In the early planning stages of Freedom Park, Robin Binckes participated as a member of the history sub-committee. The amount of debate and argument, much of it heated, astounded him. Practically every event discussed was interpreted from diametrically differing viewpoints. One of the most controversial topics was the Great Trek, the 1836 Boer exodus from the Cape Colony.

Traditionally writers on the subject have covered the event from a perspective not only of 'white history' but predominantly of 'Afrikaner history'. It has always been seen as 'an Afrikaner event'. It was anything but. As the Great Trek and the events leading up to it involved every section of the population - Zulu, Sotho, Ndebele, Xhosa, Khoisan, Khoikhoi, Coloured, British, English-speaking South African and Boer - it is time to portray the trek in that light, in the context of a unbiased, modern South Africa.

Like most history the dots are all connected; it is impossible to separate the Great Trek from events which took place as far back as the Portuguese explorers because those early events shaped the backdrop to the causes of the Great Trek. Most writers have specialized in the trek itself whereas Binckes has adopted a broader approach that studies the impact of the earlier white incursions and migrations - Portuguese, Dutch, French and British - on southern Africa, to create a better understanding of the trek and its causes. Drawing heavily on eyewitness accounts wherever possible, he has consolidated these with the perspectives of leading historians, the final product being an objective and comprehensive record of one of the seminal events in South African history.

This book shows that the Afrikaner was, is, and always will be, an important player in South African society, but it shows him as part of a bigger picture. The author distances himself from the noble characters stereotyped for the past two centuries and portrays them in their true light: wonderful, courageous people with human feelings, strengths and failings.

Ts the comprehensive sequel to the best seller Great Trek Uncut. This well researched, hard hitting and detailed account of our history covers the period of 1852 through to 1918 and highlights milestone events which affected all the different people of this country from the time of the four independent states through Union and beyond.

Wonderful stories illustrate some of the complexities of our society and show how difficult it was, and is, to mould a homogenous society out of our diverse cultures and people. Throughout the theme of the title re-occurs “It's our land you want”, as the struggle for land, cattle and power characterizes every conflict in our history.

Whilst charting the unfolding history, wonderful stories make the book difficult to put down. Stories which include Nongquase and the decimation of the Xhosa Nation; One President - two Countries; “Daar Kom die Alabama”; Moshesh and the Basuto Wars, The discovery of diamonds, The First South African War, the discovery of gold, the Jameson Raid; the Griqua Trek, the second South African War, the Bambatha Rebellion, the birth of the African National Congress and Nationalist Party, the Boer Rebellion, World War 1 including the Mendi and Delville Wood and many vivid stories which make this not only a comprehensive history book, but and entertaining and easy to read story which brings the people and events to life.

A story of determination and guts of a boy `born with a wooden spoon' in his mouth, who managed through perseverance and sheer will power to turn that into one of silver.

Born the third child of hardworking, honest Jewish parents in Krugersdorp in 1941, a nervy, hypochondriac who broke into a nervous rash whenever he felt uncomfortable or stressed, the boy was a total disaster, academically promoted to higher classes only because of his age. From an early age John would listen to the radio at any opportunity that presented itself, spending hours perfecting the mimicking of great commentators, holding a tablespoon up to his mouth as he spoke, setting his mind on a career in radio. Through a series of coincidences his lucky break finally came and he was employed by the fledgling commercial station LM Radio in Lourenco Marques (Maputo).

< From a stammering, stuttering insecure young announcer, he quickly blossomed and began to make his mark on the station. Sent to Australia by the legendary David Davies to study commercial radio John brought back the secret and pattern of success of commercial radio in Australia, which became the blueprint for broadcasting in South Africa. His radio career spanned 40 years, included working on LM Radio, SABC, Springbok Radio, Radio 5, Capitol Radio, Swazi Music Radio and 702 is legendary.

Pioneering modern radio in South Africa, he broke new ground in radio broadcasting through his hilarious parodies of situations, phone calls to unsuspecting victims, his `characters' such as `Jan Sweetpak' and others, his humour and development of talk shows and techniques used by many today. He developed `Theatre of the mind' and took it to new heights, with a vision to push for talk radio at a time others said it would fail and changed the face of broadcasting in South Africa. On any morning, his talent and effect was measurable, one only had to look at other drivers in Johannesburg's rush hour traffic to see the smiling faces as he brightened the day with his machine gun fire wit and humour.

A man of great humility and integrity, this book shows how much can be achieved when the odds are stacked against you and all you have is determination, passion and an unparalleled talent for communicating.

Faced with the ‘total onslaught’ by its enemies, in 1979, Apartheid South Africa established Vlakplaas’, a 100-hectare farm nestling in the hills outside Pretoria on the Hennops River – as a secret operation under the arm of C1, a counter-terrorism division of the South African Police headed by Brigadier Schoon.

The first phase of Vlakplaas operations, up until 1989, was aimed at fighting the enemy: the armed wings of the liberation movements, the African National Congress’s Umkhonto we Sizwe (or ‘MK’), the Pan Africanist Congress’s Azanian People’s Liberation Army (or APLA) and the South African Communist Party. The second phase was ‘fighting organized crime’ in which Vlakplaas itself seamlessly adopted the mantle of organized crime in the notorious downtown area of Johannesburg’s Hillbrow. The final phase, the most destructive, was as the murky ‘Third Force’ that destabilized the country in an orgy of violence in the run-up to its first democratic elections, in 1994.

Operating within South Africa as well as beyond the country’s borders, it will never been known how many victims can be attributed to the Vlakplaas agenda – with much of the execution taking place on the farm itself – but a conservative figure of 1,000 murders and assassinations has been mooted.