Their love story was one of the greatest of our times.

Ruth Williams was a middle-class Londoner who loved ballroom dancing and ice skating when she met Seretse Khama. He was chief designate of the most powerful tribe in Bechuanaland, today Botswana, on the borders of apartheid South Africa. Their union sparked outrage, fear and anger. Ruth’s father barred her from their family home, she was hounded by the global media and shunned by white people in Seretse’s village of Serowe. The couple was humiliated, tricked and eventually exiled to England. But, despite all these tribulations, their love triumphed over the politics and prejudice of the time.

This is the story Ruth Khama told well-known journalist and author Sue Grant-Marshall ‒ the story of an extraordinary woman, who had the courage of her convictions in marrying the man she loved and accepting his country and people as her own.

From former MK soldier Sandi Sijake comes a unique and revelatory memoir of the incredible and largely untold story of the beginnings of uMkhonto weSizwe and the early Pan-African and Soviet efforts to arm and train the new freedom army.

From Sudan to Egypt, from Tanganyika to Tashkent, Sijake’s extraordinary recall takes the reader on a gripping journey and a moving reflection on his burning desire to fight for freedom. Equally absorbing Sijake’s account of his time on Robben Island, the personalities from the different liberation groups, early moves towards negotiations and an account of daily life on the Island.

Born in 1945 in the Eastern Cape, Sandi Sijake joined the ANC in 1959 and left for exile in 1963. Captured in 1972, Sijake was sentenced in 1973 to 15 years and sent to Robben Island. Released in 1988, Sijake joined the SANDF in 1995, and in 2009 he was elected president of the ANC Veteran’s League.

When Johan Booysen hears that the new Provincial Police Chief takes backhanders from a Durban businessman, he decides to give her the benefit of the doubt. But the evidence becomes impossible to ignore and he soon gets dragged down the corridors of power and politics into a web of intrigue, deceit and betrayal that, at times, he has trouble making sense of.

Only when he is arrested, handcuffed and tossed into a cell does Booysen realise just how ruthless those opposed to him are – an opposition he comes to call the ‘cabal’ – and whom he believes have more blood on their hands than the so-called Cato Manor Death Squad with which he is closely associated.

Blood On Their Hands traces Johan Booysen’s life and career – from patrolling the streets of Amanzimtoti in the 1970s to his rise in 2010 to major general and head of KZN’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation unit, the Hawks. But his tenure is short-lived. When Booysen decides to take on those so determined to be rid of him, each legal battle he wins is met by hostility and further efforts to shut him out of the of the criminal justice system. But capitulating is not in his DNA…

On 10 June 1980, during a seemingly endless day of bloody fighting, 13 men of the South African Defence Force died and several more were wounded after 61 Mechanised Infantry Battalion Group attacked a vast complex of Swapo military bases in Angola.

During Operation Sceptic second lieutenant Paul Louw led his platoon in four Ratel infantry fighting vehicles to a battleground called Smokeshell. In the ensuing chaos of that day 12 national servicemen of his platoon of 44 were killed and he himself was wounded. In a separate incident during the fighting his company second-in-command was also slain. One of his troops, 18-year-old HP Ferreira, was shot through the pelvis by a 14,5 mm anti-aircraft round and also hit by AK-47 bullets.

Louw spent the night drenched in the blood and guts of his men, hunkered down with a handful of other survivors in a Ratel destroyed by an RPG 7 rocket, isolated from the rest of the South African attack force.

Blood Brothers records the dramatic events that took place in Angola that day, in the words of the survivors of the battle. It investigates the human cost of war after the last shots have been fired and follows the veterans as they return to the battleground four decades later in search of peace.

“There were three other people present, or five, depending on whom one chooses to include. Five, let’s say, the men divided from the women according to the timeworn tradition… The ceremony lasted precisely thirty minutes, as had been agreed on well in advance, not a second longer. One of the people present announced the end in a voice as blunt as it was relieved.”

