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Books > History > African history > General
This book is more than family history. It will open your eyes to
how the British subjugated their colonies and Christian missions
were used to promote British trade. It also deals with the fallouts
from the clash between Christianity and local (Igbo) customs. It
derives from the handwritten personal account of one of the early
Nigerian Christian missionaries and explains some of these and
more. Feed your curiosity!
Dis 'n fassinerende verslag van die lewe in maksimumsekuriteit-gevangenisse, met vars invalshoek: China was hondemeester, aan die voorfront tydens tronkgevegte. Gewapen slegs met 'n knuppel en sy hond moes hy messtekers en oproeriges afweer.
Hy is 'n mensch, 'n ongeslypte diamant met hart en ondernemingsgees.
Hy herinner aan Bennie Griessel: hy rook en drink straf, sy huwelik is op die rotse, hy sukkel om gevoelens te wys, maar oor 'n hond wat doodgaan, grens hy. Sy eerste pos, toe hy net 16 was, was op Robbeneiland, waar hy 'n lang, breedgeskouerde gevangene met 'n vriendelike gesig gesien skerm het. Hy was self 'n bokser en kon sien die man het 'n besonderse tegniek, dat hy lig op sy voete soos 'n weltergewig was.
Die bokser was Nelson Mandela. Saans het Mandela deur sy tralies
vir die seun hardgekookte eiers wat hy afgeskil het, aangegee, dan
eet hulle saam en gesels. Mandela het hom altyd aaangepor om verder
te gaan leer.
Cape Town, 2018. South Africa’s mother city is wracked by drought. The prospect of premier Helen Zille’s ‘Day Zero’ – the day when all taps run dry – is driving its citizens into a frenzy. When it’s announced that Mayor Patricia de Lille is off the water crisis, the predicament reaches its zenith and politicians turn upon each other.
And so begins a stupendous battle within the Democratic Alliance: who will lead Cape Town? It’s during this time that author and researcher Crispian Olver applies to the City of Cape Town to gain access to certain official documents as part of a research project. He is baffled when his application is rejected without explanation, but this only strengthens his resolve to explore how the city of his childhood is run. In particular, he has his sights set on the relationship between city politicians and property developers.
Olver interviews numerous individuals, including many ‘chopped’ from the city administration. What he uncovers is a pandora’s box of backstabbing, in-fighting and backroom deals. He explores dodgy property developments at Wescape and Maiden’s Cove, delves into attempts to ‘hijack’ civic associations, and exposes the close yet precautious relationship between the mayor and City Hall’s so-called ‘laptop boys’. But his main goal is to understand what led to the political meltdown within the Democratic Alliance, and the defection of De Lille to form her own party.
A seven-year-old English girl, washed up on the Wild Coast in about
1736, is adopted by the amaMpondo, grows up to become a woman of
surpassing beauty, marries the chief of the clan and becomes an
ancestor of many of the Xhosa royal families in the nineteenth
century. It sounds like the stuff of romance, but this is verified,
documented fact. Although her surname is unknown, in spite of a
persistent 19th-century story that she was the daughter of a
General Campbell, we do know that her name was Bessie. The
amaMpondo named her Gquma - 'The Roar of the Sea' - and she won
their affection for her compassion and generosity, and became
famous for her love of ornament, covering herself with necklaces,
beadwork, seashells and bangles. But she was no mere fashion-plate,
winning renown for her wisdom, becoming involved in the politics of
her adopted people and wielding an influence virtually
unprecedented among women of her time and place. Inspired by the
story of Bessie, in Sunburnt Queen, Hazel Crampton has delved deep
into the history of the castaways from the many ships wrecked on
this beautiful but perilous shore.;In a highly entertaining way she
tells their story, which became inextricably interwoven with those
of the people of the Wild Coast: whole clans, such the abeLungu
('the White People') trace their ancestry to castaways. The book
traces the lives of Bessie's descendants and those of some of the
other castaways whose names are known. Their stories are
intimately, often tragically intertwined in the sad history of
contact between the Xhosa-speaking peoples and the white settlers.
The author, although obviously a person of strong opinions, like
all the best historiographers, she presents people and events in a
non-judgmental way, allowing contemporary voices to pronounce on
the actions, good and bad, of the actors in this drama. If there is
a message to be gleaned from the story of Bessie it is this: South
Africans are far more alike than we are different, and we all have
so much more to gain by emphasizing our similarities rather than
our differences, and by cherishing our common heritage.
Mahmud Modibbo Tukur's work challenges fundamental assumptions and
conclusions about European colonialism in Africa, especially
British colonialism in northern Nigeria. Whereas others have
presented the thesis of a welcome reception of the imposition of
British colonialism by the people, the study has found physical
resistance and tremendous hostility towards that imposition; and,
contrary to the "pacification" and minimal violence argued by some
scholars, the study has exposed the violent and bloody nature of
that occupation. Rather than the single story of "Indirect rule",
or "abolishing slavery" and lifting the burden of precolonial
taxation which others have argued, this book has shown that British
officials were very much in evidence, imposed numerous and heavier
taxes collected with great efficiency and ruthlessness, and ignored
the health and welfare of the people in famines and health
epidemics which ravaged parts of northern Nigeria during the
period. British economic and social policies, such as blocking
access to western education for the masses in most parts of
northern Nigeria, did not bring about development but its
antithesis of retrogression and stagnation during the period under
study. Tukur's analysis of official colonial records and sources
constitutes a significant contribution to the literature on
colonialism in Africa and to understanding the complexity of the
Nigerian situation today.
