ID

proved by observers far removed from the left.He evades the reality tha'; it

is Reagan's adninistration that is preparing for nuclear war and does not deal with the various proposals for disarmament based cn equality and equal security made by the Soviet Union.The questions Mr Gal ting does not answer are: Who is threatening war and escalating the arms race for the benefit of the arms manufacturers? Who is consistently pressing for disarmament and in which country is there no profit in arms?

GORDON SCHAFFER

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

SOMETHING OUT THERE by Nadine Gordimer Jonathan C ape. £ 8 .5 0

Nadine Gordimer is a highly-skilled professional artist, using words to create her pictures of the people

and life of her country, South Africa. Her novels use a large canvas which often seems to become too ocngested with the multiplicity of descriptive strokes; but her short stories are, in ny opinion, her masterpieces, more delicate and sparing.She is an observer,totally aware,

absorbing the Southern African scene and ccrposing it. not as it has been in the past, but as it is today. This is why each new bock is truly conterporary.There is a sense of betrayal

about four of the stories in this collection, yet each one also touches you with a sad compassion. At the Rendezvous of Victory is a portrait of General Giant Zwedu, whose leadership of his guerillas in the bush helped bring his country to liberation- and who becomes redundant after victory. He sits at the constitutional talks, 'He wanted to gp back - to his headquarters - homebut one of the conditions of the

cease-fire has been that he would be withdrawn from the field as the official term, coined in wars foi^nt over poppy-meadows, phrased it.' His story rings with a bitter familiar truth. In the other sto- ries a husband betrays a premise

to his wife; a man betrays his lover; a weman in an African township performs an act of treachery to a man hiding in her home.The title story is a novella that

reveals the true menace that lies over the apparently calm and prosperous white suburbs. A schoolboy in a swimning pool, golfers searching for a ball, two lovers in a parked car, catch glimpses of something - not human - some kind of escaped beast? While public and press built up the story 'cut there' is a group of four people two whites and two blacks,building

the preparations to blow up a power station. The whites provide the cover for the trained saboteurs. In sinple strokes Nadine Gordimer creates each character.

'Mrs Naas Klopper was coming towards her through weeds, insteps arched like proud fists under an intricacy of narrow yellow straps, the bembe of b* easts flashing gpld chains 0 1 blue polka dots... ‘She creates as well the sense

of menace that threatens the calm normality of white lives- 'There was a surmer storm coming ip, first the single finger of a tree's branch paddling thick air, then the land expelling great breaths in gusts, canton brown

birds flinging themselves wildly, a raw, fresh-cut scent of rain falling somewhere else. So beautiful, the temperament of the earth. Waiting, they saw the rain, dangling over the pale spools that were the power station towers.1 The 'pale spools' are the target of the saboteurs. The story ends with their dispersal, the death of one, and a round-up of many disparate facts that tie all the characters together, and to their a n history.An elimently readable and splen

did collection of stories.

HILDA BERNSTEIN

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Revered in his own country, he has also created great controversy with his so-called Islamic 'revolution5' and has made many enemies at heme and abroad.

Unfortunately little is known about his role. He is an enigna and much that has been written about him deliberately mixes fact with fiction. However, an Iranian using a pseudonym has produced a bock in an attenpt to set the record straight.Rany Nima, we are told, is a

socialist who is critical of Khomeini's regime, but who believes that the Left in his country must accept some of the responsibility for the tide of reaction presently afflicting Iran.For example, he argues that the

only organised force, the clergy, provided the necessary leadership to the peasantry and urban poor in the struggle to remove the Shah in 1979.

Nima makes clear, however, that Khomeini was not a revolutionary and tha$ he and his fellow mullahs sinplj** wanted to regain their 'i^nts and influence over the Iranian people.Yet there is no doubting that

Iran's militant version of Islam

was progressive in the early

stages, although this quickly gave way to an attack on ethnic and religious minorities, as well as cn the Left in general.My view of the to'ath of Allah is

that it is too superficial and predictable, and the "analysis’* raises more questions than it answers. But don't let that put you off - this short book is still worth reading if you want to know something about the lead up to ■'ecent events in Iran.

