Best of
Africa

1975

An Instant in the Wind


André P. Brink - 1975
    And so it has come to his Baas's final command to his Hottentot slave Adam, to flog his mother, because she refuses to prune the master's vineyard in order to attend her own beloved mother's funeral. And when he refuses to do so, and his Baas smashes his face with a piece of wood, Adam turns on him, and beats him almost to death. Then he flees to South Africa's veld. There he comes to the rescue of Elizabeth, a white woman, and the only person to survive her husband's expedition in the vast South African interior. Alone and terrified, she pleads with the runaway slave to bring her back to the Cape and her home. Adam agrees because he believes by rescuing Elizabeth, he will be awarded his own freedom. This, then is the stunning story of their trek together, how they find in each other their mutual need and humanity, and finally how their days together turn into an unforgettable, tender love story. Shortlisted for the 1976 Booker Prize

Among the Elephants


Iain Douglas-Hamilton - 1975
    With 16 pages of extraordinary photographs.

Selected Stories


Nadine Gordimer - 1975
    Penguin Books, Inc.,1975

Longing For Darkness: Kamante's Tales from Out of Africa


Kamante - 1975
    Readers familiar with Out of Africa may recognize many of the enchanting stories. These celebrated tales and others are retold here from Kamante's perspective and are enhanced with his own drawings and letters, Dinesen's words and snapshots, and photographs by Peter Beard. Writes Beard, "Over a period of 12 years, as if divesting himself of his possessions, Kamante put down the extra dimensions of truth which are at the heart of Out of Africa."

The West and the Rest of Us: White Predators, Black Slavers and the African Elite


Chinweizu - 1975
    

Poems of Black Africa


Wole Soyinka - 1975
    

The Life And Times Of Menelik Ii: Ethiopia 1844 1913


Harold G. Marcus - 1975
    A study of the political and military genius of Menelik II, who defeated late 19th century European imperialism.

Honorary White


E.R. Braithwaite - 1975
    R. Braithwaite ("To Sir, With Love") chronicles the brutality, oppression, and courage he witnessed as a black man granted "Honorary White" status during a six-week visit to apartheid South AfricaAs a black man living in a white-dominated world, author E. R. Braithwaite was painfully aware of the multitude of injustices suffered by people of color and he wrote powerfully and poignantly about racial discrimination in his acclaimed novels and nonfiction works. So it came as a complete surprise when, in 1973, the longstanding ban on his books was lifted by the South African government, a ruling body of minority whites that brutally oppressed the black majority through apartheid laws. Applying for a visa--and secretly hoping to be refused--he was granted the official status of "Honorary White" for the length of his stay. As such, Braithwaite would be afforded some of the freedoms that South Africa's black population was denied, yet would nonetheless be considered inferior by the white establishment.With "Honorary White," Braithwaite bears witness to a dark and troubling time, relating with grave honesty and power the shocking abuses, inequities, and horrors he observed and experienced firsthand during his six-week stay in a criminal nation. His book is a personal testament to the savagery of apartheid and to the courage of those who refused to be broken by it.

Waiting for the Rain


Charles Mungoshi - 1975
    This early novel deals with the pain and dislocation of the clash of the old and new ways - the educated young man determined to go overseas, and the elders of the family believing his duty is to stay and head the family.

They Called Me Mama


Margaret Nicholl Laird - 1975
    At first reluctant to go to Africa, Margaret Nicholl Laird came to know it as the land of miracles, where God’s love won over both hostile tribes and skeptical officials.

Portraits in the Wild: Behavior Studies of East African Mammals


Cynthia Moss - 1975
    Synthesizes the results of some of the more recent systematic observations and studies of the behavior of fifteen major East African species, including the elephant, giraffe, black rhinoceros, zebra, wildebeest, lion, and spotted hyena

Collected Plays 2 {The Lion and the Jewel; Kongi's Harvest; The Trials of Brother Jero; Jero's Metamorphosis; Madmen and Specialists}


Wole Soyinka - 1975
    This second volume of Wole Soyinka's plays traces the ironic development and consequences of 'progress'.

The World of Nat Nakasa


Nat Nakasa - 1975
    Yet even this will not make me feel ashamed. For I know that as long as the ideas remain unchanged within me, there will always be the possibility that, one day, I shall burst out and say everything that I wish to say - in a loud and thunderous voice.' In this collection of some of the finest writings by Nat Nakasa, that loud and thunderous voice speaks with such clarity and insight as to create a book that has been read and reread since its first appearance in 1975.

Revelation and Divination in Ndembu Ritual


Victor Turner - 1975
    Written by an internationally-known social scientist, the book demonstrates how the study of small-scale events may reveal as much about what it means to be a human being in society as do grand macrosocial and macrocultural surveys.Drawing on two and a half years of fieldwork, Victor Turner offers two thorough ethnographic studies of Ndembu revelatory ritual and divinatory techniques, with running commentaries on symbolism by a variety of Ndembu informants. Striking a personal note in the introductory chapter, Turner acknowledges his indebtedness to Ndembu ritualists for alerting him to the theoretical relevance of symbolic action in understanding human societies. He believes that ritual symbols, like botanists' stains, enable us to detect and trace the movement of social processes and relationships that often lie below the level of direct observation.

The Peoples of Kenya


Joy Adamson - 1975
    

Three Solid Stones (Aws 159)


Martha Mvungi - 1975
    

Thank God We Kept the Flag Flying: The Siege and Relief of Ladysmith, 1899-1900


Kenneth Griffith - 1975