What kind of bar mitzvah lasts no more than thirty minutes? Which five people could have been in attendance, and where could such a ceremony –– if there really was a ceremony –– have taken place under these circumstances? This book has echoes of a detective trail and as Denis Hirson gradually reveals the answers, he explores the wider ancestral and political strands of his story.

We are reminded of what the world might have looked like to a thirteen-year-old boy in the Johannesburg of the 1960s. This perspective is, thanks to his daughter, set against that same boy’s adult understanding of what had happened. This is a breathtaking account of the author being confronted by his own past.

In Rule Of Law, Glynnis Breytenbach reflects back on her career as a prosecutor, including specific cases she has tried, and on her life to provide a fascinating commentary on the importance of the independence of judicial institutions and the precariousness of this independence.

Her current challenges are directly linked to how outspoken she is and how she continues to campaign fiercely for the rule of law in this country.

By uncovering the untold story of Vesta Smith (1922–2013), a community activist from Noordgesig, Soweto, this biography addresses a crucial gap in the literature on the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa.

Based on extensive interviews and previously unexamined archival materials, it reveals how her Christian faith fuelled her commitment to non-racialism and lifelong pursuit of social justice and how her non-sectarian, anti-apartheid activism connected generations, ideologies and communities.

This book reframes Ma Vesta’s legacy, celebrating her contributions while offering fresh insights into non-racialism, the politics of the everyday and the role of black women and Christians in the liberation struggle.

A powerful tale of resilience and hope, it stands as an inspiration for contemporary movements seeking social justice and community empowerment.

In this riveting memoir Marion Sparg traces not only her experience in MK – often as the only woman in training camps in Angola – and her friendship with Chris Hani, Joe Slovo and Thabo Mbeki, but also her secret return to South Africa, the three police-station bombs, her sudden arrest and her years of imprisonment.

Guilty And Proud is the gripping tale of a woman who defied stereotypes and, at great personal cost, stood up for her beliefs.

Forgiveness Redefined is Candice Mama’s honest and healing story. It tells how she found ways to deal with the death of her father, Glenack Masilo Mama, and to forgive the notorious apartheid assassin Eugene de Kock, the man responsible for his brutal murder. We follow Candice’s journey of discovering how her father died, how this affected her and how she battled the demons of depression before the age of sixteen. But most importantly, we follow her journey towards beating the odds and rising above her heartbreaks.

Candice Mama is today still under the age of 30, but has been named as one of Vogue Paris’ most inspiring women alongside glittering names such as Michelle Obama. She has taken backstage selfies with music crooner Seal and travels all over the world to talk about her journey. This bubbly, inspiring young author tells how she shed some of the worst layers of grief and became an inspiration for others. We learn about her perplexing, unconventional childhood, her search for identity, and the beautiful bond she formed, posthumously, with a father she never had the opportunity to get to know in person. She also tells, in her own words, about the life-changing encounter between her family and her father’s killer.

Candice tenderly opens up about the result of the trauma of her father’s death on her entire family, and meeting her mother for the first time at the age of four. She tells about the confusing, yet fascinating, dynamics that later unfolded as she discovered pieces of herself, rediscovered relationships with her own family and came to forgiveness and understanding.

This book serves as inspiration for other young – and older – people to look at their own stories through different lenses. Candice’s experiences are not unique, and she offers healing thoughts to others who suffered similar trauma by sharing the details of her own story. Forgiveness Redefined is a touching, personal story by a young woman who learned too early about pain, loss and rejection – but who also learned how to overcome those burdens and live joyfully.

When a thoughtless tweet by Zelda la Grange unleashed a storm, she was asked: ‘Have you learnt nothing from Nelson Mandela?’ This book is her answer.

For years, she was the closest witness of Mandela’s interactions with people both famous and ordinary, and here she draws out his lessons on humility, respect, honesty, how to truly listen and what to do if you realise you have made a grave mistake, a lesson she herself had to learn the hard way.

Mervyn King has transformed the global business landscape. King advocated reporting on society and the environment, not only on profit. His legacy transcends borders and continues to guide companies worldwide. His journey was enriched by his experience as a commercial lawyer; by his work as an advocate and a judge; and by his stellar career as a businessman, chair and director of many organisations.