RON BROWN MP

THE WRATH OF ALLAH by RAMY NIMA Pluto P r e ss . £3-95

Mention Iran these days and rightly °r wrongly - most people inmediately think of Ayatollah Khomeini.

WOMEN OF AFRICA: Roots of Oppression by Maria Rosa Cutrufelli

Zed Press £5.95 paperback £15.35 hardback.

The Western penetration and 'development' of Africa through colonial

grabbing and wa^s of conquest brought to the whole continent an ideology

in profound contradiction to the existing way of life. Capitalist

philosophy posed the concept of individual success as against that of

the conrr.ua Vy or tribe, end brought tnis philosophy and manner of life

to societies that were prfoundly anti-indlvldualistic. Beyond doubt,

writes Maria Cutrufelli, the segment of society most directly affected

was the female.

Her boox Is not primarily concerned with cultural confrontation,

but an understanding of the social structure of African culture helps

tp reveal the extent of interdependence, in Europe as well as in Africa,

between the social position of women and their v«ork, and between the

familial and social role of women end their exploitation.

The forced integration of traditional societies into h capitalist

economy, t.nd the need for a gecgrapn-cally noble .labour force of

individuals iisniiijki impelled changes in exisiting social structures

amd the traditional family; imperialism brought the nuclear family to

Africa.

From this migratory labour pattern arises a new, total dependence

of women on the nrle migrant's wages; a helpless dependence, especially

as it is accompanied by the depirvation of women's land rights - imperialist

redistribution is always to the male head3 of families - and by women's

work and role being submerged through mechanisation and cuvelopcsental

aids (as so clearly shown by Barbara Rogers in 'The Domestication of

Women').

This book touches on many aspects of the subordination of women and

of both traditional practices ̂ S u c h ar. cliteridectorrtyjfmd initiation

rites, and more m o d e m means, such as education and industrialisation.

The cultural tradition? of African countries are as diverse a3 those of

Europe; but they were all based on pre-capitalist organisations of

society and the imperial impact t M . i i i- ^ n

has imposed common problems and compounded women's subordination

in similar ways on different societies.

In conclusion the author asks if female emancipation can ever be

envisaged in a political context so heavily conditioned and man-

manipulatod. But; black women have not lapsed into the 'oblivion of

history', and the Question should he posed the other way: Shouldn't we

expe4ct that sooner or later change will come as the wind of revolution,

ana in the same breath the wind of the emancipation of women, blow

through tne lands?

Women in the national liberation movements, particularly in the

Southern parts of Africa, are providing the answers as they fight

jointly for the liberation of their country and the emancipation of

women.

Hilda Bernstein

► *

C O N T E N T S

J o a n S m ith is w orking on a book called Moralities, for Penguin. It will concentrate on the morality o f power and money, suggesting that too much attention is paid to sex. H er earlier classic, Different for Girls, is available in paperback from Vintage.

A n t h o n y C l a r e is M ed ical Director o f St Patrick’s Hospital and Clinical Professor o f Psychiatry at Trinity College, Dublin. H e tells us he is working on a book for Chatto to be called The Dying Phallus.

H i l d a B e r n s t e i n was bo rn in London but emigrated to South Africa in her teens, where she married Lionel B ernstein , w ho appeared w ith Mandela in the Rivonia trial. Husband and wife found themselves imprisoned under the first state o f emergency in 1960, in separate prisons. She has written extensively about the South African exile experience, her latest book being The World That Was Ours, available from Central Books.

C h r i s t o p h e r H i t c h e n s , author o f No One Left to Lie To, reviewed by M ark S tey n in M ay ’s L R , is a regular contributor to Vanity Fair.

P a m e la N o r r i s ’s The Story o f Eve w ill b e p u b li s h e d in p a p e rb a c k in

O c to b e r (P ica d o r). S h e is c u r re n t ly

w o rk in g o n a n o v e l.

M a r t y n B e d f o r d ’s third novel, The Houdini Girl, is published by Viking.

M a r y F la n a g a n ’s novel A dele is published in paperback by Bloomsbury.

D a v id A l d e r d i c e , a lo n g - tim e supporter and executive mem ber o f N o r th e rn I re la n d ’s A lliance Party, was elected Lord M ayor o f Belfast on 1 June 1998.

