 1707 the Dutchman Hermanus Bosman was employed as sick-comforter to the Drakenstein community. He married the daughter of a French Huguenot. Over the next hundred years he and his family became prominent members of the district of Paarl and Stellenbosch.

Karel Schoeman has transcribed, edited and annotated about a hundred letters, other personal writings, poems and documents related to this family.

Text in Afrikaans.
Scott (R.) TWENTY CHICKENS FOR A SADDLE, the story of an African childhood
253 pp., paperback, Reprint, Johannesburg, (2008) 2009. R145
Robyn Scott spent her childhood in Botswana. She now lives in London but works regularly in Africa.

"Both a wonderful memoir of an exotic childhood and a striking portrait of one of the world's most beguiling countries. A gem of a book." Alexander McCall Smith

"The nearest thing you will get to Gerald Durrell's 'My Family and Other Animals' in Africa and it is just as enchanting" Giles Foden

Seekings (J.C.) RUDD, the search for a Cape Merchant
210 pp., illus., paperback, Bradford-on-Avon, 2009. R225
John Cormac Seekings' story of researching the life of Charles Dunell Rudd (1844-1916), Cecil John Rhodes' main business associate. Rudd and Rhodes became partners in 1872, working diamond claims in Kimberley and dealing in diamonds. In 1880, together with others, they formed De Beers Mining Company. In 1887 they registered Gold Fields of South Africa Ltd. In 1888 Rudd secured an agreement to the mineral rights of Mashonaland and Matabeleland from Lobengula, King of Matebeleland, an arrangement known as "The Rudd Concession".
Shaw (G.) BELIEVE IN MIRACLES, South Africa from Malan to Mandela - and the Mbeki era, a reporter's story
148 pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2007. R135
Journalist Gerald Shaw's memoir covers over 50 years of South African history, from the first apartheid government until the birth of democracy in 1994.

Gerald Shaw has been writing for South African newspapers since 1954 and worked for 30 years on the Cape Times. He is currently a freelance journalist and researcher.
Sisulu (E.) WALTER & ALBERTINA SISULU, in our lifetime
672 pp., illus., paperback, Second Editon Reprint, Cape Town, (2002) 2006. R210
Foreword by Nelson Mandela.

Elinor Sisulu is a freelance writer and editor. "In the late 1980s she worked for the International Labour Organisation in Lusaka, to provide programs of asistance to the ANC, PAC and SWAPO".
Slingsby (P.) & Johns (A.) T.P.STOKOE, the man, the myths, the flowers
151 pp., maps, b/w & colour illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2009. R318
A biography of Thomas Pearson Stokoe, the mountain climber and botanical explorer who discovered 150 plants in the Cape Floristic Kingdom previously unknown to science. Thirty Cape flowers and the colophone beetle are named after him.

T.P.Stokoe was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1868. He emigrated to Cape Town in 1911 where he lived until his death in 1959.

Foreword by John Rourke, President of the Botanical Society.
Slovo (G.) EVERY SECRET THING, my family, my country
366 pp., illus., paperback, Revised Edition, London, (1997) 2009. R175
A revised edition of Gillian Slovo's "family memoir", with a new introduction. The daughter of Joe Slovo and Ruth First, Gillian Slovo reconstructs the truth of her parents' relationship and her turbulent childhood, recalling the events that surrounded her family's persecution and exile and her mother's murder in 1982 by letter bomb.

Smith (G.) A CAPTAIN'S DIARY 2007 - 2009,
243 pp., colour illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2009. R175
Captain Graeme Smith's diary, beginning with the South African cricket team's arrival in Pakistan in October 2007 until Australia's departure from South Africa in April 2009.
Smith (J.) & Tromp (B.) HANI, a life too short, a biography
338 pp., paperback, Johannesburg, 2009. R190
A biography of Chris Hani, Communist Party leader and Umkhonto we Sizwe chief of staff, who was assassinated in 1993.

Janet Smith is an excecutive editor of The Star and Saturday Star and a special writer at Independent newspapers.
Beauregard Tromp is a senior reporter at The Star newspaper. He was awarded the Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Journalist of the Year in 2009.
Snyman (D.) THE LONG WAY HOME, a journey through South Africa
176 pp., map, paperback, Cape Town, 2012. R175
Travel writer Dana Snyman describes three trips he made through South Africa between January 2010 and June 2011 to visit his ailing father - and to "explain the country and my place in it to myself" from the author's note

"A very fine book about love, loss and coming to terms with Africa." Rian Malan, author of "My Traitor's Heart"
Sparks (A.) & Tutu (M.A.) TUTU, the authorised portrait
118 pp., 4to., b/w & colour illus., hardback, d.w., Auckland & Johannesburg, 2011. R350
Foreword by Bono.
Introduction by his Holiness the Dalai Lama.

