Murray la Vita gesels met Bill Nasson

Murray la Vita het by ‘n besondere geskiedkundige gaan kuier in Rondebosch. Bill Nasson se nuutste boek The War for South Africa beweeg met insig en humor deur Suid-Afrika se geskiedenis. Nasson voel sterk oor die humor want hy voel dit help om met die geskiedenis saam te leef.

Dit is nie dat hy dink geskiedenis is ’n grap nie. Hy meen net ’n sin vir humor maak dit meer draaglik. Aan die woord is die besonder spitsvondige geskiedkundige en skrywer prof. Bill Nasson, wat op ’n koue oggend in die kombuis van sy huis in Rondebosch staan en koffie maak. “Dit doen! Dit doen! Jy kan dan makliker daarmee saamleef, man.”

Hy is al beskryf as die Pavarotti van geskiedskrywing: “He does not always go for accounts that are found in history books; instead, he looks for the interesting angles to the accounts, personal testimonies, anomalies, ‘miscalculations and illusions’, ensuring that you get a good picture of the war – and that you thoroughly enjoy the reading experience. If one can venture a comparison, he is the Pavarotti of historical texts.”

• Lees die volledige onderhoud in Die Burger

Boekbesonderhede

• The War for South Africa: The Anglo-Boer War: 1899-1902 deur Bill Nasson
  Boektuisblad
  EAN: 9780624048091
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

Foto te danke aan Die Burger

Expanded and Updated: The War for South Africa by Bill Nasson

When historian Bill Nasson describes battle scenes from the Anglo-Boer War, it is as if you can hear the bullets fly past. Nasson provides a gripping overview of the war and integrates the military, political and social dimensions of a war that continues to fascinate.

The War for South Africa was first commissioned by Arnold for their ‘Modern Wars’ series and published in the UK in 1999, but never published locally. This expanded and updated edition draws on new scholarly writing since the centenary of the war. Nasson explores how the Anglo-Boer War shaped South Africa’s future and how it has come to be remembered in a post-apartheid South Africa.

Praise for the first edition

“Vivid . . . his ability to drop down in the middle of a battle. He can even turn statistics back into reality.” – Times Literary Supplement

“Magnificent and fresh” – The Independent

Book details

• The War for South Africa: The Anglo-Boer War, 1899-1902 by Bill Nasson
  Book homepage
  EAN: 9780624048091
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

Image courtesy LitNet

Frats: in Memorium Sarah Baartman

This poignant novel by Chris Karsten is based on the life story of Sarah Baartman (1789 – 1815), better known as Saartje Baartman. It tells of Khoena, a Khoi woman, who is taken from the Cape to London early in the 19th century, where she is put on display, as Baartman was, as an African freak show.

Frats is also the story of an English woman, Dolly, and her journalist friend, who become involved in an attempt to help exploited people like Khoena. In this way they befriend the heroine – but in the end are powerless to prevent her final humiliation at the hands of scientists in France.
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