Nelson Mandela's comrade in the struggle, Denis Goldberg, spent 22
years in an Apartheid South African political prison from 1963 to
1985. In this memoir, Denis, the perennial optimist, writes about
the human side of the often painful road to freedom; about the joy
of love and death, human dignity, political passion, comradeship,
conflict between comrades...and a very long imprisonment. These
memoirs offer the reader an insight into an important chapter in
the history of our struggle from a different viewpoint because the
racist dogmas of apartheid dictated that he would be incarcerated
apart from his Black comrades and colleagues. That segregation
denied him both the companionship and the counsel of his fellow
accused. His was consequently an exceedingly lonely sojourn. But,
true to himself and the cause he had espoused from his youth, he
bore it with courage and immense dignity.
Die derde deel van die reeks Imperiale somer word aan Johannesburg in die onmiddellike nasleep van die Anglo-Boereoorlog gewy, waarby alle dele van die destydse gemeenskap aandag geniet, met inbegrip van die swart stadsinwoners en die ontwikkeling van ’n eie stadskultuur onder hulle en die mynwerkers.
Anekdotes en klein kameebeskrywings maak van Babilon ’n interessante leeservaring.
The ruins of Great Zimbabwe are acknowledged as one of the most
impressive monuments in Africa, but also one of the most
mysterious. Many scholars have investigated them without coming to
any agreement on the identify of their builders, their purpose or
even their date. The author considers the ruins in both an African
and a global context, and reviews investigations of other
archaeological and historical enigmas around the world. He finds
previously unsuspected connections between Zimbabwe and ancient
civilisations such as the Phoenicians and the builders of the Giza
pyramids. Finally he offers a truly 'heavenly' explanation for
Great Zimbabwe.
Die Herero-opstand 1904–1907 is ’n heruitgawe van ’n boek wat ses
keer tussen 1976 en 1979 deur HAUM gepubliseer is. Die lotgevalle
van die Hererovolk word in hierdie boek geskets, ’n stuk
geskiedenis wat ’n sentrale plek in Namibie se kleurryke
geskiedenis beklee. Die opstand van die Herero’s in 1904 teen
Duitse koloniale gesag kan beskou word as die enkele gebeurtenis
wat die gebied se volksverhoudinge die ingrypendste verander het.
Die Herero-opstand 1904–1907 vertel van die geleidelike opbou na
die konflik, die skielike uitbarsting van geweld en die tragiese
afloop vir die Herero’s toe duisende verhonger het en hulle grond
en politieke seggenskap verloor het.
Daniël Lötter soek geeste en gedaantes op, besoek spookhuise en vertel meer oor sieners en legendes wat Suid-Afrikaners reeds jare lank laat kopkrap.
Maak kennis met die heks van Hexrivier, die seemonsters van die ou Kaap en Antjie Somers. Jacoba Marais, Japie Roux en Marie van der Post is van die minder bekende sieners, maar natuurlik bly Johanna Brandt en Siener van en Rensburg nie agterweë nie.
Waarom spook 'n skoorsoekerige goewerneur, 'n koninklike kleinseun en 'n gewetenlose moordernaar ewe vlytig as Daisy de Melker, sr. Henrietta Stockdale en lady Anne Barnard? En wat is dit met dwaalligte en spookfoto's?
Mahmud Modibbo Tukur's work challenges fundamental assumptions and
conclusions about European colonialism in Africa, especially
British colonialism in northern Nigeria. Whereas others have
presented the thesis of a welcome reception of the imposition of
British colonialism by the people, the study has found physical
resistance and tremendous hostility towards that imposition; and,
contrary to the "pacification" and minimal violence argued by some
scholars, the study has exposed the violent and bloody nature of
that occupation. Rather than the single story of "Indirect rule",
or "abolishing slavery" and lifting the burden of precolonial
taxation which others have argued, this book has shown that British
officials were very much in evidence, imposed numerous and heavier
taxes collected with great efficiency and ruthlessness, and ignored
the health and welfare of the people in famines and health
epidemics which ravaged parts of northern Nigeria during the
period. British economic and social policies, such as blocking
access to western education for the masses in most parts of
northern Nigeria, did not bring about development but its
antithesis of retrogression and stagnation during the period under
study. Tukur's analysis of official colonial records and sources
constitutes a significant contribution to the literature on
colonialism in Africa and to understanding the complexity of the
Nigerian situation today.With an Introduction by Prof. Michael J.
Watts, University of California, Berkeley, USA.
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