D a i s y W a u g h is th e a u th o r o f A Small Town in Africa (Heinemann), and a novel, What is the Matter with Mary fane? (Sceptre). She now has a wise and beautiful daughter called Panda, aged 21 months.

FROM THE PULPIT Au b e r o n W a u g h

MIND, BO DY & SOUL 4 B r y a n Appl ey a r d God’s Funeral A N W ilson6 J o a n Sm it h Making the Body Beautiful: A Cultural History of

Aesthetic Surgery Sander L G ilm an7 A n t h o n y C la re The Impossibility o f Sex Susie O rb ach8 D e b o r a h B o sley Falling in Love Sheila Sullivan, I Am No

Longer Myself Without You Jonathan R utherford,The Heart-Shaped Bullet Kathryn Flett

MEMOIRS 10 P a ul J o h n s o n Years o f Renewal: The Concluding Volume o f his Memoirs H enry Kissinger

11 C h r is t o p h e r H it c h e n s Some Times in America A lexander Chancellor

13 M a r y K e e n A n English Garden in Provence Natasha Spender

OPPRESSION 14 O leg G o r d ie v sk y Biohazard Ken Alibek and Stephen Handelman

16 R ic h a r d G o t t The Immaculate Invasion Bob Shacochis18 B e n Sh e p h a r d A n Intimate History o f Killing Joanna B ourke,

M y War Gone By, I Miss it So A nthony Loyd19 D avid A l d e r d ic e The Faithful Tribe: A n Intimate Portrait o f the

Loyal Institutions R u th D udley Edwards

LITERARY

BIOGRAPHY20 Ka t h r y n H u g h e s George’s Ghosts: The Secret Life o f W B Yeats

Brenda M addox21 D a vid C r a n e Byron Benita Eisler22 A n t h o n y C u r t is Siegfried Sassoon, 1886-1967

Jo h n Stuart R oberts23 J essica M a n n The Mysterious Marie Corelli Teresa Ransom24 P am ela N o r r is Catherine Cookson: The Biography

Kathleen Jones

FICTION BY WOMEN 25 C a n d ia M c W illiam Everything You Need A L Kennedy27 D J T a y l o r Close Range A nnie P ro u lx28 An n e C h ish o l m Fasting, Feasting A nita Desai28 Pen el o pe L ively The Map o f Love A h d af S o u ie f29 Ka te K ellaw ay The Happiest Days C ressida C o n n o lly30 S u z i Feay Everything You Know Z o e H elle r31 J a n e C h a r t e r is Shadow-Box A nton ia L ogue32 M a r y F la n ag a n First Novel M azarine P ingeo t33 An n a P a st er n a k Making Love: A Romance Lucretia S tew art,

Hens Dancing R affaella B arker

Editor: A u b er o n W augh Deputy Editor: N ancy Sladek

Assistant Editor: Lisa Allardice Editorial Assistant: J ames Pusey

Business Manager: Isabel Bo o th by Advertising Manager: Louise H a rriso n

Classified Advertisement Sales: J ames P usey Contributing Editor: L ilian P izzich in i

Subscriptions: Ben H ouse Publisher: N aim Attallah

Founding Editor. D r A n n e Sm ith Cover illustration by Chris Riddell

Issue no. 252

LITERARY REVIEW June 1999

t

B I O G R A P H Y

H i l d a B e r n s t e i n

Country Lad Made Very Good Indeed

M a n d e l a : T h e A u t h o r i s e d B i o g r a p h y★

By Anthony Sampson (HarperCollins 500pp £ 2 4 .9 9 )

As WELL AS his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, there are already several biographies o f Nelson Mandela, many collections o f his speeches and writings, and many films and TV ‘drama-docs’ — and this is even before his imminent retirement from public life.

Yet when he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964 he was virtually unknown outside his own country. The Rivonia trial was his last public appearance for nearly three decades, during which he was blanked out. Nothing he said or wrote could be quoted or published. N o photo could be taken. It was as though he did not exist.

But it was during these years that he became a world celebrity. It is a modern fairy tale: a black prisoner breaking stones on Robben Island emerges after twenty-seven years to become president o f his country, to head a new era. It creates a myth. Anthony Sampson has aimed ‘to discover how this most private man relates to this most public myth’. But do we need yet another biography?

