Franschhoek Literary Festival 2024

Exiled ballerina Lena Sergeyevna lies in hospital in New York, dying of cancer.Desperate to reconcile with her estranged daughter, she begins to reveal thetruth about her flight from the 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disasterwhere her husband Yuri, a nuclear physicist, disappeared while performingtop-secret research. We discover that Lena’s former life involved deep compromises for which she has paid a heavy price in shame and self-loathing. Whathappened to Yuri, was he somehow involved in the ‘accident’, and what madeLena leave the ussr and take up exotic dancing in the us? Set in a geopoliticalhotspot, Ukraine, this intelligent memoir–thriller explores the struggle forself-expression, the triumph of truth over deception, and the impact on thehuman psyche of personal and global catastrophe.

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When we eat al fresco – outside, beyond the confines of four walls – everyday meals become a heady combination of fresh air and flavours, of outdoor sounds and natural views. Whether that ‘outside’ is our own backyard, garden, patio or stoep, seaside caravan park, bushveld or the middle of nowhere surrounded by mountains, it makes little difference because we come away energised, nurtured and deeply satisfied. And if preparing those meals doesn’t require conventional electricity during the dreaded loadshedding, well, that’s just the cherry on the top! In Easy Al Fresco , Ilse van der Merwe offers a simple and inspiring guide for fabulous, easy and scrumptious dishes that can all be prepared with a limited range of basic utensils, and a fire or kettle braai. As Ilse says, this should be the only book you pack for your next trail hike, fishing weekend, game reserve trip or seaside holiday. So what are you waiting for? Light the fire, grab a whisk and turn the pages of Easy Al Fresco – you’ll never look back.

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Longing for independence, a young sheltered Kenyan woman flees the expectations of her mother for a life in New York City that challenges all her beliefs about race, love, and family.   'Readers will find a poignant, memorable voice they’ll feel lucky to have met.'  - Harper’s Bazaar (Best Summer Beach Reads of 2023)   Soila is a lucky girl by anyone’s estimation. Raised by her stern, conservative mother and a chorus of aunts, she has lived a protected life in Nairobi. Soila is headstrong and outspoken, and she chafes against her mother’s strict rules. After a harrowing assault by a trusted family friend, she flees to New York for college, vowing never to return home.   New York in the 1990s is not what Soila imagined it would be. Instead of finding a golden land of opportunity, Soila is shocked by the entitlement of her wealthy American classmates and the poverty she sees in the streets. She befriends a Black American girl at school and witnesses the insidious racism her friend endures, forcing Soila to begin to acknowledge the legacy of slavery and the blind spots afforded by her Kenyan upbringing. When she falls in love with a free-spirited artist, a man her mother would never approve of, she must decide whether to honor her Kenyan identity and what she owes to her family, or to follow her heart and forge a life of her own design.   Lucky Girl  is a fierce and tender debut about the lives and loves we choose—what it meant to be an African immigrant in America at the turn of the millennium, and how a young woman finds a place for herself in the world.

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The Near North is a vivid account of life in Johannesburg in times of crisis. From the stony ridges of Langermann Kop in Kensington to the tree-lined avenues of Houghton, we follow the writer through the city's streets, meeting its ghosts and journeying through time and (often circumscribed) space, finding meaning in the everyday and incidental.At once an echo of Ivan Vladislavić’s award-winning Portrait with Keys and an original work of intense acuity and quiet power, The Near North is both intimate and expansive, ranging from small domestic dramas to great public spectacles. Wryly playful at times, fiercely serious at others, it is certain to move and delight all who accompany the writer through its pages.

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In South African higher education, the images of dysfunction are everywhere. Student protests. Violence. Police presence. Rubber or real bullets. Class disruptions. Burning tyres. Damaged buildings. Injury and sometimes death. Reports of wholesale corruption. Year after year, often in the same set of universities; the problem of routine instability seems insoluble.The financial, academic and reputational costs of ongoing dysfunction are high, especially for those universities caught-up in the never-ending struggle to overcome apartheid legacies. Any number of explanations have been ventured, including a lack of resources, shortage of capacity, rural location, corrupt officials, and endemic conflict. Corrupted takes a deeper look at dysfunction in an attempt to unravel the root causes in a sample of South African universities.At the heart of the problem lies the vexed issue of resources or, more pertinently, the relationship between resources and power: who gets what, and why? Whatever else it aspires to be—commonly, a place of teaching, learning, research and public duty—a university in an impoverished community is also a rich concentration of resources around which corrupt staff, students and those outside of campus all vie for access.Taking a political economic approach, Jonathan Jansen describes the daily struggle for institutional resources and offers accessible, sensible insights. He argues that the problem won’t be solved through investments in ‘capacity building’ alone because the combination of institutional capacity and institutional integrity contributes to serial instability in universities. Rather, durable solutions would include the depoliticisation of university councils and appointments of academics with integrity and capacity to manage and lead these fragile institutions. This groundbreaking and long overdue study will offer a promising way forward for universities to better serve their communities and the country more broadly.

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Two problems. One fake dating solution. And a crash landing into love...Things Pippa enjoys: her job, airplanes, synonyms and tropical fish.Things Pippa does not enjoy: repeating patterns, tight clothes, people asking why she's single and school reunions.After four months of only speaking over intercom, when air-traffic controller Pippa Edwards finally meets pilot Andrew Boyce-Jones face-to-face, they discover they've got much more in common than simply working at the same airport.In fact . . . they both need a date.Tired of every relationship ending before it's even begun, Pippa wants to evade the inevitable questions at her dreaded ten-year school reunion in Cape Town. And Andrew needs to get his well-meaning family off his back about settling down.The solution seems simple. A pact - a fake dating pact - for as long as it's mutually beneficial. It's perfect. Or at least it would be if their very real attraction wasn't about to make Pippa question everything she thought she wanted. . .

