The peoples of Abynaea hope against hope that a prophecy will come true and that a young princess with a motley crew of warriors, will stand against the greatest evil of their time.

Abie follows the arc of a letter from London back to Africa to a coffee plantation that now could be hers if she wants it. Standing among the ruined groves she strains to hear the sound of the past, but the layers of years are too many. Thus begins the gathering of her family's history through the tales of her aunts - four women born to four different wives of a wealthy plantation owner, her grandfather. Asana, Mariama, Hawa and Serah: theirs is the story of a nation, a family and four women's attempts to alter the course of her own destiny.

About the publication The law on education and educational practices in South Africa would exhaust the capacity of any meaningful monograph. Instead, the authors of this book engage six discrete topics that refl ect the broader currents and conflicts in South African education debates: (a) school choice; (b) school fees; (c) the right to an adequate basic education; (d) single medium public schools; (e) school governing bodies; and (f) independent schools. The book has two further aims. First: To move beyond the debates taking place separately in the education policy community and the legal academy, and to demonstrate how these disciplines, working in concert with each other, can advance our understanding of law and education in South Africa. Second: To show that the ANC's complex education agenda must mirror the egalitarian, utilitarian, democratic, and communitarian commitments found within the Constitution. How these competing political claims refl ected in our basic law play themselves out in the enabling education legislation, the case law and government education policy, frames each topic assayed in this work. About the editor: Stu Woolman is the Academic Director at the South Africa Institute for Advanced Constitutional, Public, Human Rights and International Law. Brahm Fleisch is Associate Professor in the Division of Education Leadership and Policy Studies in Wits School of Education.

Today the Left faces new challenges from political forces amassing on the radical right. The 52nd volume of the Socialist Register presents a serious calibration and a careful political mapping of these forces. It addresses pivotal questions on the reordering of the new right. These essays - very broad in terms of themes and places - speak to the global challenges the new right poses for the left at this historical moment. * What is the nature of the right's populism, nationalism and militarism? * What is the social base and organizational strength and range of far right political forces? * To what extent are they influencing mainstream parties and opinion? * How have they penetrated state institutions?* What role do state security services and police forces play?* Does our political situation today require comparison with 1930s Fascism? * How should the left respond to defend democratic and human rights?

China and Europe address the challenges for the cities and regions of Europe that may be the consequences of such development trends. Contributions by policy-makers and academic observers will prepare the ground for debating the dimensions ‘economy’, ‘knowledge and culture’, ‘environment and mobility’, ‘quality of life’, and ‘governance’ of this challenge.