A rethinking of South Africa's recent past, this book presents unique historical evidence of white working-class responses to the dismantling of apartheid and establishment of majority rule in South Africa, from the 1970s to present, placing this in the context of global debates on neoliberalism and identity politics.

The autobiography of Eli Wiggill offers a captivating narrative of one family’s journey from Gloucester, England, to South Africa, and eventually to Salt Lake City during the mid-nineteenth century. Eli and Susannah Wiggill’s conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in South Africa serves as a focal point in their remarkable story. Eli’s retelling vividly portrays their steadfast faith, missionary efforts, and the challenges they faced as pioneers in establishing communities of South African Saints. From their immigration to South Africa to their eventual migration to Zion, the Wiggills' experiences offer valuable insights into the early history of the Church and the global gathering of its members. With meticulous attention to detail, The Life and Adventures of Eli Wiggill: South African 1820 Settler, Wesleyan Missionary, and Latter-day Saint presents Wiggill’s original manuscript, enriched with extensive footnotes providing context and clarity. This publication aims to rectify previous shortcomings by preserving the integrity of Wiggill’s narrative while enhancing accessibility for contemporary readers. It not only chronicles a remarkable transnational journey but also sheds light on themes of faith, perseverance, and the pioneering spirit, making it a compelling read for historians, scholars, and anyone interested in the early history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the global migration of its members.

An examination of the role of horses in the colonial economies of South Africa Horses were key to the colonial economies of southern Africa, buttressing the socio-political order and inspiring contemporary imaginations. Just as they had done in Europe, Asia, the Americas and North Africa, these equine colonizers not only provided power and transportation to settlers (and later indigenous peoples) but also helped transform their new biophysical and social environments. The horses introduced to the southern tip of Africa were not only agents but subjects of enduring changes. This book explores the introduction of these horses under VOC rule in the mid-seventeenth century, their dissemination into the interior, their acquisition by indigenous groups and their ever-shifting roles. In undergoing their relocation to the Cape, the horse of the Dutch empire in southeast Asia experienced a physical transformation over time. Establishing an early breeding stock was fraught with difficulty and horses remained vulnerable in the new and dangerous environment. They had to be nurtured into defending their owners' ambitions: first those of the white settlement and then African and other hybrid social groupings. The book traces the way horses were adapted by shifting human needs in the nineteenth century. It focuses on their experiences in the South African War, on the cusp of the twentieth century, and highlights how horses remained integral to civic functioning on various levels, replaced with mechanization only after lively debate. The book thus reinserts the horse into the broader historical narrative. The socio-economic and political ramifications of their introduction is delineated. The idea of ecological imperialism is tested in order to draw southern African environmental history into a wider global dialogue on socio-environmental historiographical issues. The focus is also on the symbolic dimension that led horses to be both feared and desired. Even the sensory dimensions of this species' interaction with human societies is explored. Finally, the book speculates about what a new kind of history that takes animals seriously might offer us.

During global capitalism's long ascent from 1600–1850, workers of all kinds—slaves, indentured servants, convicts, domestic workers, soldiers, and sailors—repeatedly ran away from their masters and bosses, with profound effects. A Global History of Runaways, edited by Marcus Rediker, Titas Chakraborty, and Matthias van Rossum, compares and connects runaways in the British, Danish, Dutch, French, Mughal, Portuguese, and American empires. Together these essays show how capitalism required vast numbers of mobile workers who would build the foundations of a new economic order. At the same time, these laborers challenged that order—from the undermining of Danish colonization in the seventeenth century to the igniting of civil war in the United States in the nineteenth.