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We’re putting this precious book into your hands. May the stories in it touch yourhearts and your sense of patriotism – may it inspire you to be a part of changing thegross inequities in our society. May it grant you grace in truly ‘seeing’ others who aredifferent. May it inspire you to reimagine what our future can look like. We have abeautiful country, let’s find ways of saving it.

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Chillingly intriguing, Joy Watson’s debut novel paints a portrait of a woman who will do anything to escape the damage of her past, refusing to accept that she can’t have it all, no matter what the price. The moral ambiguities and shifting revelations of The Other Me create an ingenious page-turner that will draw you in and confound you at every turn.

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Growth Growth Growth retells history as a succession of pivotal crises linked to economicgrowth. Beginning with agriculture ten thousand years ago, each crisis led to an impasseuntil human ingenuity devised a technical ‘solution’ to fix it. These solutions included thealphabet, paper, clocks, guns, the printing press, the steam engine, the petrol engine,electricity, nitrogen fertilizer, and the computer. Each solution, however, played a part inthe next crisis. Growth-driven crises led to the world wars of the first half of the twentieth century, including the atrocities of Stalin, Hitler and Hiroshima. The brief ‘golden age’ of capitalism of the 1950s and 1960s gave way to the ultra-corporate capitalism that, in one variant or another, is now the global economic system. Julian Cobbing’s lively account exposes the historical roots of our converging problems – the destruction of the environment, the massacre of other species, the running down of oil reserves, global heating, and the nuclear threat to all of us. This time there is no technical solution, since we are devouring the Earth’s finite resources. Cobbing reminds us that we are just one species in a planetary life system which could dispense with us if we are not needed. Julian Cobbing studied history at King’s C

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Johannesburg. Easter weekend. 1993. Chris Hani, the charismatic ANC leader, is shot and killed outside his home by white supremacist Janusz Walus in an attempt to stop talks to transform South Africa into a multiracial democracy. The aim of the assassination is simple and chilling: to tip the country into all-out civil war. Twenty-two-year-old rookie journalist Justice Malala was one of the first people at the crime scene and he covered the growing chaos of the next nine days – the protests and police brutality, reprisal killings, arson and calls for paramilitary units to get combat-ready. On the 30th anniversary of Hani’s death, Malala revisits the unforgettable events of these nine days. Unspooling political history in the style of a thriller, he takes the reader into the thought processes and consequential actions of the key players – from Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk to dangerous right-wingers such as Clive Derby-Lewis and prominent struggle leaders Cyril Ramaphosa, Bantu Holomisa and Tokyo Sexwale. Through vivid archival research and revealing original interviews, Malala digs into questions that were never fully answered amid the tumult of the time: how influential were far-right elements within the government in inciting and even planning the assassination? And as the time bomb ticked, how did Mandela, De Klerk and their close confidants – despite provocation and their own fears – work together to choose the path of peace?

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“Let us, then, set off together on a series of journeys around South Africa with an old kitbag full of books instead of maps to guide us. Let us follow meandering paths through the landscapes of literature, and celebrate how local authors, characters and readers are shaped and inspired by place …” In this gripping travelogue, Justin Fox goes on a one-of-a-kind journey. Marrying his love for travel and writing, he sets off to explore the places ofhis favourite books. From the mountainous eastern Karoo of Olive Schreiner to the big game lowveld of Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, from Deneys Reitz’s wide-open Cape interior to the bushveld of Eugène Marais’s Waterberg, Fox reveals the majestic power of place. Through the savannah of Herman Charles Bosman’s Marico, the dusty plains of JM Coetzee’sMoordenaars Karoo, the forests of Dalene Matthee’s Garden Route, the subtropical hamlets of Zakes Mda’s Wild Coast, and finally the sandstone crags of Stephen Watson’s Cederberg, he brings to life the settings we’ve only seen through characters’ eyes. Place is a moving love letter to South Africa, merging literature and landscape, and taking the reader on a breath-taking journey – into the heart of South Africa’s spectacular landscape and the inner-worlds of its most celebrated authors.

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When Karen Dudley closed her iconic restaurant, The Kitchen, in Woodstock, Cape Town, there were tears all over for the beloved establishment. Since then, Karen has found that connection does not necessarily reside only in bricks and mortar. She has found that she can carry that deliciousness onwards. This book is all about how she has done just that.In Onwards, Karen Dudley weaves a compelling narrative of how her life changed after the Covid-19 pandemic forced her to close her restaurant, The Kitchen. From these bleak circumstances arose something beautiful, offering the time and space for inspiration to take root, to rediscover her connection with food, and to shift her perception of what it means to cook, for oneself and for others. Onwards is a book about the way forward, filled with wholesome, nourishing and indulgent recipes, with a story of hope and happiness threaded throughout.

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Why do so many South Africans prefer taking the law into their own hands to relying on the police? Why are those who do so often cheered or sympathised with?Of the unprecedented 27 000 recorded murders in South Africa in 2022, at least 1 894 – or 7 per cent – were attributed to mob justice and vigilantism, more than double the number from five years before. In the first nine months of 2023, a further 1 472 mob justice deaths had already been registered.Mob justice is nothing new, but in recent years it has taken on an undeniably desperate, furious edge. From the breathtakingly violent Zandspruit massacre in May 2021, to the killings during the July unrest two months later, to the march of Operation Dudula across the nation in 2022, vigilantism – and the condoning of it – has never before captured the zeitgeist of South Africa so sharply. What has changed in the past few years, and what does it augur for the future?Following three recent cases of mob justice, from the hellish metropolitan townships of Gauteng to the far-flung bushveld of northern Limpopo, and drawing on extensive research and interviews, Why We Kill explores the roots, realities and consequences of South Africa’s current crisis of vigilantism.