Previous biographies have been generally in the nature o f extended CVs, recordings o f the milestones in a life. Only one, Martin Merediths, digs deeper. In his Nelson Mandela: A Biography, he places Mandela’s life and character within the political developments o f his times. His is a most readable and often penetrating biography.

But Sampson extends his timescale to take in the end o f M andela’s presidency.He is uniquely placed to examine both the myths and the realities. He first came to South Africa in the Fifties, as a journalist on the black magazine, the Drum. Sampson was one o f the few w h ites w ho crossed the line into black Johannesburg. As a result, he has had a long personal association with key figures in M andela’s life; black writers, musicians, and the leading players in the liberation movement.O ver the years he has

maintained those ties and been present at such key events in Mandela’s life as the Fifties Treason trial and the 1963-4 Rivonia trial.

M ultiple strands w ent into the determ ination o f M andela’s character. M ost pow erful has been the heritage o f his boyhood in a remote area o f the Transkei, where the African notion o f ubuntu or brotherhood — ‘a person is a person because o f other people’ — became deeply embedded as a fundamental part o f his personality. His upbringing as a member o f the Tembu royal household made him constantly aware o f the special obligations and duties rather than the privileges o f a leader. Years later, on Robben Island, these fundamentals o f his character and a profound sense o f his own right to be treated with respect changed even the attitudes o f those in authority. Meanwhile, other political prisoners came to see the warders also as victims o f apartheid, and so to strike up some astonishing personal relationships with them.

Even before Rivonia, in the intensely politically active years o f the Fifties and Sixties, this country lad who came to the big city, hostile to whites, awkward in their presence and suspicious o f their motives, became the leader o f a political alliance o f Africans with Indians and whites. He grew from an instinctive anti-communist to an unapologetic protagonist o f the ANC alliance with the Communist Party. In these developments he lent heavily on two lifelong friends: Walter Sisulu, who introduced him to politics and was a deeper political thinker, but who lacked Mandela’s charisma; and Oliver Tambo, whom he met at Fort Hare University, and who became the partner in his law practice and in his politics.

Commentators on Mandela’s politics consistendy focus on the considerable influence o f white Communists on shaping his attitudes towards multiracialism. Sampson analyses and explains its origins; but in so doing has not, I think, fully recognised the profound influence o f the black Communists in the upper echelons o f the ANC itself, men such as Moses Kotane, J B Marks, Duma

Nokwe and others. Later, in the years on Robben Island, Walter Sisulu and Ahm ed Kathrada were Mandela’s constant com panions and collaborators.

Mandela’s conversion to multiracialism was no easy walk. It brought him into a h ead -on clash w ith those black nationalists who broke from the ANC to form the Pan-Africanist Congress, and, during his 1962 tour abroad, into confrontation with African governm ents wedded to concepts o f negritude andWhich is the more royal?

LITERARY REVIEW June 1999

B I O G R A P H Y

black exclusiveness, hostile to his multiracialism and his collaboration with Communists. Sampson puts these pressures into the con text o f the C old War, w hen Western governments, with deeply ambivalent attitudes to apartheid, saw the South African government as a stabilising force against the ‘Communist threat’ and the A N C . Mandela’s principles held firm in the face o f heavy pressures, both local and international.

By the time o f the Rivonia trial Mandela was already the most influential figure in the entire South African liberation movement. His personal growth in stature and in political understanding continued during the long years in prison, but out o f public sight. For the political prisoners R o b b en Island was their university. Educational studies and intense political debate became ways o f enduring the years; many prisoners emerged with degrees. In the late Seventies and the Eighties increasing student uprisings and urban opposition brought a new generation o f prisoners to the Island with ideas o f black consciousness. In the confrontation between his generation and theirs, Mandela’s strong inclination towards reconciliation and consensus was

V a l e r i e P a k e n h a m

NOTHING B ESIDE REMAINST h e A f r i c a H o u s e

★

By Christina Lamb (Viking 256pp £16.99)

Z a m b ia , o n c e N o r t h e r n Rhodesia, never proved a magnet for white settlers in the same way as its southern neighbour, Zimbabwe, or the highlands o f Kenya, and certainly not for the more flamboyant aristocratic kind like Delamare or Finch Hatton. Its huge plains o f flat, scrubby savannah proved to o u n in v itin g and too tsetse-ridden, the kind o f territory that coined the mapmakers’ scrawl, ‘M M BA’ — Miles and Miles o f Bloody Africa. The one spectacular exception is the subject o f this book: Stewart Gore-Browne.

