New edition of the late Stephen Ellis' meticulously researched book that penetrates the secrecy of the ANC in exile for the first time.

After the ANC was banned by the apartheid government in 1960, many of its leaders and members were forced to leave the country. During the next three decades, it had to operate in exile and underground. Yet the real history of this period remains shrouded in mystery.

Some events, such as the Rhodesian campaign of 1967–1968 and the Kabwe conference of 1985, are well known, but lesser known are the intense factional struggles within the organisation, recurring pro-democracy protests and the creation of a security apparatus that inspired widespread fear. Some networks within the exiled ANC became heavily involved in corruption, even colluding with elements of the apartheid security police and secret services.

External Mission aims to provide a full account of the ANC’s years in exile, penetrating the secrecy the organisation erected around itself and testing the myths that emerged from that period. It is based on an exceptionally wide range of sources, including the ANC’s own archives and foreign archives such as those in East Germany, where the movement’s security personnel were trained.

Incisive and revealing, External Mission is key to understanding South Africa today.

The Super-Afrikaners, originally published in 1978, scandalised a nation as it exposed the secret workings of the Broederbond. Out of print for over three decades, this edition with an introduction by Max du Preez is available for a new generation.

Formed in Johannesburg in 1918 by a group of young Afrikaners disillusioned by their role as dispossessed people in their own country, the first triumph of this remarkable organisation was the fact that it was largely responsible for welding together dissident factions within Afrikanerdom and thereby ensuring the accession of the National Party to power in 1948. This highly organised clique of Super-Afrikaners, by sophisticated political intrigue, waged a remarkable campaign to harness political, social and economic forces in South Africa to its cause … and succeeded.

Political journalists Hans Strydom and Ivor Wilkins traced, at great personal risk, its development from the earliest days to the present. The book includes the most comprehensive list of Broeders ever published.

The sequel to Of Warriors, Lovers and Prophets, this book is a collection of more colourful, fascinating – and mostly unknown – characters, spanning more than three hundred years of South African history.

There are stories of slaves, lively Khoisan characters and the first ‘Cape Malays’ and Muslims. The story of the Xhosa prophet Makhanda, who nearly succeeded in taking Grahamstown from the British in 1819 and who later escaped from Robben Island, will take most readers by surprise.

Also covered are the Foster gang of Johannesburg, who were indirectly responsible for the killing of Boer hero Koos de la Rey; David Pratt, the man who shot Hendrik Verwoerd in the head at the Rand Easter Show; and the three men who pulled off the biggest jewellery heist of the time, stealing Bridget Oppenheimer’s jewellery in 1956.

And there’s the sensational and previously unknown story of how a right-wing attack using small aeroplanes at Nelson Mandela’s inauguration in 1994 was thwarted at the last moment.

This is history as storytelling at its very best.

Democracy in South Africa turns 20 on 27 April 2014. In A Rumour of Spring, Max du Preez investigates and analyses the progress and lack of progress the country has made during that time.

He considers the state of the ANC and the opposition, social cohesion and race, the media, the judiciary, civil society, the economy, poverty and unemployment, land, education, health, and South Africa’s standing in the world. An honest and balanced account, the book tackles the questions asked by ordinary South Africans every day: How are we really doing? What is really going on in our country? How should we understand what is happening here?

Highly readable, accessible and entertaining – written in the style that has made Max du Preez so popular. It takes a balanced approach, looking at the good, the bad and the ugly, and explores South Africa on several levels, from the leaders in government to ordinary people on the ground.

This timely collection, compiled and edited by veteran journalist and political commentator Max du Preez, contains critical reflections on various aspects of contemporary South Africa. Each contributor is a significant voice in their area of commentary and is well positioned to explore the complexities of the topic under analysis. The resulting pieces offer insights that will engage all readers interested in understanding and addressing the challenges of an unevenly changing nation. Topics in the collection include: The state of the nation; Personal and social identities - race, ethnicity and class; Environment - climate change and sustainability; Governance - skills, capacity and service delivery; The judicial system; Crime and violence; Education; Race relations and Health care.