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"When the digital world started, many companies moved slowly and cautiously, not willing to replace their traditional operations. Now most companies have gone digital. We are now moving beyond digital into an AI world. Don't ignore it. This important book will guide you by providing a fresh perspective on the interrelationships between humans and AI." – Philip KotlerDo you feel overwhelmed by the AI wave? Worried that it could cost you your job, harm your business, or even take over?AI has pervaded our lives and is aggressively disrupting business. No person today can afford to ignore AI.Age of Agency is your companion, helping you leverage AI's capabilities to power your productivity and success. By understanding AI, you will learn to use it as a tool for personal career growth and business success.Former Microsoft executive Kerushan Govender demystifies AI, emphasising the importance of human agency. Reconnect with the needs of humanity and learn the importance of care as a differentiator in an AI world. Avoid the potential pitfalls of excessive reliance on the technology. Age of Agency is a blueprint for ensuring human agency outpaces computer agency. It boldly pits the limits of machine learning against the infinity of human ability. With this survival guide, you’ll uncover ways to connect with humanity on a deeper level, going beyond anything AI can do. Ready to become AI-savvy, with your humanity as your differentiator? Dive into the future with the confidence to ride the wave of today’s AI revolution.

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A shocking and unsettling tale of murder that is at times funny, at times erotic, always outspoken and iconoclastic. A genre-breaking novel from a powerful new African voice.How do you begin a murder story starring a curious foreigner and an opportunistic local without giving away the entire plot-who died and why? You start with the obvious villain.2019, The Year of Return. It has been exactly 400 years since the first slave ships left Ghana for America. Ghana has now opened its doors to Black diasporans, encouraging them to return and get to know the land of their ancestors. Elton, Vincent, and Scott arrive from America to visit preserved sites from the transatlantic slave route, and to explore the country's underground queer scene. Their activities are narrated by their two combative guides: Kobby, their way into Accra's privileged circles; and Nana, the voice of tradition andreligious principle. The pair's tense relationship sets the tone for what becomes a shocking and unsettling tale of murder that is at times funny, at times erotic, yet always outspoken and iconoclastic.

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Khanyisa - A Culinary Storyteller" is a cookbook written by South African chef and food stylist, Khanyisa Malabi. The book is a celebration of African cuisine and culture, with a focus on using local ingredients and traditional cooking techniques to create modern, vibrant dishes. Growing up in a large, close-knit family in South Africa, Malabi was exposed to the joys of cooking from a young age. She learned to cook from her mother and grandmother, who taught her the importance of using fresh, local ingredients and the value of sharing meals with loved ones. She often draws inspiration from her family's traditional dishes and incorporates them into her own cooking. Throughout the book, Malabi's passion for cooking and storytelling shines through, making it not just a cookbook, but a cultural journey. The photography is also stunning, capturing the beauty and vibrancy of African cuisine.

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SOMEONE WANTS YOU OUT OF THE PICTURE . . .The thrilling new Detective Jane Tennison crime novel from the Queen of Crime Drama - now available in paperback, eBook and audiobook.Helena Lanark is the only one who knows about the horrors which once occurred in her family's house. The heiress of an immense family fortune, she now resides in a luxurious care home; her mind and memory fading fast.Jane Tennison is leading a murder investigation into the recent brutal death of a young girl, her decomposed, starved body discovered in an old air raid shelter in the garden of the Lanark's now derelict house. Initially the focus is on identifying the victim, until another body is found hidden in the walls of the shelter.As the investigation and search for answers intensifies, Jane travels to Australia. There she discovers the dark secret that the Lanark family has kept hidden for decades. A secret that not only threatens to bring down a family dynasty, but also places Jane Tennison in mortal danger . . .Murder hides behind closed doors in Lynda La Plante's brilliant new Jane Tennison thriller.Praise for Lynda La Plante:'The UK's most celebrated female crime author' - DAILY MAIL'Thirty years on from writing Prime Suspect, La Plante is still delivering the goods' - THE TIMES'Tough, brilliant and damaged, [Tennison] shook up the genre forever' - DAILY EXPRESS'Lynda La Plante practically invented the thriller' - KARIN SLAUGHTER

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Detective Jane Tennison made a bad choice. She was the one who put in a transfer to the quiet, local police station in Bromley, keen to escape the relentless pressure of her former West End department. Now she regrets her decision. The tedium of petty crime investigations even makes her question remaining in the force. But then a complicated domestic assault case lands on her desk - one that might still result in a murder charge if the victim dies of his injuries. The warring neighbours who witnessed the assault intrigue Jane. The case has a sinister underbelly, she can sense it. And when Jane discovers a handsome young boy had recently disappeared after the tragic death of his girlfriend, every family in the private close becomes a suspect. As Tennison hunts for the link between the crimes, she uncovers a truth more shocking than she could have contemplated. One that will either make her career - or break it.

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It was supposed to be a simple case: a young man arrested for armed assault.But it was just the beginning.As Rodney Middleton awaits trial, Detective Jack Warr is warned by his mentor DCI Ridley that they have only scratched the surface of the man's crimes. Then DCI Ridley is suddenly removed from his post. No one is to contact him - and no one will say why.As Warr digs into Middleton's past, Ridley calls pleading for help, now accused of a murder he insists he didn't commit. To catch a monster and exonerate his friend, Warr must weed out the lies. But what awaits Warr if he uncovers the truth?

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Coloured as an ethnicity and racial demographic is intertwined in the creation of the South Africa we have today. Yet often, Coloured communities are disdained as people with no clear heritage or culture — ‘not being black enough or white enough. Coloured challenges this notion and presents a different angle to that narrative. It delves into the history of Coloured people as descendants of indigenous Africans and a people whose identity was shaped by colonisation, slavery, and the racial political hierarchy it created. Although rooted in a difficult history, this book is also about the culture that Coloured communities have created for themselves through food, music, and shared lived experiences in communities such as Eldorado Park, Eersterus, and Wentworth. Coloured culture is an act of defiance and resilience. Coloured is a reflection on, and celebration of Coloured identities as lived experiences. It is a call to Coloured communities to reclaim their identity and an invitation to understand the history and place of Coloured people in the making of South Africa’s future.

