History

A rollicking tale: Alex Lichtenstein reviews Charles van Onselen’s new book The Cowboy Capitalist: John Hays Hammond, the American West and the Jameson Raid

Charles van Onselen’s new book offers a gripping narrative, a witty voice dripping with matchless sarcasm, and unparalleled knowledge of…

Africa

A guide for writing from the outside in: Sisonke Msimang on how Howard W French maps the road between the Africa of her childhood and the China of her imagination

  In his three books on Africa–China relations, Howard W French’s thinking is robust—sometimes forcefully so—and yet fundamentally respectful. A…

Essays

[The JRB Daily] Turbulent, hopeful and long overdue: Henrietta Rose-Innes considers transformation in South African literature in the Times Literary Supplement

The United Kingdom release of Henrietta Rose-Innes’s latest novel, Green Lion, is imminent, and to mark the occasion she has written…