Gore-Browne, who came out to Northern Rhodesia just before the First World War to work on the Border C om m ission d iv id in g B ritish from B elg ian and Portuguese colonies, had taken a liking to its huge skies and its Bemba people (‘so masculine, proud and loyal’), and decided to stay. H e trekked north , retracing Livingstone’s last journey in reverse, and, on Good Friday 1914, discovered his ideal place, a sapphire-blue lake ringed with wooded hills: Shiwa Ngandu. The name means ‘Lake o f the Royal Crocodiles’ (cursed by Livingstone after the crocodiles devoured his pet dog). After the war, Gore-Browne returned there to farm (hoping to make a living from essential oils) and to build

forged. This was a crucial part o f his leadership in the transformation o f South Africa.

The cost o f the long years o f imprisonment was high. It shattered his marriage, divided him from his children, and left him with permanent sadness and irremediable feelings o f guilt for the sacrifice o f his family. Sampson deals sensitively with these personal problems, and with the many harsh experiences that contributed to the breakdown o f Winnie Mandela’s relationship with Nelson.

H e also covers the period o f negotiation, the pressures and politicking that preceded the organisation o f the first democratic election in South Africa’s history, and the form ation o f the C abinet, and deals w ith the problems o f the presidency years. With a great deal o f additional research he brings to it a deep personal understanding o f the politics o f South Africa. Until the confidential records o f the government and o f the ANC during M andela’s presidency are opened to study, Sampson’s will remain the definitive biography.To order ‘Mandela’ at the special price of £ 2 0 .9 9 with free U K p&p call Literary Review Bookshop on 0181 324 5510 or use our form on page 55.

the most extraordinary house in Africa: part Tuscan palace, part Lutyensesque Surrey mansion, complete with rose garden, clock tower and a w hole English village for his Bemba workmen.

In 1981, I was lucky enough to be taken there by the British High Commissioner, a friend o f Gore-Browne’s daughter who had inherited the place. We arrived at night, having driven 400 miles across the bush from M alaw i. We m ade our way through this strange red-brick village lit only by cooking fires, and up an imposing avenue o f cypresses to a tall house smothered in scented creepers. Gore-Browne’s daughter was away and all was darkness and confusion. Then the generator came on and the house creaked into light, revealing faded Persian rugs, heavy Victorian furniture and pictures, chandeliers, and mounted animals’ heads. Dinner appeared as if by magic (I remember goose pate and hot toast swathed in white napery). After dinner, the High Commissioner led us to a magnificent library, set in the centre o f the house, to show us a superb collection o f Africana, and we sank contentedly into leather armchairs by the fire. It was a scene that might have come from John Buchan’s novel, A Lodge in the Wilderness.

Christina Lamb was taken to Shiwa fifteen years later by Gore-Browne’s grandson. The rooms were still furnished, but inhabited only by bats and spiders, the floorboards were rotting, and damp had spotted the first editions in the library. Her sharp writers eye spied another treasure trove: a carved Z anzibari chest, cram m ed w ith thousands o f letters in neat black copperplate, many of them opening ‘Dearest’ and signed ‘SGB’, and on the wall behind, shelves filled with leather-bound journals and estate books going back to 1922. Gore-Browne was

-------------------------------------------------------------------------LITERARY REVIEW June 1999

SA Flambe and Other Recipes For DisasterDerek Bauer

David Philip, Cape Town, vi + 106pp., 1989, R25.95,086486 130 3

Readers of the Weekly Mail will be familiar with Derek Bauer’s cartoons. This is a collection of the best from 1985-87. The style is in the Ralph Steadman tradition, ratchety scribbles spattered with blobs and blots of ink as though from a loaded pen jabbed viciously at the paper.

With those he despises he succeeds m agnificently — Savim bi, O llie North and Terre’Blanche. He is less successful in portraying tragedy, and tributes to Steve Biko, Ashley Kriel and Molly Blackburn are, in my opinion, unmemorable.