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‘This book kept me alive.’ Love and Fury is the compelling and intimate account of the life, loves and furies of Margie Orford. In this brave memoir, the renowned South African crime writer divulges some of the harrowing experiences that have shaped her life and influenced her writing. Through sexual assault, divorce, depression and personal loss, Orford illuminates the trauma she has navigated. Tender and courageous chapters vividly recall memories of what she has been through as a woman, mother, wife, feminist and ambitious writer. Love and Fury shows why trauma in our past can have such an enduring and debilitating effect on women’s lives. It also unpacks the healing power of love, creativity, courage and self-reflection, ultimately offering a profound message of hope and joy for any woman who has ever questioned themselves, their trauma and who they are in the world. This book is every woman’s love and fury.

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Written from the maxim “it takes a lawyer, an activist, and a storyteller to change the world", The Revolution Will Not Be Litigated shows how the law and social movements can reinforce each other in the struggle for justice and freedom.In these vibrant narratives, 25 of the world’s most accomplished movement lawyers and activists become storytellers, reflecting on their experiences at the frontlines of some of the most significant struggles of our time. In an era where human rights are under threat, their words offer both an inspiration and a compass for the way movements can use the law – and must sometimes break it – to bring about social justice.The contributors here take you into their worlds: Jennifer Robinson frantically orchestrating a protest outside London’s Ecuadorean embassy to prevent the authorities from arresting her client Julian Assange; Justin Hansford at the barricades during the protests over the murder of Black teenager Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri; Ghida Frangieh in Lebanon’s detention centres trying to access arrested protestors during the 2019 revolution; Pavel Chikov defending Pussy Riot and other abused prisoners in Russia; Ayisha Siddiqa, a shy Pakistani immigrant, discovering community in her new home while leading the 2019 youth climate strike in Manhattan; Greenpeace activist Kumi Naidoo on a rubber dinghy in stormy Arctic seas contemplating his mortality as he races to occupy an oil rig.The stories in The Revolution Will Not Be Litigated capture the complex, and often-awkward dance between legal reform and social change. They are more than compelling portraits of fascinating lives and work, they are revelatory: of generational transitions; of epochal change and apocalyptic anxiety; of the ethical dilemmas that define our age; and of how one can make a positive impact when the odds are stacked against you in a harsh world of climate crisis and ruthless globalization. Contributors: Phelister Abdalla, Alejandra Ancheita, Joe Athialy, Baher Azmy, Pavel Chikov, Ghida Frangieh, Njeri Gateru, Mark Gevisser, Robin Gorna, Justin Hansford, Mark Heywood, Benjamin Hoffman, David Hunter, Ka Hsaw Wa, Julia Lalla-Maharajh, Kumi Naidoo, Nana Ama Nketia-Quaidoo, Katie Redford, Jennifer Robinson, Ayisha Siddiqa, Eimear Sparks, Klementyna Suchanov, Marissa Vahlsing, Krystal Two Bulls, David Wicker, Farhana Yamin and JingJing Zhang.

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At the very dawn of the country’s brave new democracy, Cape Town was at war. Pagad, which started as a community protest action against crime, had mutated into a sinister vigilante group wreaking death and destruction across the city. Between 1996 and 2001, there were more than 400 bombs – most famously at the popular Planet Hollywood restaurant at the V&A Waterfront – and there were countless targeted hits on drug lords and gang bosses. The police were at their wit’s end. The new ANC government was alarmed. The citizens of Cape Town were living in fear. Mark Shaw tells the incredible tale of how the police’s response pulled together former foes – struggle cadres and the apartheid security apparatus – to break the Pagad death squads. It is a story that has never been told in full and was not possible until recently, when many were released from prison or had retired and were finally willing to talk openly about this revealing chapter in South Africa’s recent history.

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We have a lot to be positive about in South Africa.            With all our problems, it’s easy to feel bleak. But hold those thoughts, because Legends might be just the tonic you need to drive off the gloom. This book tells the stories of a dozen remarkable people – some well known, others largely forgotten – who changed Mzansi for the better.            Most South Africans are proud of Nelson Mandela – and rightly so. His life was truly astounding, but he’s by no means the only person who should inspire us.            There’s King Moshoeshoe, whose humanity and diplomatic strategies put him head and shoulders above his contemporaries, both European and African. And John Fairbairn, who brought non-racial democracy to the Cape in 1854. Olive Schreiner was a bestselling international author who fought racism, corruption and chauvinism. And Gandhi spent twenty years here inventing a system of protest that would bring an Empire to its knees.            Legends also celebrates Eugène Marais’s startling contributions to literature and natural history (despite a lifelong morphine addiction); Sol Plaatje’s wit, intelligence and tenacity in the face of racial zealots; Cissie Gool’s lifetime fighting for justice and exposing bigots; and Sailor Malan’s battles against fascists in the skies of Europe and on the streets of South Africa.            Legends also celebrates Eugène Marais’s startling contributions to literature and natural history (despite a lifelong morphine addiction); Sol Plaatje’s wit, intelligence and tenacity in the face of racial zealots; Cissie Gool’s lifetime fighting for justice and exposing bigots; and Sailor Malan’s battles against fascists in the skies of Europe and on the streets of South Africa.            And then there’s Miriam Makeba, who began her life in prison and ended it as an international singing sensation; Steve Biko, who shifted the minds of an entire generation; and Thuli Madonsela (the book’s only living legend), who gracefully felled the most powerful man in the land.            Engagingly written and meticulously researched, Legends reminds South Africans that we have a helluva lot to be proud of.

