Layout Table~~~~360~360~~

Ficton~Southern Africa~~~360~4598~Southern Africa%27s works of ficton.~

Fall of the Leaf - PC Feller~Fall of the Leaf is a sensitive and faithful representation of the lives of three white English-speaking men, from the war years to the present time. The epoch broadly covers sixty years of South African history; it encompasses the pre-apartheid years of English cultural dominance, the apartheid period under Afrikaner Nationalist rule and the succeeding years of democracy under the ANC government. The fulcrum and meeting point of the novel is a fifty-year school reunion.
ISBN 0958489041, Paperback. 234 x 153mm, 312pp~ISBN 0958489041, Paperback.
234 x 153mm, 312pp

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....Fall of the Leaf is a sensitive and faithful representation of the lives of three white English-speaking men, from the war years to the present time. The epoch broadly covers sixty years of South African history; it encompasses the pre-apartheid years of English cultural dominance, the apartheid period under Afrikaner Nationalist rule and the succeeding years of democracy under the ANC government. The fulcrum and meeting point of the novel is a fifty-year school reunion.
....Fall of the Leaf is an engaging novel, honest in its reflection of an English-speaking culture which, for all its instability, its stoic values becoming increasingly outmoded, continues to influence South Africans today. It is bound to appeal to English-speaking readers, particularly, but not exclusively, of an earlier generation, and will speak also to all those who have, consciously or unconsciously, adopted homegrown English values, or the English language. The novel is written with assurance, affection and with empathy for those caught up in the web of life; and in its depiction of male/female relationships, from the latter days of school into maturity and beyond, it reveals a sureness of touch that is convincing and edifying.
- Prof. Alan Weinberg, Dept. of English, University of South Africa


... with convincing and compelling portraits of the main characters, the author places us in their consciousness, and allows us to revisit the strange country of the past through their rich perceptions and reconstructions. The novel mixes present-tense action and dialogue with imaginary and recalled, real, events in which the past is brought to life and pressed into a highly entertaining engagement with the present.
- Prof. C. MacKenzie, Chair: Dept. of English, University of Johannesburg~Fall of the Leaf Fall of the Leaf - PC Feller|ISBN 0958489041|~360~11091~~

Over the Rainbow: The first 10 years of South Africa's democracy in cartoons - Stidy~On the 10th anniversary of South Africa's democratic miracle comes an entertaining and informative cartoon collection that takes a satirical look at the fascinating first decade of the Rainbow Nation through the eyes of Stidy, one of the country's leading political cartoonists. Over the Rainbow sweeps readers via 400 captioned cartoons through the first decade of the new South Africa, its many ups and downs, defining moments and colourful characters captured hilariously in the pen and ink drawings and wry comments that define Stidy's work.
ISBN: 0-620-31408-7 245x 270mm, 152pp~ISBN: 0-620-31408-7 Softcover
245x 270mm, 152pp

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One of a handful of top South African political cartoonists, Stidy (Anthony Stidolph) is the cartoonist for one of the country's oldest newspapers, The Witness in Pietermaritzburg, which is Over the Rainbow's publisher.

The Witness has published one other collection of Stidy's work, Riding the Rainbow in 1996. The Zimbabwean-born, University of Natal educated cartoonist has also illustrated more than 20 books, including Gus Silber's It Takes Two to Toyi-Toyi, and his cartoons were featured in the commemorative collection Nelson Mandela: A life in cartoons.

In a classy 245 by 270 centimetre landscape format, soft-covered with fold-in flaps, Over the Rainbow runs a selection of Stidy's immense bodyof work chronologically in chapters as well as clustered in themes that describe major news and issues of the time. Remember the 1994 election, Desmond Tutu's TRC, Nelson Mandela's marriage, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela's plummets from grace, the Alan Boesak and Eugene Terre'Blanche trials, Thabo Mbeki on AIDS, etc..~Over the Rainbow|ISBN 0620314087|~360~10858~~

The Plunderers - Jan Breytenbach~Col. Jan Breytenbach is a legend in both South African history and military (he founded the South African Paratroopers, 32 Battalion and the Recces). The Plunderers examines ivory and rhino horn smuggling (and on a smaller scale drugs) between Angola and South Africa during Savimbi's reign. It's about corruption in the upper echelons of both countries in the name of the "war effort", and how elephants and rhino are plundered almost to extinction in the Cuando Cubango (border of Namibia and Botswana). The main character is a game ranger who is eventually forced to become a fugitive and goes into hiding with a small group of bushmen, who launch attacks on Unita camps to try and stop the poaching. He remains in contact with a recce operator who eventually goes public. It looks at South African business and American involvement. It is the fight of one man and his trusty bushman tracker who are brave enough to stand up and be counted. He goes even further and highlights the different perspectives in the way nature is viewed by the bushmen and by the western world.
ISBN 1-919874-01-1 Paperback. Size - 222x152mm, 450 pages .
~~The Plunderers|ISBN 1919874011|~360~1492~Jan Breytenbach~

The Border - AJ Brooks~The Border is a racy drama set against the backdrop of southern Africa’s border wars in the 1980’s. This is a tale of intertwined lives; hatred, trauma and the horror of war forcing each to strangle some sense, some purity out of the world they now find themselves in while teetering on the border of their own sanity. An ordinary soldier fights for survival. A family torn apart by the brutality of war. Two women’s struggle to overcome the horrors they have experienced at the hands of the terrorists. A power-hungry brigadier whose personal failures cause untold disaster for his family and for the soldiers in whose hands they place their lives. But among the death and dust Corporal Kent finds himself enigmatically drawn toward a woman recently widowed by the very insurgents he fights against.~30 Degrees
ISBN 978-1-920143-10-7
Softback: 234 x 153mm
304pages
April 2007

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The Border is a racy drama set against the backdrop of southern Africa's border wars in the 1980's. This is a tale of intertwined lives; hatred, trauma and the horror of war forcing each to strangle some sense, some purity out of the world they now find themselves in while teetering on the border of their own sanity. An ordinary soldier fights for survival. A family torn apart by the brutality of war. Two women's struggle to overcome the horrors they have experienced at the hands of the terrorists. A power-hungry brigadier whose personal failures cause untold disaster for his family and for the soldiers in whose hands they place their lives. But among the death and dust Corporal Kent finds himself enigmatically drawn toward a woman recently widowed by the very insurgents he fights against.

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Extracts

"There was an odd combination of anxiety and reluctant anticipation prevalent among the new troops as they made final preparations. Their dismay was evident as the section leader discarded most of the food-carrying compartments and altered the webbing to carry at least seven water bottles and as many magazine pouches. The harsh reality of Ovamboland thwarted the infantry school's textbook, for this was war… war in a thirsty land."

"Inevitably, one of the insurgents found the pull ring to the cellar and shouted for support. John and some of the other men crowded around and watched as the guerrilla yanked the door up. As it was only the white woman and her young, he confidently jumped down the stairs into the darkness. John heard the dull crack of the magnum directly below him and the thump of a bullet striking the flesh of his own man. 'They're in the cellar!' he shouted, 'We'll burn her out!'"

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Comments

"Brutal and compassionate. A forceful first novel." - JH Thompson, bestselling author of An Unpopular War

"A gripping tale which accurately portrays the tragedy of the border war." - Roy Anderson, author of From the Battlefield to the Boardroom~The Border|ISBN 9781920143107|~360~11454~South Africa border war~