A biography of Desmond Tutu by South African journalist Allister Sparks, authorised by Desmond Tutu, and including over forty interviews with close family, friends, colleagues, comrades and critics, conducted by Tutu's daughter Reverend Mpho Tutu.
Spicer (P.) THE TEMPTRESS, the scandalous life of Alice, Countess de Janzé
308 pp., illus., hardback, d.w., London, 2010. R185
A biography of American heiress Alice de Janzé.

"In Paul Spicer, the notorious American expatriate and radiant beauty Alice de Janzé has finally met her match. Like Byron, she was 'mad, bad and dangerous to know', one of those Pilgrim Daughters who travelled abroad and enriched the European aristocracy, becoming a social celebrity in Paris during the early 1920s.
With the dedication and zest of a private detective, Paul Spicer pursues her into the ironically named 'Happy Valley' of equatorial East Africa, where her melodramatic life ended in violence and tragedy. She appears like one of those extreme characters from the pages of Evelyn Waugh and Scott Fitzgerald. But, as Paul Spicer shows, truth is again stranger than fiction." Sir Michael Holroyd

"Spicer has brought an extraordinary character out of the shadows" James Fox, author of 'White Mischief"
St John (L.) RAINBOW'S END, a memoir of childhood, war & an African farm
277 pp., maps, paperback, Reprint, London, (2007) 2008. R130
Journalist and author Lauren St John was born in Kadoma, Zimbabwe (formerly Gatooma) in 1966. She spetn her childood at Rainbow's End, a farm on the banks of the Umfuli River, near Gadzema. After studying journalism in Harare she moved to London, where she lives.
Steyn-Barlow (C.) PUBLISH AND BE DAMNED, two decades of scandals
368 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2006. R240
Chris Steyn-Barlow's account of her work as a journalist at the Sunday Tribune, The Citizen, the Rand Daily Mail, The Star, the Cape Times, The Times of London and as editor of the Independent Newspapers Investigative Unit and the political and criminal scandals that she covered: the death of National Party MP John Wiley, the story of renegade policeman André Stander, the campaign to discredit Allan Boesak by exposing his affair with Di Scott, Samora Machel's death in a plane crash, the Westdene bus accident, the visit by a group of Afrikaans academics and politicians to the ANC in East Berlin in 1988, and many more.
Szczurek (K.M.) comp. & Heyns (M.) ed. ENCOUNTERS WITH ANDRÉ BRINK,
223 pp., paperback], Cape Town, 2010. R200
A collection of essays published to celebrate André Brink's seventy-fifth birthday.

Contributors include Naas Steenkamp, Braam de Vries, Koos Human, Tim Couzens, Ariel Dorfman, Per Wästberg, Elleke Boehmer, Jakes Gerwel, Nadine Gordimer, J.M.Coetzee, Antjie Krog, Sindiwe Magona, Alberto Manguel and Bodil Malmsten.
Szczurek (K.M.) ed. TOUCH, stories of contact by South African writers
226 pp., hardback, d.w., Cape Town, 2009. R190
Twenty-two South African writers interpret the theme of touch.

Includes work by Damon Galgut, Henrietta Rose-Innes, André Brink, Imraan Coovadia, Zoë Wicomb, Jonny Steinberg, Ivan Vladislavic, Elleke Boehmer, Maureen Isaacson, Nadine Gordimer and Anne Landsman.
Terre'Blanche (E.) & van der Merwe (A.) EUGENE TERRE'BLANCHE, my storie
296 pp., paperback, Cape Town, 2010. R220
An autobiography by Eugène Terre'Blanche, leader of the Afrikaanse Weerstands Beweging (AWB), told to Amos van der Merwe. Eugene Terre'Blanche was murdered in April 2010.

