The Cape Town Book presents a fresh picture of the Mother City, one that brings together all its stories. From geology and beaches to forced removals and hip-hop, Nechama Brodie, author of the best-selling The Joburg Book, has delved deeply into the hidden past of Cape Town to emerge with a lucid and compelling account of South Africa’s fi rst city, its landscape and its people. The book’s 14 chapters trace the origins and expansion of Cape Town – from the City Bowl to the southern and coastal suburbs, the vast expanse of the Cape Flats and the sprawling northern areas. Offering a nuanced, yet balanced, perspective on Cape Town, the book includes familiar attractions like Table Mountain, Kirstenbosch and the Company’s Garden, while also giving a voice to marginalised communities in areas such as Athlone, Langa, Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha. Many of the images in the book have never been published before, and are drawn from the archives of museums, universities and public institutions. This beautifully illustrated, information-rich book is the defi nitive portrait of the wind-blown, contradictory city at the southern tip of Africa that more than three million people call home

Cape Town is a place between two oceans, between first and third worlds, between east and west. The majority of its citizens: a people between black and white, native and settler, African and European. How can we understand a city that is most assuredly in Africa, though not””seemingly””of it? By exploring this city’s tween-ness, we can begin to understand the soul of this town””haunted by its past, unsure of its future. A short book just over 100 pages, it allows readers to quickly identify the unique pulse of the city, its throbbing historical, social, cultural and political beat that underlies the transactions between all Capetonians. This is not a substitute for a traditional guidebook, but a perfect companion to one, filling in the intimate details that other books leave out.

Simultaneously city and wilderness, Cape Town is a place of haunting natural beauty and captivating urban charm. This insightful portrait of the city's history, architectural heritage, scenic wonders, people and diverse cultures will appeal to all those who share an interest in and a love for South Africa's mother city.

This study provides a window into the lives of ordinary South Africans more than ten years after the end of apartheid, with the promises of the democracy movement remaining largely unfulfilled. Catherine Besteman explores the emotional and personal aspects of the transition to black majority rule by homing in on intimate questions of love, family, and community and capturing the complex, sometimes contradictory voices of a wide variety of Capetonians. Her evaluation of the physical and psychic costs to individuals involved in working for social change is grounded in the experiences of the participants and illu-minates two overarching dimensions of life in Cape Town: the aggregate forces determined to maintain the apartheid-era status quo, and the grassroots efforts to effect social change.

A unique look ‘inside’ 30 of Cape Town’s most notable buildings. If you have ever wondered what lies behind an interesting façade, or wished you could peek behind a closed door, Hidden Cape Town is the book for you. The author and photographer have collaborated to reveal the architectural secrets and artworks that lie behind the doors of some well-known, and lesser known, landmark buildings in and around the ‘Mother City’. These buildings are part of our collective heritage, reflecting the myriad cultural influences that have shaped our country.

Martin Greshoff writes about the book he has created that contains photographs by Jan Greshoff of the iconic neighbourhood of District Six and the memoirs of some of those who lived there before it was destroyed by the apartheid regime.My uncle, Jan Greshoff, was an architect who worked in Cape Town, South Africa, from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was a private and modest man and didn't talk much about his photography. Jan had no children, and it was only after he died and his wife passed his archive of negatives on to us, his nephews and niece, that we discovered the full extent of his archive. His photographs cover many areas around Cape Town, including District Six.In common with many architects, Jan was a keen photographer and his profession certainly informed his work and his interest in his environment. He was a very close friend of Jansje Wissema, who was commissioned to photograph District Six for the South African Institute of Architects at roughly the same time that Jan was photographing the area. In his lifetime he did not publish or exhibit his photographs, and it was only in 1996 that he donated some 800 images to the newly founded District Six museum. They were exhibited by the museum in the same year and a booklet, 'The Last Days of District Six' was printed by the museum to accompany the exhibition. Jan died in 2007.In 2014 I started a Facebook page so his photographs could be seen by the communities which he photographed - It was through responses and comments made about the photos on this forum that it became clear that Jan's District Six images provoked memories and intense emotions. Many comments related to the way of living in a cohesive multi-ethnic society, the 'spirit' of District Six, memories of District Six characters, childhood games, physical places such as the shops, 'bioscopes' and streets. Feelings of anger were also expressed in relation to the Group Areas Act and subsequent forced removals from District Six. Feelings of frustration and anger were also expressed in relation to the painfully slow restitution process.It was through these comments made in response to the photographs, and through discussion with an ex-District Six resident, that the idea of recording these stories in more depth came about. The book contains memoirs and poetry submitted by 63 ex-District Six residents and by those who had a connection to the area. The stories which have been submitted are only a small fraction of the stories to be told. The editing process has been done in a collaborative way with each of the contributors. The stories are theirs and it was important that they were a part of this process. It felt important that these memories of an area no longer in existence were captured and preserved for the future and that what happened to District Six was not forgotten and the memory of District Six was kept alive.

Don't think about the past. I can't not think about the past. The past is what I am. For Rebecca Falconer the past truly is another country. Two countries, in fact. Zimbabwe and Rhodesia. And while her present may be tied to the new, makeshift life she has built for herself in London, her heart remains rooted in the red earth of Glencoe - the farm she grew up on in the Eastern Highlands, now appropriated under Robert Mugabe's land reform programme. However, while the past seems to offer assurance in the face of an unpredictable future, things are not always as they seem. When her mother dies unexpectedly, Rebecca begins a journey that will lead her back to a very different time - 1950s Kenya in the grip of the Mau Mau uprising. Confronted by the modern reality of the country that her mother once called home, Rebecca tries to come to terms with her own feelings about the woman who raised her. But, as she searches for a way of finally laying her mother's ghost to rest, a disturbing truth comes to light that will call into question the very foundations of her family's identity.