Classic South African Reads I

The World That Made Mandela

By Luli Callinicos

Bringing history and geography together, this is a large coffee-table-sized book filled with archival and contemporary images, telling the story of Nelson Mandela and his struggle for SA's freedom through the many places associated with his life. From his birthplace in Qunu to the Old Fort in Johannesburg, where he was held prisoner (and which is now the site of the Constitutional Court), from Soweto to Mpumalanga, the images provide a wonderful historical context for SA today, combining to form a unique "heritage trail".

Long Walk to Freedom

By Nelson Mandela

The towering figure of South Africa's liberation struggle began this autobiography in prison, having pages in tiny writing smuggled out by comrades. When he came out of jail in 1990, and went on to become SA's first black president in 1994, he continued the work, and it is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand Mandela, the times he has lived through and the war he waged for freedom. He also authorised a biography by Anthony Sampson (see box right), which provides much useful extra information and differing perspectives.

Tomorrow Is Another Country

By Allister Sparks

Sparks is a veteran South African journalist and author of The Mind of South Africa. His account of the transition from apartheid to democracy is one of several, but undoubtedly the best. It describes, from behind the scenes, the process that began with tentative contact between the sworn enemies, moving through the unbanning of the liberation movements and the complex negotiations that led to SA's first fully democratic election in 1994.

A History of South Africa

By Frank Welsh

The revised and updated edition of this comprehensive one-volume history of South Africa goes beyond the achievement of democracy to look at the problems facing the new society in the period since Nelson Mandela ended his term as SA's first black president. The book also goes back into SA history, and explains the country's ethnic mix - though it has also been criticised for pro-Afrikaner attitudes. Judge for yourself.

The Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902

By Fransjohan Pretorius

By the end of the 19th century, South Africa was partly a British colony and partly a pair of independent Afrikaner republics. British imperialism and capitalist expansionism meant that the independence of the republic (particularly the gold-rich Transvaal) would come under threat. In 1899, the second Ango-Boer War, which made the earlier conflict seem negligible, broke out. In some ways, it was the first modern war, one that saw the invention of trench warfare, concentration camps and guerrilla fighting, as the highly organised British army squared up against the motley band of farmer-hunter-soldiers that made up the loose-knit Boer army. It was also a conflict that defined the political future of a united South Africa. Pretorius gives the best outline of the war, focusing on aspects (such as the participation of large numbers of black people) that were hitherto ignored.

Taken from the article '25 Classic South African Reads' posted by SouthAfrica.info

Rainbow Reader & Riters will post more classic reads in the next few days.