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Statues and Storms offers a gripping insider’s account of Max Price’s tenure as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town during a transformative period in South African higher education. In the wake of the Rhodes Must Fall protests, universities across the country were engulfed in sustained and often violent demonstrations, challenging institutional cultures and sparking a global movement. This book provides a unique perspective on the protests, delving into the reasons behind the decolonising movement’s emergence at liberal universities two decades after the democratic transition. With afocus on leadership and the difficult decisions leaders must make during rapid transformation, the book also explores enduring themes in academia, including academic and artistic freedom, the limits of protest rights, institutional racism, culture and inclusiveness, and the funding of higher education.

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One morning Laine wakes up to discover that the man she's been married to for 15 years has been secretively living out a monstrous lie. Her world is tilted on its axis. Now she must unstitch her existence, and peck through the pieces of her past... Just as Laine thinks she's reached the end of uncovering all the bitter truths, a child appears who demands her attention. This small, fierce person forces her to see the horror and ignites the tiniest flame of hope within. A brilliant debut novel.

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What happens when South Africas tumultuous political life becomes entangled in the courts of law? Throughout the past 50 years, the courts have been a battleground for contesting political forces as more and more conflicts that were once fought in Parliament or in streets, or through strikes and media campaigns, find their way to the judiciary. Certainly, the legal system was used by both the apartheid state and its opponents. But it is in the post-apartheid era, and in particular under the rule of President Jacob Zuma, that we have witnessed a dramatic increase in lawfare: the migration of politics to the courts. The authors show through a series of case studies how just about every aspect of political life ends up in court: the arms deal, the demise of the Scorpions, the Cabinet reshuffle, the expulsion of the EFF from Parliament, the nuclear procurement process, the Cape Town mayor the list goes on and on. This book offers a highly readable analysis of some of the most widely publicised and decisive instances of lawfare. It argues that while it is good that the judiciary is able to shoulder the burden of supporting democracy, it is showing signs of immense strain under the present deluge of political cases. Whether the courts will survive this strain undamaged remains to be seen.

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Three Egg Dilemma is a visionary novel. Morojele has built worlds and characters that are unforgettable. This audacious novel is set to become a classic work of South African fiction.This is the story of Ex (short for ‘Example’), who lives in a small township on the outskirts of a town in Lesotho. He stays in his dead parents’ house, decorated with all his mother’s things, where he subsists off renting out back rooms. He drinks – too much – at Mada’s down the road, and has two friends: Sticks, who sells eggs on the street, and Latrine, so called because of his meagre digestion. Although Ex used to have broad horizons, his life now is limited by the street he lives on. Once he had a meaningful job, he travelled, had money and hope. Life, and Lesotho, have been badly knocked: the country has suffered droughts, and is periodically thrown into turmoil by violent soldiers, or attacks by roving bandits such as the vicious Zuluboy. Poverty is rife. Early on, we are introduced to a recurring vision, or supernatural phenomenon, that haunts Ex – ‘Mota’s ghost’, a ghastly demon-like being, ghost or representation of death or fate. It first appears to presage the death of a friend, and later returns when death visits his town. The second important figure in the story is Phuleng / Pearl, an innocent young woman who arrives as a refugee when the soldiers are rampaging, and stays in Ex’s house – in his mother’s room. Ex, though much older, predictably enough falls in love with Pearl, but she has other ambitions. She works in a hotel in town, and eventually we learn that she has been impregnated by a white guest. Before the end, Ex will frighten her away, attempting to sexually assault her in the house. She will eventually end up a refugee again, homeless and on the streets outside Ex’s house, after soldiers and gangs have torn the area apart. Major incidents in Ex’s life include an abortive love affair during his time of plenty, when he meets a woman from Botswana at an international aid conference, falls in love with her and travels across South Africa to join her – only to realise that he has misunderstood the signs, and that she is marrying a white man. The other formative moment is when he is tricked into believing that a street child is his son. Each of these moments of hope ends with him, to different degrees, being deceived, humiliated and exploited. The novel ends with Ex back in his house after Zuluboy’s ravages, running the old shop and bar and being counselled in acceptance by the hideous Mota’s ghost. Morojele has written a dystopian masterpiece: one which takes the reader on a darkly comic journey. Three Egg Dilemma is a visionary novel. Morojele has built worlds and characters that are unforgettable. This audacious novel is set to become a classic work of South African fiction.

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In 2021, South Africa was introduced to notorious serial killer, Rosemary Ndlovu. Rosemary worked as a police sergeant in Tembisa, Ekurhuleni. Despite taking an oath to serve and protect, in court it emerged that she had arranged the murders of her lover and at least five members of her family. For some murders she hired hitmen, others she carried out herself.Regarded as our nation's most significant female serial killer since Daisy de Melker, Rosemary killed for money.

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An exploration geologist by profession and keen birder byhobby, Nick Norman was surprised to see a woodpecker inBrazil, where he was working at the time, which was strikingly similar to those he knew in the land of his birth, South Africa. His assumption that it was explained by an ancestral woodpecker family having been fragmented when supercontinent Gondwana split into Africa and South America – and others - was contested by the leading ornithologist he consulted when next back in South Africa. In subsequent work engagements in South America, he saw other birds there, as well as trees, which represented families he knew well in Africa. That was the mystery: how the same families of flora and fauna had distributed themselves in continents astride a major world ocean, the South Atlantic. Sherlock Holmes said: ‘When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.’ In solving the mystery, the truth of Holmes’s axiom becamemore and more evident to Nick as he discovered extraordinary travelogues of trees and birds for which, given enough time, a wide ocean was no barrier. It is a story of astonishing epiphanies. “This authoritative book of scientific discovery, is an exciting read and a masterpiece in elucidating the role of place tectonics, ocean currents, floating islands of debris, evolution and genetics to explain the distribution of species around the world.”

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One evening in early autumn, ten people drive into a tunnel through the Cape mountains – and find themselves trapped. As their limited supplies dwindle, what do they do?Where can they go? What will they find? Tunnel burrows deep into the psychologies and coping strategies that connect and disconnect these protagonists in a dark, tense and compelling human drama. An urgent new novel, told through many eyes; a journey – terrific and mystical – through despair, memory, and love.

