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South Africa

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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Order an essential package, and we'll ship any additional items for free. We offer a mix of guidebooks, maps, field guides, novels and books on art, architecture, history, nature and culture.

Item EXSAF24. Buy these 5 items as a set for $100 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

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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 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)

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)

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

by Globetrotter

• 2011
• MAP

Detailed maps of Cape Town, the Garden Route, Kruger and other popular spots are featured on the reverse of this country map. (SAF09, $8.95)

 

Also Recommended

Cape Town and Region Map

by National Geographic

• MAP

This double-sided map includes Cape Town, Table Mountain National Park and other reserves south to Cape of Good Hope. (SAF161, $11.95)

Cape Winelands, A Touring Guide

by Theresa Morrison | Lanz von Horsten

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2000
• PAPER
• 120 PAGES
• HARD TO FIND ELSEWHERE

An informative, visual tour of 40 favorite wineries, all close to Cape Town. With fold-out maps, color photographs and information on restaurants, picnic spots and lodging. (SAF128, $20.00)

Culture Smart! South Africa

by David Holt-Biddle

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2007
• PAPER
• 168 PAGES

This handy guide will help you navigate local customs, etiquette and culture. (SAF169, $9.95)

Eyewitness Guide South Africa

by Eyewitness Guides

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2011
• PAPER
• 408 PAGES

This superb guide features color photography, dozens of excellent local maps and a region-by-region synopsis of the country's attractions. (SAF138, $27.00)

National Geographic South Africa

by David Lambkin

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2009
• PAPER
• 320 PAGES

Profusely illustrated and compact, this guide includes excellent information on history, nature and culture, with maps and color photography. (SAF224, $25.95)

Time Out Cape Town

by Time Out

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2009
• PAPER
• 280 PAGES

Compact, informative and lively, this outstanding guide covers where to go and what to do in Cape Town and surroundings. (SAF164, $19.95)

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)

Beyond the Miracle, Inside the New South Africa

by Allister Sparks

• HISTORY
• 2009
• PAPER
• 408 PAGES

The South African journalist (Tomorrow is Another Country), continues the tale of the transformation of South Africa and its accomplishments, failures and challenges in the decade following the collapse of Apartheid. (SAF166, $20.00)

Playing the Enemy, Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation

by John Carlin

• HISTORY
• 2009
• PAPER
• 274 PAGES

Carlin vividly documents how Mandala used the 1995 Rugby World Cup to unite South Africa. (SAF240, $16.00)

The Fate of Africa

by Martin Meredith

• HISTORY
• 2011
• PAPER
• 792 PAGES

Ambitious in scope, immensely readable -- and as big as a doorstop -- Martin Meredith's blockbuster country-by-country overview of the tumult in Africa since independence is now revised and updated to reflect recent events. (AFR154, $21.99)

The Making of Modern South Africa, Conquest, Apartheid, Democracy

by Nigel Worden

• HISTORY
• 2012
• PAPER
• 198 PAGES

This well-researched, readable primer covers South African history from colonial conquest to the end of apartheid and beyond, with an updated chapter focusing on 1994 to 2007. Worden is a history professor at the University of Cape Town. (SAF222, $36.95)

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)

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)

In Bushveld and Desert, A Game Ranger's Life

by Christiaan Bakkes

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 2010
• PAPER
• 295 PAGES

A collection of autobiographical stories based on Bakkes's adventures working for the WWF in the Kaokoveld, leading safaris, traveling through Africa and working as a game ranger in Kruger National Park, where he lost his left arm in a crocodile attack. (AFR266, $28.95)

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)

Blood Safari

by Deon Meyer

• MYSTERY
• 2010
• PAPER
• 400 PAGES

In this suspenseful tale of murder, set in and around the game preserves of South Africa, bodyguard Martin Lemmer helps to uncover the truth in the murder of four poachers. (SAF255, $7.99)

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

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)

Life & Times of Michael K

by J.M. Coetzee

• LITERATURE
• 1995
• PAPER
• 184 PAGES

Coetzee sets this short, hallucinatory novel, the powerful tale of a troubled boy, in South Africa in the midst of civil war. (SAF17, $14.00)

My Mother's Lovers

by Christopher Hope

• LITERATURE
• 2008
• PAPER
• 442 PAGES

Set mostly in South Africa, from the 1800s to the present, Hope dramatizes the European encounter in 20th-century Africa with this outsized tale of Kathleen Healey -- aviator, big game hunter, knitting devotee and all-around adventurer. "Kick off your shoes, pour yourself a stiff drink and take your hat off to the elder statesman of southern African words--he's done it again," says Alexandra Fuller. (SAF239, $15.00)

Rage

by Wilbur A. Smith

• LITERATURE
• 2007
• PAPER
• 887 PAGES

Smith mixes romance, politics and history in this page-turner set in Apartheid-era South Africa. (SAF225, $8.99)

South Africa, A Traveler's Literary Companion

by Isabel Balseiro | Tobias Hecht

• ANTHOLOGY
• 2009
• PAPER
• 239 PAGES

This diverse collection of short stories reveals South Africa through the eyes of its writers, including numerous renowned names such as Nadine Gordimer, J.M. Coetzee and Alan Paton. (SAF236, $14.95)

The Conservationist

by Nadine Gordimer

• LITERATURE
• 1983
• PAPER
• 272 PAGES

Gordimer's subtle Booker-prize winning novel portrays a wealthy South African industrialist who makes moves to preserve his way of life, his power, and his possessions in the face of massive injustice. (SAF218, $16.00)

Africa's Big Five

by Gerald Hinde

• NATURAL HISTORY
• 2005
• HARD COVER
• 144 PAGES

Bestseller. Gerald Hinde teamed up with colleagues William Taylor and Richard du Toit for this portrait of the lion, elephant, leopard, rhino and buffalo, featuring hundreds of color photographs by the accomplished trio. (AFR178, $39.95)

South Africa Safari Companion

by Alain Pons

• NATURAL HISTORY
• 2007
• PAPER

From Cape Town and Fynbos, Kruger National Park and private reserves, this slim photographic survey introduces the parks, wildlife and habitats of South Africa. (SAF189, $14.95)

Birds of Southern Africa, Princeton Illustrated Checklists

by Ber Van Perlo

• FIELD GUIDE
• 2009
• PAPER
• 320 PAGES

An admirably compact guide, featuring small illustrations of 1,250 species, brief descriptions and black-and-white range maps. (SAF79, $29.95)

Kingdon Pocket Guide to African Mammals

by Jonathan Kingdon

• FIELD GUIDE
• 2004
• PAPER
• 272 PAGES

A convenient compact edition of Kingdon's gloriously illustrated Field Guide to African Mammals. With abbreviated information on identification, distribution, ecology and conservation status and the same 480 outstanding color illustrations and maps as its bigger cousin. (EAF128, $24.95)

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)

Wildlife of South Africa, A Photographic Guide

by Duncan Butchart

• FIELD GUIDE
• 2010
• PAPER
• 168 PAGES

A handy photographic guide to the mammals, birds, reptiles, frogs and common trees and shrubs. (SAF269, $23.95)

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