DAVID WILLIAMS recounts his story.

“Dis politici wat oorlog verklaar, nie ons nie. Ons het gedoen wat ons geglo het ons moes doen en hulle [die vyand] ook . . .” – Marco Caforio, ouddienspligtige

Op 10 Junie 1980 gedurende ’n eindelose dag van bloedige gevegte onder die Angolese son is 13 lede van die Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag dood en etlike beseer toe 61 Gemeganiseerde Bataljon Groep ’n kompleks van Swapo-basisse in die suide van Angola aangeval het.

Gedurende Operasie Sceptic het tweede luitenant Paul Louw sy peleton in vier Ratels na die slagveld by die doelwit Smokeshell gelei.

In die chaos wat daardie dag gevolg het, is 12 dienspligtiges in sy peleton van 44 noodlottig gewond en hy is self ook beseer. Een van sy troepe, die 18-jarige HP Ferreira, is met ’n 14,5 mmmasjiengeweer deur sy pelvis geskiet en hy is ook deur etlike AK-47 koeëls getref. Hy het wonderbaarlik oorleef. Louw, nog met die bloed van sy manne aan sy klere, en ’n handjievol ander soldate het die aand deurgebring in ’n Ratel wat deur ’n RPG-vuurpyl getref is. Hulle was heeltemal afgesny van die res van die aanvalsgroep en het nie geweet of hulle die son sou sien opkom nie.

In Bloedbroers vertel van die oorlewendes van hul ervarings tydens die geveg. Dit werp ook lig op wat met soldate gebeur nadat die laaste skote afgevuur is en volg die veterane toe hulle vier dekades ná die operasie vir die eerste keer na die slagveld teruggekeer het.

Born in the old Transvaal town of Schweizer Reneke, Essop Pahad started on a path of political activism from his parents' flat in Becker Street, Ferreirastown, where an all-welcome policy prevailed and visionaries of the Congress alliance, such as Yusuf Dadoo, Walter Sisulu, O.R.Tambo, Nelson Mandela and Ahmed Kathrada were regular visitors. His parents instilled in the family strong anti-racist principles and a genuine concern for all human beings regardless of race, class or religion.

A graduate of the 'Congress School' in Johannesburg, Essop's growing commitment to social justice was nurtured by teachers who were among the struggle's most eminent leaders. An executive member of the Transvaal Indian Youth Congress, Essop was banned in 1964 and went into exile in the UK where he was recruited into the South African Communist Party (SACP). In 1973 he studied at the Lenin Party School in Moscow and then worked in Prague representing the SACP on the editorial board of the World Marxist Review for a decade.

During this time he was sent by the ANC for military training with Umkhonto we Sizwe in Angola, which he was unable to complete as he contracted malaria. Essop returned to South Africa in 1990, where he played a central role in shaping our new democracy.

A Life Committed is the memoir of a revolutionary whose diverse experiences with other progressive people and movements, local and international, enabled him to deepen his understanding of how to better face the challenges confronting South Africa, Africa and the world. The book is spiced with anecdotes from his impressive memory archive and lightened by his mischievous sense of humour. Profiles of his mentors and friends from liberation movements and workers' parties provide insight into the extent of the fierce integrity,compassion and humanity of the author.

A fresh, nuanced look at an extraordinary woman and her lifelong fight for justice. Defying the constraints of her gender and class, Emily Hobhouse travelled across continents and spoke out against oppression. A passionate pacifist and a feminist, she opposed both the 1899-1902 Anglo-Boer War and World War One, leading to accusations of treason. Elsabe Brits travelled in her footsteps to bring to life a colourful story of war, heroism and passion, spanning three continents.

Nomavenda Mathiane stumbled upon her grandmother’s story well over a century after the gruelling events of the Battle of Isandlwana that formed her life. Astounded to hear how her grandmother had survived the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War between the British and Zulu nations as a young girl, Mathiane spent hours with her elder sisters reconstructing the extraordinary life of their grandmother. The result is a sweeping epic of both personal and political battles.

