Whispers from the depths is more than just the story of the building of the Kariba Dam in the mid-1950s. Built in just five years against overwhelming odds, the dam is a monument to engineering excellence. Shrouded in political undertones, the construction of the dam was vital for the hydro-electric power it would provide for Zambia’s burgeoning copper industry. Little thought, however, appears to have been given to the future of the human and animal populations who lived in the valley that would be inundated when the dam was completed. The question has to be asked: Was this awe-inspiring man-made creation achieved at too high a cost in terms of the human suffering and environmental devastation it caused? Central to the story of Kariba was the fate of the Tonga people who had for centuries lived in the Gwembe valley, due to be flooded when the sluice gates were finally closed to halt the flow of the mighty Zambezi River. Approximately 57 000 people were forced to move from their ancestral homes, abandoning family graves and spiritual sites to the depths of Kariba's water. They became a dispersed people who have never been able to reunite as a cohesive society, never again been able to live peacefully on the banks of the river which gave them life. Animals, too, perished in their thousands despite the gallant efforts of wildlife personnel who mounted a hastily planned rescue mission known as Operation Noah. Whispers from the depths gives a voice to the all but forgotten BaTonga. It celebrates their unique culture but deplores the price they paid for progress – a price from which they themselves derived no benefit whatsoever.

A magisterial history of South Africa, from the earliest known human inhabitation of the region to the present.

Leonard Thompson, a leading scholar in southern African history and politics, provides a fresh and penetrating exploration of the country's history, from the earliest known human inhabitation of the region to the present, focusing primarily on experiences of its black inhabitants.

The Fourth Edition of this classic text brings South Africa's history up to date with a new chapter chronicling the first presidential term of Mbeki and ending with the funeral of Nelson Mandela.

Bart de Graaff is ’n Nederlandse historikus en joernalis wat ’n besonderse belangstelling in die Suid-Afrikaanse politiek en kultuur het. In 2015 en 2016 het hy verskeie besoeke aan Suid-Afrika en Namibie gebring. Sy oogmerk was om die nasate van die Khoi-Khoin, synde die eerste “ware mense” van die subkontinent, op te spoor, en aan die woord te stel. Hierdie boek is die resultaat van sy onderhoude. De Graaff kontekstualiseer nie net die geskiedenis van die Khoi-Khoin en haar vele vertakkings nie, maar stel ook bepaalde eietydse leiersfigure in die onderskeie gemeenskappe aan die woord. Daarvolgens word die historiese kyk na legendariese kapteins soos die Korannas se Goliat Yzerbek, die Griekwas se Adam Kok, die Basters se Dirk Vilander, Abraham Swartbooi van die Namas en Frederik Vleermuis van die Oorlams afgewissel met De Graaff se persoonlike reisindrukke en die talle gesprekke wat hy met die waarskynlike nasate van bogenoemde leiers gehad het. In sy onopgesmukte skryfstyl, vol deernis en humor, vertel De Graaff van hierdie ontmoetings en gesprekke en algaande kom die leser onder die indruk van die sistemiese geweld wat teen die Khoi-Khoin oor soveel eeue heen gepleeg is. Dit is ’n belangrike boek wat die geskiedenis en huidige stand van die bruin mense onder hulle landsgenote se aandag bring.