Text in Afrikaans.
Thomas (C.) TANGLING THE LION'S TALE, Donald Card, from apartheid cop to crusader for justice
276 pp., illus., hardback, d.w., East London, 2007. R265
The story of Donald Card, a former police officer and a security policeman who, after meeting Steve Biko, came to a new understanding of South African politics and committed himself to the struggle for democracy.
Till (C.) & Potenza (E.) curators MANDELA, character, comrade, leader, prisoner, negotiator, statesman
125 pp., oblong 4to., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Johanneburg, (2010). R150
Catalogue of the exhibition on the life and times of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, produced as part of his 90th birthday celebrations at the Apartheid Museum in 2008. In 2009 this exhibition was installed as the permanent exhibition at the Nelson Mandela Museum in Mthatha. It explores Nelson Mandela's life through six themes - character, comrade, leader, prisoner, negotiator and statesman. In each theme the narrative is presented through images and text supported by films, photographs and displays of original artifacts.
Todd (J.G.) THROUGH THE DARKNESS, a life in Zimbabwe
460 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2007. R200
Judith Todd is the daughter of Sir Garfield Todd, a former prime minister of colonial Southern Rhodesia and later appointed a senator by Robert Mugabe. Jailed and then exiled by Ian Smith's regime Judith Todd returned to Zimbabwe in 1980. She was director of the Zimbabwe Project Trust, a local development agency. An outspoken critic of the Mugabe regime, she was stripped of her citizenship in 2003. She now lives in Cape Town. She is the author of "Rhodesia: an act of treason" and "The Right to Say No".
Tracey (C.G.) ALL FOR NOTHING?, my life remembered
327 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Harare, 2009. R230
Farmer, entrepreneur, businessman and sanctions-buster C.G.Tracey was involved in different ways in the development of Zimbabwe. In 2002 he lost his farm under Robert Mugabe's land reform programme.

"We need people like C.G.Tracey. People who are dedicated to the cause of unity and who know no colour bar." Senator Dr Isaac Samuriwo
Trapido (A.) HUNGER FOR FREEDOM, the story of food in the life of Nelson Mandela
216 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2008. R225
"This book explores Madiba's life and his hunger for freedom in a literal and metaphorical manner. What follows is not so much a cookbook as a gastro-political history with recipes. Food has provided the backdrop and occasionally the primary cause for momentous personal and political events in Madiba's life". Anna Trapido

Contains recipes from and photographs of Madiba's family and friends.

Anna Trapido trained an an anthropologist at King's College Cambridge and completed her PhD in the Department of Community Health at the University of the Witwatersrand. She qualified as a chef at the Prue Leith Chef's Academy in Centurion and is now responsible for the Pan African cuisine programme at the Prue Leith Chef's Academy. She is co-author of "To the Banqueting House: African cuisine - an epic journey", which won the Golf Medal at the World Gourmand Cookbook Awards in 2007.
Tsholoba (M.E.) IN AND OUT OF ROBBEN ISLAND PRISON,
146 pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2010. R159
An autobiography of Menziwa Esau Tsholoba, born in 1936 in a small town between Queenstown and Aliwal North. As a young man he joined the Pan Africanist Congress, was arrested in 1963, sentenced to three years imprisonment for being a member of a banned organisation and sent to Robben Island.
Tsvangirai (M.) & Bango (T.W.) MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, at the deep end
563 pp., map, colour illus., hardback, d.w., Johannesburg, 2011. R280
The autobiography of Morgan Tsvangirai, founding member and leader of Zimbabwe's main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Written in collaboration with his spokesperson, journalist and editor T William Bango.
Turton (A.R.) SHAKING HANDS WITH BILLY, the private memoirs of Anthony Richard Turton
534 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Durban, 2010. R370
Anthony Richard Turton describes his work as an soldier in three South African Security Force structures, the 2nd Light Horse Regiment, 81 Armoured Brigade, the Chief Directorate Covert Operations of the National Intelligence Service, and the South African Secret Service. In 1997 he applied to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Register for Reconciliation, a register for those who had no need to apply for amnesty but wished to apologize for not making their voices heard in the past. He now works as a scientist specialising in water resource management.
Vahed (G.) & Waetjen (T.) comps. DEAR AHMEDBHAI, DEAR ZELEIKHABEHN, the letters of Zuleikha Mayat and Ahmed Kathrada, 1979-1989
282 pp., illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2009. R165
A collection of letters that chronicles the development of a friendship between Ahmed Kathrada, convicted of treason and serving out a life sentence on Robben Island, and Zuleikha Mayat, a freelance writer, community organiser and editor of the cookbook "Indian Delights".
van der Ross (D.) A BLOW TO THE HOOP, the story of my life and times
236 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2010. R165
The autobiography of Richard van der Ross, Rector of the University of the Western Cape from 1975 to 1986. After a term as Member of the Western Cape Legislature he served as South Africa's Ambassador to Spain and Andorra.

