Book of the Month August 2008

New History of South Africa ©2007 / Hermann Giliomee & Bernard Mbenga

A new, up-to-date history of South Africa
Written by 31 of South Africa's top historians
The first comprehensive history since 1991
Includes new discoveries about the origin of humanity in Africa
Lavishly illustrated
Readable narrative style, interspersed with text boxes, makes the story of South Africa come alive
Also available in Afrikaans as Nuwe Geskiedenis van Suid-Afrika

Source : New History of South Africa ©2007 / Hermann Giliomee & Bernard Mbenga

Book of the Month July 2008

The Art & Heritage Collections of the University of Pretoria 2008/Alexander Duffey, Sian Tiley-Nel, Gerard de Kamper and Joey Ernst

Throughout the world there are educational institutions which have collections of artefacts and artworks, in many instances these objects were acquired over a period of time and in most cases they were accumulated as part of the academic programmes of those institutions. In the case of the collections of the University of Pretoria it is also true, but the University also owns a number of magnificent collections which were donated in their entirety to the institution by a single benefactor. The van Tilburg and Van Gybland-Oosterhoff collections are examples of these. The scope of these collections is so large that there are very few institutions in the world which can boast of collections equalling them
The Art and Heritage Collections of the University of Pretoria is the first comprehensive survey of some of the major collections of the University of Pretoria ever published. The book highlights some of the most important artefacts and artworks accumulated by the university in its first 100 years. With the benefit of fresh knowledge and modern attitudes, the authors embark on a detailed description and appraisal of six of the University of Pretoria's most important collections. Impeccably constructed, the book deals with the histories, descriptions and noteworthy individual pieces in these collections.
The reader is treated to excellent reproductions of ceramics and other artefacts from the Van Tilburg collection, rare and historically unique objects from the Mapungubwe collection, major sculptures from the Anton van Wouw and Edoardo Villa collections, beautiful and important artworks from the University of Pretoria Art Collection and unique and very rare objects and artefacts from the Van Gybland-Oosterhoff collection.
The Art and Heritage Collections of the University of Pretoria is an important contribution to the cultural history of South Africa

Source: The Art & Heritage Collections of the University of Pretoria 2008 / Alexander Duffey, Sian Tiley-Nel, Gerard de Kamper and Joey Ernst.

Book of the Month June 2008

Die voëlgids van Suider-Afrika / Ulrich Oberprieler, Burger Cillié

Hierdie voëlgids het die volgende unieke kenmerke:
'n Gebruikersvriendelike stelsel met kleurkodes en kruisverwysings om vinnig by die regte voël in die boek uit te kom.
Meer as 1 200 uitstekende kleurfoto's van 809 voëls wat die verskillende kleuvorms illustreer: mannetjie, wyfie, jonge, broeidrag en ander variasies.
Simbole wat die voël se voorkeur, habitat, kos, sosialiteit en nes-tipe uitbeeld.
Verspreidingskaarte wat die voorkomsdigtheid en migrasiepatrone aandui.
'n Stelsel wat al die voëls op uiterlike kenmerke en gedrag in 12 logiese groepe met kleurkodes indeel.
Volledige teks wat klem lë op identifikasie en gedrag, en ook bruikbare inligting verskaf oor voëlfamilies en kleiner groepe.

Iets oor die outeurs:
Ulrich Oberprieler het drie ander voëlboeke saam met Burger geskryf. Hy is tans Bestuurder: Opvoeding van die Nasionale Dieretuin in Pretoria. Hy is 'n entoesiastiese natuurlewefotograaf en baie bekend vir die uitstekende kursusse wat hy aanbied oor soogdiere, voëls en die omgewing

Burger Cillé is 'n bekende natuurlewefotograaf en skrywer van twee veldgidse oor soogdiere van Suider-Afrika. Hy en Ulrich is ook medeskrywers van twee park-eie veldgidse en drie ander veldgidse oor die voëls van Suider-Afrika.

Bron: Die voëlgids van Suider-Afrika / Ulrich Oberprieler , Burger Cillé

Book of the Month May 2008

The War Diary of Johanna Brandt / edited by Jackie Grobler

Johanna Brandt, one of four children, was born in 1876. Her Dutch father and Afrikaner pioneer mother greatly influenced her worldview, which eventually made Johanna Brandt a household name.
Following the Anglo-Boer War, Johanna emerged as a prolific author, focussing mainly on the Boer War. In later life, however, her eccentric character came to the fore as she explored aspects of natural healing, mysticism and feminism.
Johanna died in 1964.
I am anxious to get this book filled and out of the way ... our friend the enemy will come and search our house for documents and then they will carry away this chronicle of my griefs and woes and - joys, lately. What agonies I would endure if this book were to fall into strange hands ! Johanna van Warmelo, 9 February 1902.
When Johanna wrote these words, she was 24 years old and had already experienced helpless anger at the horrors of a concentration camp, the anxiety of working undercover for the Boer Secret Service and the excitement of falling in love. Her diary, secret diary and love diary, combined in this publication, weaves her remarkable experiences during the war together with her everyday life as an ordinary young woman living in an extraordinary time.
The War Diary of Johanna Brandt is an accurate reproduction of Johanna's three diaries, two of which, the secret diary and the love diary, was originally written using lemon juice. Through these diaries, and with extensive research by Jackie Grobler, we are offered a unique insight into the war that did not allow indecision or disloyalty.