Eyes In The Night is a young Zulu woman’s story of drama, regret, guilt and, ultimately, triumph – set against the backdrop of a Zululand changed beyond recognition.

A true story almost lost, but for a chance remark at a family gathering.

Dr Abdullah Abdurahman (1872–1940) was the first person of colour ever to be elected to political office in South Africa. He represented some of the poorest people in Cape Town on the City Council and then the Provincial Council. First winning a seat in 1904, he was to serve the city for 36 years. Beloved by the people of District Six, for whom he fought so hard, Dr Abdurahman is a forgotten giant of the fight for justice.

The grandson of slaves, he trained as a doctor in Scotland, returning to the Cape with a Scottish wife. Nellie and he were powerful partners – and their daughter, Cissie Gool, was among the most important political figures of her generation. Dr Abdurahman led the African Political Organisation – the leading coloured party of this period. He was a friend and ally of key political figures of his time: Sol Plaatje, Walter Rubusana, Mahatma Gandhi and W.P. Schreiner. He was a leading advocate of black unity, working tirelessly to resist the onslaught of white racism.

The doctor was among the most internationally admired South Africans of his generation, arguing his case on delegations to London and India. He led South African Indians to Delhi, confronted the Viceroy and made a memorable address to the Indian National Congress. At his death in 1940 Cape Town ground to a halt as the entire community paid their respects.

Drawing on previously undiscovered material, this biography lifts Dr Abdurahman from the obscurity into which he has so unjustly sunk – explaining his life against the background of the difficult times in which he lived.

The definitive account of Commando: A Boer Journal of the Anglo-Boer War, published word-for-word as Reitz first wrote it; edited and annotated by historian and Anglo-Boer War expert, Professor Fransjohan Pretorius.

In 1899, Deneys Reitz, then aged seventeen, enlisted in the Boer army to fight the British. He had learnt to ride, shoot and swim almost as soon as he could walk. He made full use of these skills and the endurance he had acquired in the next three years of the war, during which he fought with the Boer commandos.

He was involved in major actions, like the battle of Spioen Kop, and he interacted with prolific political and military figures of the time, such as President Paul Kruger, Boer generals Piet Joubert, Louis Botha, Koos de la Rey, Christiaan Beyers, Jan Smuts and British commander Lord Kitchener. He even met the young Winston Churchill as a prisoner-of-war in Pretoria.

Reitz forged a strong personal and political friendship with General Jan Smuts after the war, built on reciprocal respect.

Commando is more than a historical document; it is a literary masterpiece that transcends time. With prose that captures both the brutality and the beauty of war, Reitz weaves a narrative that resonates with authenticity and passion.

As relevant today as when it was first penned, Commando has become a South African classic and stands as a testament to the indomitable human spirit in the face of adversity.

The book selects some past events and experiences, national and international, and wonders what lessons were missed, learnt, or are yet to be learnt from them.

Tragedies happen again and again because we fail to learn from the past. The past is rich with valuable lessons – rich pickings. The reader is taken back into the past in search of some of those lessons, many of which, regrettably, we failed – and continue failing – to learn. As we dig into the past for those rich pickings, there will be moments to laugh, cry or even weep; but that is exactly how lessons are learnt in life.

Other similar incidents learnt from, both abroad and at home, relate to the author’s own experiences in South Africa, including as a Judge who heard amnesty applications as a member of the Amnesty Committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The book hopes to show that capacity for evil is not peculiar to any nation or race; it also discusses the dangers of tribalism.

The chapter ‘Beyond the Frontiers’ takes the reader into the rest of Africa. A lot is revealed, including divisions the author witnessed – while serving as an AU judge based in Tanzania – within the AU along the languages of, ironically, colonial masters; also referenced is the sorry state of human rights in Africa. Have we seized the opportunity to learn all the valuable lessons which that great teacher, ‘The Past’, offered?

The author leaves it to readers to make their own final judgement after reading the book as to whether, at the individual and collective levels, we have learnt those lessons and taken them to heart for the good of our individual and collective destiny.

