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Enrich your travels with reading! Here's a hand-picked list prepared for your journey in conjunction with the book experts at Longitude.

Essential Reading

Item EXSAF77. Buy these 6 items as a set for $117 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
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Insight Guide South Africa

Insight Guide South Africa

by Insight Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 384 PAGES

South Africa is brought to life in hundreds of color photographs and vividly written essays by a team of experts. Panoramic in scope, the guide takes us from Johannesburg out into the veldt, providing genuine insight into the history, nature and modern politics of this complex land. (SAF21, $24.99)

Eclipse! The What, Where, When, Why, and How Guide to Watching Solar and Lunar Eclipses

Eclipse! The What, Where, When, Why, and How Guide to Watching Solar and Lunar Eclipses

by Philip Harington

  • REFERENCE
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 280 PAGES

A guide to eclipse phenomena, including how to best photograph and appreciate lunar and solar eclipses, as well as understand general celestial mechanics. With tables summarizing where lunar and solar eclipses will be visible from 1998-2017. (GEN30, $19.95)

The Safari Companion

The Safari Companion

by Richard Estes

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 459 PAGES
  • BEST SELLER

An invaluable encyclopedic guide to Africa's mammals by a noted scientist. Written with the typical safari-goer in mind, this perennial bestseller includes black-and-white drawings, an overview of each group and in-depth information. (AFR06, $30.00)

My Traitor's Heart

My Traitor's Heart

by Rian Malan

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 425 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

The Afrikaner and journalist recounts his return to his homeland just before the collapse of Apartheid. Malan grapples with the black and white heart of South Africa, drawing on the 300-year history of his family in Africa, legends of the Zulu nation and some brutally honest reporting. (SAF19, $15.00)

The Wildlife of Southern Africa, A Field Guide to the Animals and Plants of the Region

The Wildlife of Southern Africa, A Field Guide to the Animals and Plants of the Region

by Vincent Carruthers | Kenneth Newman

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES
  • BEST SELLER

With 1,200 color illustrations by a range of experts, this compact field guide includes all the birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects, fish and plants that a traveler is likely to encounter in Southern Africa. (SAF59, $29.95)

South Africa Travel Map

South Africa Travel Map

by Globetrotter

  • 2008
  • MAP
  • BEST SELLER

A colorful map at a scale of 1:2,400,000. (SAF09, $8.95)

 
Lonely Planet Cape Town

Lonely Planet Cape Town


by Simon Richmond

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 236 PAGES

Geared for independent travelers, this savvy guide features color photographs and dozens of excellent maps. (SAF27, $19.99)

The Cambridge Eclipse Photography Guide


by Jay M. Pasachoff | Michael A. Covington

  • REFERENCE
  • 1993
  • PAPER
  • 135 PAGES
  • OUT OF PRINT

Subtitled "How and Where to Observe and Photograph Solar and Lunar Eclipses," this brief practical guide includes everything you would want to know about photographing the phenomenon. (GEN29, $33.00)

A History of South Africa

A History of South Africa


by Leonard Thompson

  • HISTORY
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 358 PAGES

A succinct history of South Africa, especially strong on early Africans and European colonization. (SAF101, $17.95)

The Harmless People

The Harmless People


by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1989
  • PAPER
  • 303 PAGES

A classic study of the Bushmen of the Kalahari, novelistic in its detail. Based on the author's fieldwork, the account is direct, informative, and strong on the character of the people and land. (SAF60, $15.95)

The Scramble for Africa

The Scramble for Africa


by Thomas Pakenham

  • HISTORY
  • 1992
  • PAPER
  • 738 PAGES

Absorbing and meticulously researched, this in-depth history of the Victorian land grab in Africa includes excellent portraits of the egomaniacal personalities who overran the continent. (AFR26, $23.99)

The Washing of the Spears

The Washing of the Spears


by Donald R. Morris

  • HISTORY
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 692 PAGES

Written at Hemingway's suggestion, this sprawling chronicle of the Zulu nation and particularly of the war of 1879, takes places in an "endless land of scattered riches and infinite variety." (SAF49, $27.95)

Tomorrow is Another Country, The Inside Story of South Africa's Road to Change

Tomorrow is Another Country, The Inside Story of South Africa's Road to Change


by Allister Sparks

  • HISTORY
  • 1996
  • PAPER
  • 254 PAGES

Sparks explores the extraordinary developments that led to multiracial democracy in South Africa, an essential key to understanding South Africa today, (SAF31, $25.00)

Long Walk to Freedom

Long Walk to Freedom


by Nelson Mandela

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 1995
  • PAPER
  • 640 PAGES

An unpretentious tale of an extraordinary life, Mandela's autobiography is essential reading for an understanding of South Africa. His grace and his love for his country shine throughout. (SAF15, $17.99)

Zulu Wilderness, Shadow and Soul


by Ian Player

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

A celebration and tribute to Magquba Ntombela -- a Zulu chief, storyteller and warden at Mfolozi Game Reserve in South Africa. (SAF107, $21.95)

Cry, The Beloved Country

Cry, The Beloved Country


by Alan Paton

  • LITERATURE
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 317 PAGES

The deeply moving story of Reverend Kumalo's quest for justice. First published in 1948, it is a striking, poetic tribute to the power of the individual and a trenchant indictment of Apartheid. (SAF30, $15.00)

Disgrace

Disgrace


by J.M. Coetzee

  • LITERATURE
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 224 PAGES

Set in Cape Town and on a remote farm in the Eastern Cape, Coetzee's searing novel explores the devastating realities of racial politics in post-apartheid South Africa. (SAF89, $15.00)

The Reader's Companion to South Africa

The Reader's Companion to South Africa


by Alan Ryan

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 310 PAGES
  • OUT OF PRINT

A collection of 19 mostly classic traveler's accounts of South Africa. It is a vivid introduction to the land by foreign luminaries and comic masters, including Mark Twain, Alan Moorhead, Michael Palin and P.J. O'Rourke. (SAF61, $16.00)

Einstein and the Total Eclipse

Einstein and the Total Eclipse


by Peter Coles

  • SCIENCE
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 80 PAGES

An account of the solar eclipse expedition that vindicated Einstein's theory of relativity. The success of the experiment immediately propelled Einstein onto the front pages of newspapers around the world. (SCI28, $7.95)

The Sun in Eclipse


by Michael Maunder | Patrick Moore

  • SCIENCE
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 260 PAGES
  • OUT OF PRINT

Aimed at the experienced observer, this survey of solar eclipses not only explains the phenomenon but also includes suggestions on photography and viewing. (SCI27, $34.95)

National Audubon Society Field Guide to African Wildlife

National Audubon Society Field Guide to African Wildlife


by Peter Alden

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 1995
  • PAPER
  • 988 PAGES

This comprehensive photo guide covers 850 birds, mammals and reptiles of Africa. With range maps and a good country-by-country overview of habitats and parks. (AFR25, $24.95)

Newman's Birds of Southern Africa

Newman's Birds of Southern Africa


by Kenneth Newman

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 538 PAGES

This commemorative tenth edition celebrates the contribution of the late author, Kenneth Newman, fully revised and updated by his daughter, Vanessa Newman, to reflect the latest research, taxonomy and common names. (SAF29, $26.00)

More Recommendations

Here are some other groups of books that might be of interest

Longitude provides recommended reading for travelers in partnership with the leading tour operators and travel programs for hundreds of destinations worldwide. We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.