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After matriculating from a top private Jewish school in Joburg, Nikki Munitz finds herself in the clutches of heroin addiction. She's sent to Noupoort, a rehab centre in the remote Northern Cape, run by a pastor who brandishes a tattoo of Satan. In this hellhole, she meets Jake, the handsome son of a wealthy Afrikaans family. Lured by the illusion of her ‘happy-ever-after’, she marries him - but the façade of her new family soon crumbles. Money is in short supply, so Nikki gets a job at a law firm and starts syphoning money from trust accounts. By the time her R2,5 million fraud is discovered, she has been clean and sober for five years. A grueling court battle follows, and she is found guilty on 37 counts of fraud. Fraud is a powerful memoir about the unmasking of the self. It's the tale of a young Jewish mother who is forced to examine a life of lies and deceit from behind bars, until an unexpected encounter in the grimy prison gives Nikki her wings to fly free.

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‘By the early evening, the irresolute and weakened Ramaphosa slate left no one unscathed – not Mabuyane, not Lamola, not the Mkhize camp. The Ramaphosa caucus was tarnished by infighting. The Mkhize camp was initially none the wiser as to whether Mashatile, who saw an opportunity to mop up votes in the Ramaphosa camp, would contest the position on its list. The situation left a power vacuum in its wake. The bigger picture remained unresolved. There was no obvious successor to David Mabuza. ’For the first time in South African literature comes not just an insider book, but from someone who had ringside seats as political power changed hands at the all-important ANC NASREC 2022 where Cyril Ramaphosa was either going to consolidate his power or be ejected. Van Heerden’s book is not mere reportage, he does not simply give us the numbers, the money, the delegates, the switching, the promises and the backstabbing, but importantly, Oscar himself is part of the story, and he has to personally contend with the modern ANC. Ramaphosa’s fortunes have been in decline since he first came to power, having to deal with the RET group, COVID, the July 2021 civil unrest, and the brutal energy crisis. Over each crisis he has had to stand by his party’s glorious history and against its rapid decline into inner-party feuds, corruption and bureaucratic ineptitude. What legacy then has Ramaphosa left? How has he contended with a country coming apart at the seams? Will 2024 be the end of his presidency, and will the party be over for the ANC? Fast-paced and unputdownable, Is the Party Over? is a must read anytime, but in 2024, if you want to know what the politicians are up to in the backrooms, you must read this book!

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‘Eminently bingeable, religiously fact-checked and seductively globetrotting . . . A preternaturally attentive reporter at work’ - The Observer‘A new book by Keefe means drop everything and close the blinds; you’ll be turning pages for hours . . . Highly entertaining’ - Los Angeles TimesFrom the prize-winning, New York Times bestselling author of Say Nothing and Empire of Pain, twelve enthralling stories of skulduggery and intrigue by one of the most decorated journalists of our time.Patrick Radden Keefe’s work has been recognised by prizes ranging from the National Magazine Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award in the US to the Orwell Prize and the Baillie Gifford in the UK, for his meticulously reported, hypnotically engaging work on the many ways people behave badly. Rogues brings together a dozen of his most celebrated articles from the New Yorker. As Keefe observes in his preface: ‘They reflect on some of my abiding preoccupations: crime and corruption, secrets and lies, the permeable membrane separating licit and illicit worlds, the bonds of family, the power of denial.’Keefe explores the intricacies of forging $150,000 vintage wines; examines whether a whistleblower who dared to expose money laundering at a Swiss bank is a hero or a fabulist; spends time in Vietnam with Anthony Bourdain; chronicles the quest to bring down a cheerful international black-market arms merchant; and profiles a passionate death-penalty attorney who represents the ‘worst of the worst’, among other bravura works of literary journalism.The appearance of his byline in the New Yorker is always an event; collected here for the first time readers can see how his work forms an always enthralling yet also deeply human portrait of criminals and rascals, as well as those who stand up to them.

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Will dwindling elephant numbers be reversed? Will the forces of good triumph over the vicious looters? Can the annual trillion-dollar money laundering trade by brought to heel by a brave whistle blower? Peter Hain's gripping second thriller builds to a dramatic climax, the action switching from wildlife to politics, from bushveld to city, from high finance to poaching. A vivid and gripping journey into the competing worlds of activism and corruption.

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'An enchanting story about love, loss and the power of language' Elizabeth Macneal, author of The Doll FactorySometimes you have to start with what's lost to truly find yourself...Motherless and irrepressibly curious, Esme spends her childhood at her father's feet as he and his team gather words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary.One day, she sees a slip of paper containing a forgotten word flutter to the floor unclaimed.And so Esme begins to collect words for another dictionary in secret: The Dictionary of Lost Words. But to do so she must journey into a world on the cusp of change as the Great War looms and women fight for the vote. Can the power of lost words from the past finally help her make sense of her future?'A brilliant book about women and words - tender, moving and profound' Jacqueline WilsonReaders LOVE The Dictionary of Lost Words:'If you only read one book this year, let it be this one!''If you're a fan of The Binding and The Betrayals you will surely love this''A glorious combination of words, growing up, friendship, love, feminism and so much more''The best love letter to words and language''This book broke my heart ... I highly recommend it to any historical fiction fans ... it's one I will be reading again'

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PRAISE FOR THE DICTIONARY OF LOST WORDS:'A really thought-provoking novel' Reese Witherspoon'An enchanting story about love, loss and the power of language' Elizabeth Macneal, author of The Doll Factory''Your job is to bind the books, not read them.'When the men of Oxford University Press leave for the Western Front, Peggy, her twin sister Maude and their friends in the bookbindery must shoulder the burden at home. As Peggy moves between her narrowboat full of memories and the demands of the Press, her dreams of studying feel ever more remote. She must know her place, fold her pages and never stop to savour the precious words in front of her.From volunteer nurses to refugees fleeing the horrors of occupation, the war brings women together from all walks of life, and with them some difficult choices for Peggy. New friends and lovers offer new opportunities, but they also make new demands - and Peggy must write her own story.

