Category: Non-fiction

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Africa

Can we engage with power without being corrupted by it? Sean Jacobs reviews Mahmood Mamdani’s new book, Slow Poison: Idi Amin, Yoweri Museveni, and the Making of the Ugandan State

Sean JacobsLeave a Comment on Can we engage with power without being corrupted by it? Sean Jacobs reviews Mahmood Mamdani’s new book, Slow Poison: Idi Amin, Yoweri Museveni, and the Making of the Ugandan State

Sean Jacobs reviews Slow Poison by Mahmood Mamdani, a rich and textured account of Ugandan and postcolonial African politics, and…

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Africa

From Douala to Yaounde, a philosophical journey—Sanya Osha encounters the contradictions fueling Cameroon’s fertile intellectual culture

Sanya OshaLeave a Comment on From Douala to Yaounde, a philosophical journey—Sanya Osha encounters the contradictions fueling Cameroon’s fertile intellectual culture

Cameroon is both exceptional and inexplicable. Like much of Africa, it suffered horrendous colonial afflictions and atrocities, yet its heart…

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Academic

Poetic translation and transnational Cold War cultural exchange—read an excerpt from Simon van Schalkwyk’s new book Robert Lowell’s Imitations and the Cold War

Simon van SchalkwykLeave a Comment on Poetic translation and transnational Cold War cultural exchange—read an excerpt from Simon van Schalkwyk’s new book Robert Lowell’s Imitations and the Cold War

The JRB presents an excerpt from Robert Lowell’s Imitations and the Cold War: Containment, Leakage, Anarchy, the new book by…

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Academic

‘His father was also a traveller, indeed a determined one’—Read an excerpt from Khumisho Moguerane’s Sunday Times Literary Award-winning biography Morafe

The JRBLeave a Comment on ‘His father was also a traveller, indeed a determined one’—Read an excerpt from Khumisho Moguerane’s Sunday Times Literary Award-winning biography Morafe

The JRB presents an excerpt from Morafe: Person, Family and Nation in Colonial Bechuanaland, 1880s–1950s by Khumisho Moguerane, winner of…

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Academic

‘Violence would be part of Johannesburg’s lingua franca from the outset’—Read an excerpt from Deborah Posel’s personal journey through forgotten history, Darker Shade of Pale

The JRBLeave a Comment on ‘Violence would be part of Johannesburg’s lingua franca from the outset’—Read an excerpt from Deborah Posel’s personal journey through forgotten history, Darker Shade of Pale

The JRB presents an excerpt from Darker Shade of Pale: Shtetl to Colony by Deborah Posel. Darker Shade of Pale:…

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Africa

‘Did you know that a head does bounce like a football?’ Read an excerpt from Shine Your Eye: In Search of West Africa by Adéwálé Májà-Pearce

The JRBLeave a Comment on ‘Did you know that a head does bounce like a football?’ Read an excerpt from Shine Your Eye: In Search of West Africa by Adéwálé Májà-Pearce

The JRB presents an excerpt from Adéwálé Májà-Pearce’s forthcoming book Shine Your Eye: In Search of West Africa. Adéwálé Májà-PearceShine…

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Academic

The impacts of women before, during and after coups—Read an excerpt from Blessing-Miles Tendi’s new book The Overthrow of Robert Mugabe: Gender, Coups, and Diplomats

The JRBLeave a Comment on The impacts of women before, during and after coups—Read an excerpt from Blessing-Miles Tendi’s new book The Overthrow of Robert Mugabe: Gender, Coups, and Diplomats

The JRB presents an excerpt from The Overthrow of Robert Mugabe: Gender, Coups, and Diplomats by Blessing-Miles Tendi. The Overthrow…

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Academic

‘An attempt to win back knowledge, even wisdom, from a world deluged by information’—Read an excerpt from The Interpreters: South Africa’s New Nonfiction

Hedley TwidleLeave a Comment on ‘An attempt to win back knowledge, even wisdom, from a world deluged by information’—Read an excerpt from The Interpreters: South Africa’s New Nonfiction