But there is no doubt about his ability. He draws marvellously and possesses what Anton Harber, co-editor of the Weekly Mail, describes as ‘the rare, but essential, combination of drawing skill and emotional disturbance ... (he) is undiscriminating. He will be tasteless, cruel, rude, obnoxious to Leftwingers, Rightwingers, Middle-of-the-Roaders and probably even Mother Teresa’. Perhaps in this respect he sets his targets too wide.

His is a style and attitude not to everyone’s liking. I found much of this collection very funny, undoubtedly clever and truly vicious. I suppose that makes him an ace cartoonist.

Hilda Bernstein

February/May 1990 SOUT

Resistance Art in South Africaby Sue Williamson

David Philip, Cape Town, 0 86486 124 9; Catholic Institute of International Relations, London, 159pp., 1990, £9.99,1 85287 061 3

Much of the woik in this collection is more an expression of apartheid violence and repression than a depiction of resistance. In this respect it at least avoids what I call the clenched-fist syndrome in South African art and poetry.

The book presents us with small samples of the work of no more than 150 artists, and inevitably they are glimpses at the artists’ work rather than a representative depiction. The form of the work is wide-ranging, from metal sculpture and photo-etching to T-shirts and photographs of the short-lived peace parks constructed in the townships in 1985. Each artist’s work is accompanied by a short comment by Sue Williamson that clarifies the artist’s intentions. This is sometimes very necessary, as for example in the painted wood construction ‘Mayday’ by Angela Ferreira, which seemed totally abstract until I read the text. When art becomes too sophisticated and subtle it closes itself off from those it purportedly seeks to reach.

Much of the work is disturbing; some very powerful, as in Vuyile Cameron Voyiya’s lino- cuts, and the work of Gary van Wyk and Manfred Zylla. And some tantalizingly beautiful, as Sfiso ka Mkame’s ‘Letters to God’. As with novelists the South African artist cannot produce work unrelated to the over-riding turmoil, oppression and revolt that tears at the country and bums into the consciousness of all.

John Muafangejo, who died last year, has summed it up in seven words.‘A deeply religious man’, Sue Williamson writes, ‘the conflicts between the Church and the

State, the violence which beset his land, the racial prejudices of society and his own desire for reconciliation are all reflected in his prints.’ Denying that his work was political, Muafangejo once replied ‘It is the world which is political.’

Hilda Bernstein

4

REVIEWS*Edited byTamara Philipps

THE APARTHEID HANDBOOK b y R oger Omond P e n g u in £3-95

T h is i s th e seco n d e d i t io n of R oger O m o n d 's 'G u id e to S outh A f r i c a 's E v e ry d a y R a c ia l P o l ic ie s ' , a n d b r in g s i t a s u p to d a te a s i t i s p o s s ib le in a c h a n g in g s i tu a t io n .

I t i s a n e s s e n t i a l h a n d b o o k fo r e v e ry b o d y , a s u s e fu l fo r th o s e w ho th in k th e y know a l l a b o u t a p a r th e id a s i t i s fo r th o s e who a r e ig n o r a n t b u t c u r io u s . F o r a l l a c t iv e a n t i a p a r th e id c a m p a ig n e r s , i t i s in d i s p e n s a b le .

I t s g r e a t m e r it i s i t s a c c e s s i b i l i t y . The f a c t s a b o u t S ou th A fr ic a a r e s e t o u t c l e a r ly a n d s im p ly in q u e s t io n a n d a n s w e r fo rm , a n d u n d e r h e a d in g s t h a t i c o v e r e v e ry a s p e c t o f p o l i t i c a l , l e g a l , s o c ia l a n d c u l t u r a l l i f e . To ch o o se h is s e c tio n h e a d in g s a t ra n d o m : H o u s in g , R em ovals, T r a n s p o r t , B each A p a r th e id , C rim e , P o lic e , N a tio n a l a n d L ocal G o v ern m en t; th e s e g iv e some id e a of th e w ide r a n g e c o v e re d . Keep t h i s book in y o u r p o c k e t o r b a g , r e f e r tp i t o f te n . H ig h ly recom m ended .