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Is a zebra black with white stripes or white with black stripes? And why do flamingos stand on one leg while bats hang upside down? Did you know that a chameleon’s tongue can shoot out at five times the acceleration of a fighter jet? In The Buck That Buries its Poo, naturalist Quinton Coetzee answers these and many other intriguing wildlife questions. He also dispels countless myths and elucidates some of the legends that surround creatures in the South African bush we thought we knew all about. For example, bats do not get tangled in people’s hair (because they are far too adept at flying) and elephants are not afraid of mice (but they do fear bees!). Other tall tales you might hear around the campfire are that lions roll in animal dung, entrails or carcasses to disguise their scent, and that rhinos have a predilection for stamping out fires. What is true, though, is that hyenas are more closely related to cats than to dogs. This handy guide is based on Coetzee’s own research and that of others, and his experience gleaned over decades living close to nature and wildlife. It seeks to unravel the mysteries of nature in Africa – from mammals and birds to arthropods and plants – with fascinating information and fun trivia. It is a book that will enlighten and entertain. PS: Zebras are black with white stripes!

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Maria is a young woman raised as a Jehovah’s Witness in South Africa, and this book documents her experiences of gender victimisation, sexual abuse and cover-ups within the church, as well as her eventual ‘escape’ from its doctrines and control. Maria’s freedom came at a price, however – she can never see her mother and sister again.A worldwide, Christian-based religious group that professes an unparalleled dedication to Jehovah (God), the Jehovah’s Witnesses have a strong sense of community and appear to embrace a disciplined yet loving way of life with the promise of eternal salvation for those who follow the way of Jehovah. It is a seemingly benign religious movement, claiming to be politically neutral, racially and ethnically transcendent, with a membership of eight million people worldwide. Yet, at its core, many former Witnesses claim that it is a fear-based doomsday cult that considers itself above all other belief systems. Allegations of secular, cultish behaviour, homophobia, money laundering, brainwashing and countless accusations of institutionalised sexual abuse abound. It seems that membership is managed and retained mostly by way of information control and manipulation, extending to the shunning of higher education and preaching their own version of the Bible. Entering the church is easy, but leaving it can be a matter of life or death, as Maria and countless others discovered …

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Most serial murderers undeniably spring from abusive or neglected childhoods, and/or are potentially predisposed to various genetic, sociopathic or schizophrenic afflictions, rendering the root cause of their murderous behaviour a complex, lethal combination of factors. What is less credited, however, is the role of pathological narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) in the making of a serial killer.Narcissistic rage, sexual narcissism, necrophilia and cannibalism are all driven by a need to control and satisfy a grandiose sense of entitlement for personal pleasure, and of those, narcissistic rage is possibly the most dangerous factor of all in the understanding of serial rape and murder. In this riveting book, the author explores the role of NPD through the lived experiences of various serial murderers and showcases the profiles of both infamous and lesser-known serial offenders from South Africa and around the world.From the blatant, callous criminality of the likes of Jason Rohde, Dr Wouter Basson and Henri van Breda to the unspeakable cruelty of serial rapists and murderers like Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Kobus Geldenhuys (the Norwood killer) and Don Steenkamp (the Griekwastad murderer), this book reveals the role pathological narcissism might have played in some of the most notorious and gruesome criminal cases of our times. Just one warning: Don’t read this book at night!

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There is an African proverb: ‘Until the lion has a historian of his own, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.’ This book is an acceptance of that challenge, to write a brand new kind of history, where the author becomes the the lion’s historian. As a species, we are not alone. But for too long our history has been written as though we are. This book insists on a retelling of our more-than-human past, a retelling of a shifting series of significant inter-species relationships – from the odd and quirky connections to those that triggered major changes in history itself. Sandra Swart has scoured the archives to find both the real animal stories and the stories we have told about them for millennia. The animals in this book – elephants, hippos, okapi, lions, jackals, cows, sheep, horses, white ants, quagga, Nazi-bred Heck cattle, police dogs and baboons – are chosen strategically to highlight different facets of our shared past. With this animal-centric lens, decades of research are brought together in a stunning book that take animals seriously.To do this, Swart embraces the natural sciences (biology, ethology, conservation biology, palaeontology) and the social sciences, oral history, indigenous knowledge as well as archival history. This is a book with fangs! It tears through conventional stories to ask: if we are not alone and given our current global crises of mass extinctions, are we prepared to move beyond the convention that ‘history’ is only the story of our own species? Can we, instead, consider a more-than-human past? In our current cataclysmic biodiversity crisis, we humans need to find new ways to live with and relate to other beings. The possibility of our shared future pivots on a reckoning with our shared pasts. This ground-breaking book shows what human–animal history can do, not only to understand our place in the world better but to make our world – however slightly – a better place.

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The greatest botanical artists in the world capture one of the most diverse floral kingdoms on earth 44 botanical artists from all over the world, create 120 original artworks. A Ground Breaking 21st Century First: The traditional medium of botanical art is given a new lens with the aim to ultimately connect the reader to a bigger picture - one in which the intricate relationship between ourselves, the natural environment, plants and their pollinators is revealed. Expect meticulous detailing of floral structures, bursting seed pods, brightly coloured beetles, foraging ants, floating pollen and striped field mice...coupled with scientific facts and narrative stories about each plant. This is a florilegium immersed in the natural world, informed by ecology and the fragility of our botanical heritage. Each chapter includes an up-front ‘Wunderkammer’ of artists' notes, colour swatches, working drawings and archeological details, revealing a glimpse into the creative process and ancient origins of the area. - A unique marriage of art, natural science and storytelling is used to share the treasures of our botanical heritage, diversity and sustainability - Featuring flowers, their pollinators and the landscapes in which they are found - Artists’ notes, working drawings and archeological finds bring each chapter to life. Found on a narrow coastal belt on the southern tip of Africa, grootbos is a private nature reserve dedicated to protecting, rehabilitating and conserving the indigenous flora and fauna of the Cape floristic kingdom. The flats, slopes and valleys of Grootbos are a microcosm of the extraordinary botanical diversity that characterizes the region, one of the most species-rich habitats in the world.

