Non-Fiction Books

This book recounts the 1950s in South Africa - a decade of optimism and hope that ended, tragically, with the massacre at Sharpeville - as seen through the microcosm of "Drum", a magazine produced in Johannesburg for black readers. The "Drum" writers - Henry Nxumalo, Can Themba, Bloke Modisane, Todd Matshikiza, Casey Motisi - lived by the precept "live fast, die young and have a good-looking corpse". These black writers on "Drum" - who were later joined by Lewis Nkosi and Nat Nakasa - were responsible for a range of investigative journalism, the best of which is reproduced here, alongside tributes from friends and colleagues including Anthony Sampson, Nadine Gordimer, Trevor Huddleston and Walter Sisulu.

A description of the events surrounding the first democratic elections in South Africa. The author, a South African novelist and journalist, looks at the real lives that were touched by the major political and social events. Beginning with the first day of voting, glancing back to the violence at the end of 1993 and forward to the inauguration of President Mandela and beyond, the book then addresses the moral issues raised by these events: is it desirable, or possible, to forgive and forget?

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

The stories of violence, heartache, hope and humanity in South Africa's transitional years are often told through photographs. This book includes many of the images captured through the lens of Ken Oosterbroek's camera before the elections of 1994.