The JRB presents editor Hedley Twidle’s Introduction to The Interpreters: South Africa’s New Nonfiction. The Interpreters: South Africa’s New NonfictionEdited…

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Biography & Memoir

‘My ultimate overpacked beach bite has to be a pilchard sandwich’—Read an excerpt from Pravasan Pillay’s offbeat new food memoir Curry and Bread

The JRB1 Comment on ‘My ultimate overpacked beach bite has to be a pilchard sandwich’—Read an excerpt from Pravasan Pillay’s offbeat new food memoir Curry and Bread

The JRB presents an excerpt from Curry and Bread, Pravasan Pillay’s new memoir.  Curry and BreadPravasan PillayDye Hard Press, 2025…

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Academic

Men’s livelihoods are only one aspect of what it means to make a life—Read an excerpt from Making a Life: Young Men on Johannesburg’s Urban Margins

The JRBLeave a Comment on Men’s livelihoods are only one aspect of what it means to make a life—Read an excerpt from Making a Life: Young Men on Johannesburg’s Urban Margins

The JRB presents an excerpt from Making a Life: Young Men on Johannesburg’s Urban Margins by Hannah J Dawson. Making…

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Academic

Joburg’s biggest river, and its most charismatic (for better or worse)—Read an excerpt from Johannesburg from the Riverbanks: Navigating the Jukskei

The JRBLeave a Comment on Joburg’s biggest river, and its most charismatic (for better or worse)—Read an excerpt from Johannesburg from the Riverbanks: Navigating the Jukskei

The JRB presents an excerpt from Johannesburg from the Riverbanks: Navigating the Jukskei, edited by Mehita Iqani and Renugan Raidoo….

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Academic

A profoundly beautiful exploration of what ageing means for those who lived in compact with racial separation—Wamuwi Mbao reviews God’s Waiting Room by Casey Golomski

Wamuwi MbaoLeave a Comment on A profoundly beautiful exploration of what ageing means for those who lived in compact with racial separation—Wamuwi Mbao reviews God’s Waiting Room by Casey Golomski

What does it mean to want grace after such a thing as apartheid? What might it look like? God’s Waiting…

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Academic

Omar Badsha: an ordinary South African whose struggles and triumphs offer insights into broader social movements—Sean Jacobs reviews Available Light by Daniel Magaziner

Sean JacobsLeave a Comment on Omar Badsha: an ordinary South African whose struggles and triumphs offer insights into broader social movements—Sean Jacobs reviews Available Light by Daniel Magaziner

Available Light continues Daniel Magaziner’s significant work in shedding light on the lives of Black artists and intellectuals under apartheid,…

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Academic

‘They began to see that science was not isolated from politics but shaped by it’—Read an excerpt from Our Science, Ourselves by Christa Kuljian

Christa KuljianLeave a Comment on ‘They began to see that science was not isolated from politics but shaped by it’—Read an excerpt from Our Science, Ourselves by Christa Kuljian

The JRB presents an excerpt from Christa Kuljian’s new book, Our Science, Ourselves: How Gender, Race, and Social Movements Shaped…

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Academic

‘Africans are free only to the extent of breathing’—Read an excerpt from An Ethos of Transdisciplinarity: Conversations with Toyin Falola by Sanya Osha

Sanya OshaLeave a Comment on ‘Africans are free only to the extent of breathing’—Read an excerpt from An Ethos of Transdisciplinarity: Conversations with Toyin Falola by Sanya Osha

The JRB presents an excerpt from Sanya Osha’s latest book An Ethos of Transdisciplinarity: Conversations with Toyin Falola. An Ethos…

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Academic

Read ‘The Complexities of Intimacy for Black Middle-Class Women’, excerpted from Love in Jozi: The Black Middle Class, Love and Intimacy in Johannesburg

The JRBLeave a Comment on Read ‘The Complexities of Intimacy for Black Middle-Class Women’, excerpted from Love in Jozi: The Black Middle Class, Love and Intimacy in Johannesburg