Spanning nearly 100 years, Faith & Defiance: The Life of Sally Motlana tells the story of one of South Africa’s most eminent women activists and community builders - Sally Bampifeletseng (Maunye) Motlana.

Born of humble roots in the old village of Moremela near Pilgrims Rest in the then-Transvaal, Sally grew into a fierce activist and voice of the oppressed who answered the call when she saw all that needed to be done in the struggle for freedom and a democratic South Africa. As a toddler, Sally moved to Johannesburg with her mother, where they joined her father and lived first in Vrededorp and then Sophiatown. Educated at St Cyprian’s School, she was taken under the wing of esteemed Anglican missionary Father Trevor Huddleston.

Profoundly influenced by her religious upbringing, she developed a passionate protectiveness of the poor – especially women and children– and an unquenchable thirst for justice that never diminished during her numerous detentions and harassment by the Security Police. Instead of a straight biography, author Mukoni Ratshitenga has skilfully crafted a riveting account of a woman and her country, rich with vignettes and fascinating encounters of great historical significance.

One of the many encounters in the book tells how during his hiding from the police for seventeen months before his arrest in 1962, Nelson Mandela, visited Sally at her Dube home and what transpired thereafter. Another tells how during one of her spells of detention in 1978 at Jeppe Police station, she came across two Azanian People’s Liberation Army (APLA) combatants who had been detained there after they had been deployed from Tanzania. Fearing that they would be killed, she hatched and executed a daring plan for their escape - all whilst being detained herself.

The book contains many accounts of Sally’s fearlessness in the face of apartheid police harassment and brutality. It highlights how her commitment to the struggle for liberation and her deep Christian faith reinforced each other. Faith & Defiance: The Life of Sally Motlana is a record of both the brutality of apartheid and colonialism and the determination of one woman to fight it and through her story, the story of millions.

On a freezing winter’s night, a few hours before dawn on 12 May 1969, security police stormed the Soweto home of Winnie Mandela and detained her in the presence of her two young daughters, then aged eight and ten.

Rounded up in a group of other anti-apartheid activists under Section 6 of the Terrorism Act, designed for the security police to hold and interrogate people for as long as they wanted, she was taken away. This was the start for Winnie Mandela of a 491-day period of detention and two trials.

Forty-one years after her release on 14 September 1970, Greta Soggot, the widow of David Soggot, one of Winnie Mandela’s advocates during the 1969/1970 trials, handed her a stack of papers that included a journal and notes that she had written in detention.

491 Days: Prisoner number 1323/69 shares with the world Winnie Mandela’s moving and compelling journal as well as some of the letters written between affected parties at the time. Readers gain insight into the brutality she experienced, her depths of despair as well as her resilience and defiance under extreme pressure.

This book was co-edited by Swati Dlamini and Sahm Venter with the support of the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

Advocate Thuli Madonsela has achieved in her seven years as Public Protector what few accomplish in a lifetime; her legacy and contribution cannot be over-stated. In her final days in office she compiled the explosive State Capture report and, before that, the report on President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla residence. Praised and vilified in equal measures, Madonsela has frequently found herself at centre stage in the increasingly fractious South African political scene.

No Longer Whispering To Power is about Thuli Madonsela’s tenure as Public Protector, during which the whisper grew into a cry. It is the story of the South African people’s attempt to hold power to account through the Office of the Public Protector. More significantly, this important book stands as a record of the crucial work Madonsela has done, always acting without fear or favour.

South Africa has produced two leaders who achieved global recognition and renown in their respective eras: Jan Christiaan Smuts (Prime Minister, 1919-24 and 1939-48) and Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (President, 1994-99). The former was much celebrated for playing a significant role in reconstructing international architecture after both world wars; the latter remains globally admired for his leading part in drawing South Africa back from racial war and becoming a democracy. As a result, both have attracted multiple biographies. Today, however, whereas Mandela remains a much-admired global icon, Smuts’ reputation is much diminished, with contemporary historians citing his racism and role in constructing the foundations of apartheid South Africa.