Foreword by Helen Zille.
van Onselen (C.) THE FOX AND THE FLIES, the world of Joseph Silver, racketeer and psychopath
646 pp., maps, illus., paperback, paperback, Reprint, London, (2007) 2008. R163
The biography of psychopath, gangster, brothel-owner, pimp and trafficker in women Joseph Silver, born Joseph Lis in Poland in 1868. During his research van Onselencame to the conclusion that Joseph Silver was Jack the Ripper.

Biographer Charles van Onselen's earlier works on the social history of southern Africa won him the American African Studies Association's Herskovits Prize and the Institute of Commonwealth Studies' Trevor Reese Memorial Prize. He won the Sunday Times Alan Paton Award for non-fiction for "The Seed is Mine, the life of Kas Maine, a South African sharecropper, 1894-1985", published in 1996. He is also the author of "New Babylon, New Nineveh, everyday life on the Witwatersrand, 1886-1914, published in 1982.











































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































The biography of Joseph Silver - brothel-owner, pimp and trafficker in 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van Wyk (C.) SHIRLEY, GOODNESS & MERCY, a childhood memoir
313 pp., paperback, Reprint, Johannesburg, (2004) 2005. R90
Novelist, short story writer and poet Chris van Wyk was born in Riverlea in 1957. This memoir is about growing up in the coloured townships of Newclare, Coronationville and Riverlea during the apartheid era.
In 1979 he won the Olive Schreiner Award for his collection of poems, "It Is Time to Go Home". In 1977 he was awarded the Sanlam Prize for the best South African short story for a story entitled "Magic".
van Wyk (C.) EGGS TO LAY, CHICKENS TO HATCH, a memoir
294 pp., paperback, Johannesburg, 2010. R195
Chris van Wyk's second memoir about growing up in Riverlea, a coloured township outside Johannesburg in the 1950s, and his friendship with their Zulu housekeeper, Agnes. The first memoir, "Shirley, Goodness & Mercy" was published in 2004.

"Van Wyk's eggs are Fabergé, and his chickens are story-morsels that melt in the mouth and stay in the heart." Darryl Accone, Mail & Guardian Books editor

"Alert - this is no mere sequel to 'Shirley, Goodness & Mercy'. Chris van Wyk's recall, his wonderful use of language and his sense of purpose give an entirely different dimension to time, circumstance and interpersonal relationships in Riverlea. These are tales of joy and sadness rivetingly told - and always, the durable truths are buried in the title itself." Trevor Manuel

Writer Chris van Wyk was born in 1957 and educated at Riverlea High School. He lives in Johannesburg.
van Wyk (C.) DAAR'S 'N HOENDER WAT 'N EIER NOE KAN LE, 'n memoir
291 pp., paperback, Johannesburg, 2011. R195
Originally published in 2010 in English as "Eggs to Lay, Chickens to Hatch, a memoir".

Translated into Afrikaans by Kirby van der Merwe.

Chris van Wyk is also the author of "Shirley, Goodness & Mercy, a childhood memoir" (2004 and "It is Time to Go Home", a collection of poems for which he was awarded the 1979 Olive Schreiner Prize.
Varty (D.) & Buchanan (M.) THE FULL CIRCLE, to Londolozi and back again - a family's journey
223 pp., maps, b/w & colour illus., hardback, d.w., Johannesburg, 2008. R230
The story of how conservation pioneer Dave Varty turned his family's bush camp on the border of the Kruger National Park into the famous Londolozi Private Game Reserve, as told to Molly Buchanan.
Vassen (R.D.) ed. LETTERS FROM ROBBEN ISLAND, a selection of Ahmed Kathrada's prison correspondence, 1964-1989
300 pp., illus., paperback, Second Edition, Cape Town, (1999) 2000. R106
Foreword by Nelson Mandela. Introduction by Walter Sisulu.