The JRB presents an excerpt from Love in Jozi: The Black Middle Class, Love and Intimacy in Johannesburg, edited by…

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Book excerpts

Taking Guard in Inner-city Johannesburg—Read an excerpt from Niren Tolsi’s new book Writing Around the Wicket: Race, Class and History in South African Cricket

Niren TolsiLeave a Comment on Taking Guard in Inner-city Johannesburg—Read an excerpt from Niren Tolsi’s new book Writing Around the Wicket: Race, Class and History in South African Cricket

The JRB presents an excerpt from Writing Around the Wicket: Race, Class and History in South African Cricket by Niren…

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Academic

‘In Africa, the conservative realism of the military mind met the liberatory spirit of the decolonising mind’—Read an excerpt from Soldier’s Paradise by Samuel Fury Childs Daly

The JRB2 Comments on ‘In Africa, the conservative realism of the military mind met the liberatory spirit of the decolonising mind’—Read an excerpt from Soldier’s Paradise by Samuel Fury Childs Daly

The JRB presents an excerpt from Samuel Fury Childs Daly’s new book, Soldier’s Paradise: Militarism in Africa After Empire.  Soldier′s…

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Academic

‘Ngangizwa kahle ukuthi ukuhumusha kuyangikhulisa, kungisabalalisela ingqondo’—Makhosazana Xaba chats to Musawenkosi Cabe about her isiZulu translation of Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth

Musawenkosi CabeLeave a Comment on ‘Ngangizwa kahle ukuthi ukuhumusha kuyangikhulisa, kungisabalalisela ingqondo’—Makhosazana Xaba chats to Musawenkosi Cabe about her isiZulu translation of Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth

Udliwano ndlebe mayelana nokuhushushwa kwengcwadi ka Frantz Fanon, Izimpabanga Zomhlaba, phakathi komhumushi uMakhosazana Xaba no Musawenkosi Cabe. This is a…

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Academic

The place of death in the struggle for freedom in South Africa—Read an excerpt from Jacob Dlamini’s new book Dying for Freedom: Political Martyrdom in South Africa

Jacob DlaminiLeave a Comment on The place of death in the struggle for freedom in South Africa—Read an excerpt from Jacob Dlamini’s new book Dying for Freedom: Political Martyrdom in South Africa

The JRB presents an excerpt from Dying for Freedom: Political Martyrdom in South Africa, the new book by Jacob Dlamini. Dying…

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Interviews

‘A family can be a very stifling environment’—Lebohang Mojapelo interviews Pontsho Pilane on her book Power and Faith: How Evangelical Churches are Quietly Shaping Our Democracy

Lebohang MojapeloLeave a Comment on ‘A family can be a very stifling environment’—Lebohang Mojapelo interviews Pontsho Pilane on her book Power and Faith: How Evangelical Churches are Quietly Shaping Our Democracy

Lebohang Mojapelo talks to Pontsho Pilane about her new book, Power and Faith: How Evangelical Churches are Quietly Shaping Our…

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Academic

‘I lose myself for hours inside its green and blue pixels’—Read Masande Ntshanga’s new essay Technologies of Conquest, from The Creative Arts: On Practice, Making and Meaning

Masande NtshangaLeave a Comment on ‘I lose myself for hours inside its green and blue pixels’—Read Masande Ntshanga’s new essay Technologies of Conquest, from The Creative Arts: On Practice, Making and Meaning

The JRB presents an excerpt from Masande Ntshanga’s essay ‘Technologies of Conquest: On Writing the Dystopian through South Africa’s Past,…

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Academic

‘Because of informers, meetings were never announced beforehand’—Read an excerpt from Dayspring, the memoir of the late CJ Driver, major South African poet and exiled student politician

The JRB2 Comments on ‘Because of informers, meetings were never announced beforehand’—Read an excerpt from Dayspring, the memoir of the late CJ Driver, major South African poet and exiled student politician

The JRB presents an excerpt from Dayspring, the forthcoming memoir by CJ Driver, edited and with a foreword by Nobel…