In this controversial book, Roger Southall provides a re-evaluation of Smuts’ hugely contradictory career by proposing fascinating parallels with the life and political trajectory of Mandela. Both came to maturity as political leaders as freedom fighters – Smuts against the British and Mandela against the apartheid regime. Both played a pre-eminent in founding a new South Africa, the first made for whites at Union in 1910 and the second for all South Africans in 1994. Both aspired to be nation-builders, but while Smuts’ hoped-for South African nation was white, Mandela aspired to bring all of South Africa’s people together. Both came to stride on the international stage, albeit in very different ways and for various reasons.

Smuts’ career failed, and he was ejected from office. Mandela retired gracefully from office and continued to be lauded for his well-earned retirement, yet South Africa’s contemporary travails reveal his hopes and policies as unfulfilled. This book makes the case that we cannot fully understand Mandela without first understanding Smuts and how South Africa continues to struggle with the legacy he left behind.

Steve Henry was born in 1967 in the sleepy little city of East London on the East Coast of South Africa, the youngest in a family of five children and brought up in a home filled with love and laughter. As a teenager in the mid-80s, fresh out of high school, he is conscripted into the South African Defence Force where he goes through the hardships and humour of infantry training. Innocent youngsters from all over the country are moulded into efficient killing machines and turned into platoons of mechanized infantry.

The author takes you blow by blow through some of the biggest and bloodiest battles fought on the African continent since World War II, during Operation Moduler. He takes you inside his “Metal Mother”, a Ratel infantry fighting vehicle, deep into Angola and describes the feeling of utter helplessness as he faces off against Soviet main battle tanks in his lightly armed and armoured Ratel.

Loved ones back in the “States” have no idea of the scope and violence of the war in Angola and are kept in the dark as to the extent of South Africa’s involvement, often told that their son, brother or father has been killed “on the Border”, little knowing that he died hundreds of kilometres inside Angola.

In the space of a week, the intense high of battle contrasts starkly with suddenly being back in Civvy Street where nobody knows or cares about what he’s just been through.

A tribute to her father, Makaziwe Mandela shares the most definitive portrait of Nelson Mandela to date, revealing the man behind the anti-apartheid movement that changed the world.

One of Time magazine’s Most Important People of the Twentieth Century, Nelson Mandela continues to be a symbol of equality and justice: a Nobel Prize winner, South Africa’s first Black president, and an unrelenting leader in the movement to dismantle racial inequality. Written by his daughter, her story uncovers the family man behind the international peacemaker persona.

This volume presents an extraordinary assembly of historic biography and imagery alongside never-before-published family stories and personal photographs, Nelson Mandela’s letters to friends and family, journal entries written during his incarceration, and a unique collection of rarely seen charcoal drawings and paintings he began at 83 years old. Chapters chronicle Mandela’s childhood growing up in Mvezo, his time in Johannesburg as leader of the African National Congress, the importance of his familial relationships, decades of imprisonment, and his role as president and philanthropist. An enthralling read illustrated by powerful historic imagery, this tome delves into the life of the man that continues to galvanize so many.

In 2011 while riding his motorbike through Mali, on his way home from London to Johannesburg, Stephen McGown was taken captive in Timbuktu by Al Qaeda. He was held captive for almost six years giving him the unenviable record of Al Qaeda’s longest held prisoner.

Together with writer Tudor Caradoc-Davies, he wrote his book Six Years With Al Qaeda: The Stephen McGown Story. In this inspirational biography Steve uncovers the extraordinary lengths he went through to survive; from learning French and Arabic, converting to Islam and accepting a name given to him by his captors. His aim was to raise his status among Al Qaeda, keep himself alive and hopefully make his way back home.

Thousands of kilometres away in Johannesburg, the shock of his kidnapping hit his wife Cath and the rest of the McGown family. Working every option they could find, from established diplomatic protocols to the murky back channels of the kidnap game, they set to work on trying to free Steve.

Months turned to years and while the captive-captor dynamic was ever-present, Steve witnessed first hand what no westerner has ever seen before, giving him a nuanced perspective on one of the worlds most feared terrorist organisations.