Something about the author:

Jackie Grobler is senior lecturer at the University of Pretoria, Department of Historical and Heritage Studies. He holds a Doctor Philosophiae in History and is the author of three books, co-author of a further ten chapters in books; co-editor of one book; author of 31 biographies in biographical dictionaries and author of many academic journal articles.
He lives in Pretoria with his wife Elize.

Source: The war diary of Johanna Brandt / edited by Jackie Grobler

Book of the Month April 2008

Sound Diagnosis a harmonized approach to medicine - Sound Diagnosis to the rescue - a little prompt at the bedside, when you need sound guidance to see through a hazy clinical picture and make sense of a problem in the most lucid and confident way.
How will you benefit from this diagnosticum?
As your bedside companion it will:
Shed bright light on unclarified diagnostic pictures
Encourage use of a systematic method of diagnosis
Structure and simplify diagnosis
Help you define a problem
Make you notice and respond to diagnostic key pointers
Direct your energies to the core of the problem
Give your knowledge an opportunity to surface
Make you more aware and open to reading signs of disease
Serve as a ward-round guide
Keep you fresh and motivated with each case
Tie up the loose ends, enabling you to complete a diagnosis
"I came upon the drawings of Gerard Hoffnung in 2002 whilst browsing in the bookshop of the Royal Festival Hall in London. I am delighted to combine the strengths of artist and physician to appreciate the music in medicine and to help you hear the "symphony" when a problem comes to resolution. Suddenly it all comes together to crescendo, just before the diagnosis is made, into a naturally harmonized and realistic diagnosis" Maria Ribeiro, in the Preface

Source: Sound Diagnosis a harmonized approach to medicine /Maria Ribeiro

Book of the Month March 2008

Thabo Mbeki the dream deferred © 2007/ Mark Gevisser

What happens to a dream deferred?

This question, from one of President Thabo Mbeki's favourite poems by Langston Hughes, provides the thread for this magisterial new biography. In the long shadow of Nelson Mandela, Mbeki has attempted to forge an identity for himself as the symbol of modern Africa. And yet, as he prepares to leave office in 2009, his legacy remains intensely contested.
This book is both a work of deep scholarship and a gripping, highly readable story. By tracing the path of Mbeki's life, it sheds new light on his political personality and provides unprecedented insight into the dramtatic role he has played in South African history.
Mark Gevisser brings to life the voices and places that have made Thabo Mbeki - the frontier of the Eastern Cape; "Swinging Britain" and neo-Stalinist Moscow in the sixties; the frought world of African exile, of fatherhood and family. He tells the story of South Africa's black elite over a turbulent century - from "black Englishmen" to revolutionaries to heads of state - and Mbeki's own transition from doctrinaire communism to economic liberalism. He comes to grips with the current political turmoil bu examining the history of a man who has caried, on his shoulders, the collective burden of a country seeking to realise a dream too long deferred.
MARK GEVISSER has been working on Thabo Mbeki: the Dream Deferred since 1999. He was born in Johannesburg in 1964 and educated at Yale. His journalism has appeared in dozens of publications in South Africa and abroad; his celebrated Mail & Guardian political profiles were collected in Portraits of Power: Profiles in a Changing South Africa. Recently he has also been working as a documentary film maker, a museum exhibition designer, heritage consultant television scriptwriter. He lives in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Source: Thabo Mbeki the dream deferred©2007/Mark Gevisser

Book of the Month February 2008

Field Guide to the Animals of the Greater Kruger Park /Christo Joubert, Ulrich Oberprieler & Burger Cillié

The Greater Kruger Park is not only Big Five coutnry; it is home to thousands of plant and animal species, each a link in a delicate ecological web.
The Park is situated in the Lowveld, a wide coastal plain of fairly dry savanna. The mosaic of habitats created by the various soil types and larger rivers disecting the Park supports a myriad of organisms, both large and small.
The purpose of this book is to introduce the richness of animal life to the Park's visitors. All the common, readily seen species are thus described here in an unique, user-friendly way which combines text, photographs and easily recognised symbols.
This book allows you to experience 68 mammal species, 215 birds, 17 reptiles and 8 amphibians. Enjoy!

Something about the authors:

Christo Joubert, a keen wildlife photographer, is practicing environmental management in the platinum industry. He is also involved in youth environmental education programmes and is co-author of a field guide to the animals of Pilanesberg.

Ulrich Oberprieler, a well-known ornithologist and wildlife photographer, has co-authored four bird and mammal guides with Burger and Christo. He is presently education manager at the National Zoological Gardens and is widely recognised for his superb wildlife courses.

Burger Cillié is a well-known wildlife photographer and the author of various field guides to the mammals of Southern Africa. He has co-authored three bird guides with Ulrich, and a book on the animals of Pilanesberg with both Ulrich and Christo.

Source: Field Guide to the Animals of the Greater Kruger Park ©2007 / Christo Joubert, Ulrich Oberprieler & Burger Cillié