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Drawing on seemingly isolated instances of essential worker shortages developing around the world, investment analyst Shamil Ismail joins the dots to build a compelling and well-researched narrative explaining why aging and declining birth rates are leading to a shrinking workforce of essential workers that will massively disrupt our everyday lives. Essential jobs maintain the structure that upholds society. Ismail argues that there is a tipping point of a minimum proportion of essential workers needed to maintain societies, and when countries pass that tipping point, societies will start to unravel, and a cycle of decay will set in. These unfolding trends will make most of the topical issues of today—the rise of AI, geopolitical tensions, and climate change—pale in comparison. When are we likely to see the first major signs of this new reality? Which countries will be first impacted, and by when? What can we expect the world to look like in the decades to come? And what will this mean for the future of our children and grandchildren? The Age of Decay attempts to answer these intriguing questions and will, hopefully, allow us to prepare for the incredible transformation that lies ahead, including what Ismail foresees as the “African Century”.

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Sana and Meena will never meet. The two women share little beyond Akbar Manzil, the sprawling mansion they call home. When Meena fell in love with the owner of the house, it was the grandest residence on South Africa’s east coast near Durban. Eight decades later when Sana and her father move to the house, the latest of Akbar Manzil's long list of tenants, it is in near-ruins, crumbling, shabby and dark. This is a place where people come to forget. Or to be forgotten. Full of questions about her new home, Sana is drawn to the deserted east wing, home to a clutter of broken and abandoned objects – and to the locked door at its end, unopened for decades. Soon, Sana begins to discover the tangled, troubling history of the house, awakening the memories of the house itself and dredging up old and terrible secrets that will change the lives of everyone –living and dead – at Akbar Manzil.

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Daniel is a journalist, moving between London and Cape Town, until his elderly and demented father passes away. There is an unusual clause in the old man’s will: Daniel will only inherit his half of the estate once he has paid his estranged cousin a visit on the old family farm in the Free State. It is a visit that will result in Daniel, his cousin and a sick young boy making a hopeful trip to Tokyo – a journey that will change all of their lives. An exquisite, tender novel by the award-winning writer SJ Naudé, author of The Alphabet of Birds, The Third Reel and Mad Honey. An exploration of the relationships between fathers and sons, and of fatherhood, masculinity and loss. Translated into English by Michiel Heyns. Also available in Afrikaansas: Van vaders en vlugtelinge.

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“Crypto”, a loose term that means many things to different people, only entered public consciousness within the last five years or so, now evident by the volume of public discussion, commentary and analysis spread across every conceivable media outlet. It’s Mine digs into the history and concept of “ownership”, which ecosystems nurture it, and where we are now. Filled with anecdotes, observations and interviews, the book takes an entertaining and accessible look at how Bitcoin made its mark, how its technology is beingre-purposed to enable a revolution, and (in non-technical terms) how it all works. It explores how these new crypto “life-forms” will interact with the rest of the virtual and physical world, while making some very rich and some very poor.

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In this warmly funny romance about finding your way, opposites attract when an ex-heiress and a single dad cross paths, only to find that their separate roads may lead them to the same destination. Rowan Quinn knows fatherhood is a role he doesn’t want to take on—until he unexpectedly finds himself a single dad. He uproots his perfectly constructed life to move to a tight-knit coastal community in South Africa where, with the help of his grandmother, Rowan has a shot at giving his son the family he never had. Once footloose and fancy-free, former heiress Delilah Huntington is now a waitress in Sugarbush Bay determined to build a better life and a better self. So when she meets introverted Rowan, she makes it her personal mission to induct him into the town’s circle of single dads to give him the support he needs. The more Delilah lends her help to an out-of-his-depth Rowan, the more Rowan begins to realize that family is what you make it . . . and, just maybe, Delilah could be part of his?

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Space: the biggest geopolitical story of the coming century – new from the multi-million-copy international bestselling author of Prisoners of GeographySpy satellites orbiting the Moon. Space metals worth billions. Humans on Mars within our lifetimes.This isn’t science fiction. It’s astropolitics.We’re entering a new space race – and it could revolutionise life on Earth.Space: the new frontier, a wild and lawless place. It is already central to communication, economics, military strategy and international relations on Earth. Now, it is the latest arena for human exploration, exploitation – and, possibly, conquest. We’re heading up and out, and we’re taking our power struggles with us. China, the USA and Russia are leading the way.From physical territory and resources to satellites, weaponry and strategic choke points, geopolitics is as important in the skies above us as it is down below. If you’ve ever wondered if humans are going back to the Moon, who will benefit from exploration or what space wars might look like, the answers are here.With all the insight and wit that have made Tim Marshall the UK’s most popular writer on geopolitics, this gripping book shows how we got here and where we’re going, covering great-power rivalry; technology; commerce; combat in space; and what it means for all of us down here on Earth. This is essential reading on power, politics and the future of humanity.Praise for The Power of Geography:‘Fascinating . . . I can’t imagine reading a better book this year.’Daily Mirror‘Another outstanding guide to the modern world. Marshall is a master at explaining what you need to know and why.’ Peter FrankopanAnd Prisoners of Geography:'Like having a light shone on your understanding... I can't think of another book that explains the world situation so well.’ Nicolas Lezard, Evening Standard'Sharp insights into the way geography shapes the choices of world leaders.' Gideon Rachman, Financial Times

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