Ahmed Kathrada spent 26 years on Robben Island, having been sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rivonia Trial. This book is a collection of 103 of the more than 900 letters he wrote from the Island.
Venter (A.J.) BARREL OF A GUN, a war correspondent's misspent moments in combat
503 pp., map, illus., hardback, d.w., Drexel Hill & Newbury, 2010. R350
War correspondent, filmmaker and author Al J. Venter's memoirs. During his career, spanning more than four decades, Al Venter covered the Rhodesian bush war, the wars in Angola and Mozambique and the border war in South Africa, as well as many other conflicts around the globe. His other books include "War in Angola", "How South Africa Built Six Atom Bombs", "Africa at War", "The Chopper Boys: helicopter warfare in Africa" and "War Dog: fighting other peoples' wars".
Venter (B.) IN PURSUIT OF A DREAM, Bill Venter and the Altron story
404 pp., b/w & colour illus., hardback, d.w., Johannesburg, 2009. R315
Entrepreneur Bill Venter was born in 1934 to a working class South African family. At 16 his father enrolled him in an apprenticeship as a post office engineering technician. He went on to create Altron, the largest technology corporation in South Africa. He lives in Johannesburg.
von Hirschberg (M.W.) TREVOR LLOYD WADLEY, genius of the tellurometer
112 pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2009. R180
A biography of Trevor Lloyd Wadley, the South African electronics engineer who invented the tellurometer, an instrument for measuring land, in 1954.
Wessels (H.) PK VAN DER BYL, African statesman
240 pp., illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2010. R265
Foreword by Ron Reid-Daly.

A biography of Pieter Kenyon van der Byl (1923-1999), one of the leading agitators for the Unilateral Declaration of Independence for Rhodesia. Born in Cape Town he moved to Rhodesia in 1950 to manage family tobacco farming interests. A member of Ian's Smith's Rhodesian Front, he served as Foreign Minister of Rhodesia and as Minister of Defense.



White (J.) & Ray (C.) IN BLACK AND WHITE, the Jake White story
342 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2007. R190
The autobiography of controversial Jake White, Springbok rugby coach from 2004. The team he coached won World Cup in 2007.
Wildschut (G.) CHILDREN OF THE HARTS AND TYNE,
298 pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, (Kimberley), 2011. R230
Gladys Wildschut's family history.
Williams (P.) SOLDIER BLUE,
407 pp., paperback, Cape Town, 2008. R185
A memoir about growing up during the Rhodesian bush war of the 1970s.

Paul Williams was born in England and grew up in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. In 2001 his novel, "The Secret of Old Mukiwa" won the Zimbabwe International Book Fair Prize for young adult fiction. He is Professor of English and Humanities at South Florida Community College.
Wilson (J.M.) ISAAC ROSENBERG, the making of a great war poet, a new life
468 pp., b/w & colour illus., hardback, d.w., London, 2007. R385
Poet Isaac Rosenberg (1890-1918) spent eight months in Cape Town, from June 1914 to February 1915, where he was stimulated "to produce more verse than at any other period of his life." Jean Moorcroft Wilson

Includes an interesting account of Jewish immigrant society and District Six, as well as colour reproductions of portraits Rosenberg painted while in Cape Town.
Wilson (L.) BIKO, a Jacana pocket biography
160 pp., illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2011. R100
A brief biography of Black Consciousness Movement leader Steve Biko, outlining the role he played in the transformation of South Africa and his relevance today.

Writer and documentary filmmaker Lindy Wilson met Steve Biko when he was banned and has interviewed many of Biko's colleagues and friends.
Wood (F.) in colloboration with Lewis (M.) THE EXTRAORDINARY KHOTSO, millionaire medicine man from Lusikisiki
368 pp., maps, b/w & colour illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2007. R220
A biography of the herbalist Khotso Sethuntsa, who remained famous and feared throughout South African and beyond even after his death in 1972. Khotso, who claimed to be in spiritual contact with Paul Kruger, was best-known for his remedy for sexual potency and a terrifying procedure for acquiring wealth.

Includes photographs by Obie Oberholzer.

Felicity Wood lectures in the English Department at the University of Fort Hare.
Woods (K.J.) THE KEVIN WOODS STORY, in the shadow of Mugabe's gallows
304 pp. map, b/w & colour illus., hardback, d.w., Cape Town, 2007. R265
Zimbabwean Kevin Woods was a high-ranking agent in Robert Mugabe's intelligence agency while working for the apartheid government. He assisted in a South African Defence Force attack on ANC facilities in Harare in 1986. He also planned the 1988 bombing of a Bulawayo ANC facility, for which he was arrested, charged and sentenced to death for murder and sabotage. He spent 18 years in prison, five of them in solitary confinement on death row, before being pardoned by Mugabe and released in 2006.
Wylie (D.) SHAKA, a Jacana pocket biography
155 pp., map, paperback, Johannesburg, 2011. R100
A short biography of Shaka in which Dan Wylie reassesses all the earliest written sources to produce an image of Shaka very different from the popular stereotype. Dan Wylie, who teaches English at Rhodes University, has written two more substantial books on Shaka, "Savage Delight: white myths of Shaka" (2000) and "Myth of Iron: Shaka in history" (2006).