H ild a B e rn s te in

10 A \ n /£ & < _

BOOK REVIEWSEdltad byTamara PhilippsNON-ALIGNMENT IN AN AGE OF ALIGNMENT A W Singham & S h ir le y Hune Lawrence Hill ZED Books 420pp w ith in d e x ap p en d ices and b ib l io g r a p h y hb £20 .95 , pb £ 7 .9 5

T his sy m p a th e tic an d s c h o la r ly book, w ritte n by two p ro fe sso rs from New York, is a fo rm id a b le , one-volum e ency c lo p o ed ia ofin fo rm ation abou t the n o n -a lig n e d movement w hich o r ig in a te d w ith th e B andung C onference in 1955 an d now num bers o v e r a h u n d re d member s ta te s .

Today the Movement, w hich h a s been w idely ig n o re d , d is to r te d an d m isrep re sen ted by th e W est, is an im p o rtan t c e n tre of th o u g h t an d ac tio n in a w orld th a t we a re to assum e w il l ,fo re v e r ,b e dom inated by th e su p erp o w ers .

The a u th o rs h av e p ro v id e d a com prehensive accoun t of th e p r in c ip le s , s t ru c tu re an d h is to ry of th is movement, an d th en go on to a n a ly z e the v a r io u s Summit m eetings w hich h a v e been h e ld

They a n a ly z e th e p o li t ic s of co llec tiv e r e s is ta n c e , a n d of L ib e ra tio n , w hich h av e em erged from th ese co n fe ren ces , an d d ea l w ith th e dem and fo r a New World Economic O rd e r, an d th e i r a ttem p t to free them selves from th e co n tro l of th e W estern m ed ia , a s w ell as w ith sp ec ific q u e s tio n s lik e P a le s tin e ,N am ib ia an d South A fric a .

The statements and declarations made have given these countries a common position, which has also been the bas is of their work at the United Nations, to which they are a ll resolutely committed.

Most re c e n tly th e l in k a g e of D isarm am ent an d Developm ent h a s connected th e movement w ith the Peace movements in Europe an d th e USA, an d may well p av e th e way for a s tro n g dem and fo r no n - a lig n m en t a s th e b a s is of fu tu re p o licy fo r o u r Left an d th e T rad e Union m ovem ents, a g a in s t the Im p e r ia lis t fo rces w hich h av e t r ie d to d e - s ta b i l iz e so m any of th e se c o u n tr ie s .

A fter the m eeting th a t took p la c e a t the House of Commons, in J u ly , to la u n c h a cam paign fo r n o n - a lignm en t in B r i ta in , l e t te r s were sen t to a l l the a m b a ssa d o rs an d h igh com m issioners in London from c o u n tr ie s th a t a re members of th e n o n -a lig n e d movement, on th e eve of th e recen t H a ra re sum m it in Zim babw e, an d th ese w ere a l l w arm ly acknow ledged an d then

re p o rte d to th e i r home governm en ts a s th e b a s is fo r f u r th e r c o n ta c t.

For anyone who is in te re s te d in th is l in e of ad v a n c e fo r u s , in the L abour an d Peace movem ent, th is book is a b so lu te ly e s s e n tia l re a d in g an d fo r fu tu re re fe re n c e .

Tony Benn MP

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

ZORA NEALE HURSTON a l i t e r a r y b io g ra p h y Robert E Hemenway Camden P ress £ 7 .9 5

An e x c itin g outcome ot tne fem in is t movement h a s been th e "d isco v e ry " of c re a tiv e women whose l iv e s h av e been b u r ie d by n eg lec t an d by m ale h is to r ia n s , c r i t i c s an d w r ite r s .

I h a d n e v e r h e a rd of Zora Neale H urston u n t i l 1 re a d th is b io g ra p h y . 1 im m edia te ly w ent to buy novels (now re -p u b l is h e d ) . I t w as do ub ly e a sy to conceal h e r l ife and h e r work - she w as fem ale an d she w as b la c k .Zora H urston w as not o n ly a g if te d w r i te r ; she w as an a n th ro p o lo g e s t, a c r i t i c , an d a fo lk lo r is t in an u n ta p p e d f ie ld : A fro-A m erican fo lk lo re , th e f i r s t b la c k p e rso n w ith h e r b ack g ro u n d an d ta le n ts to u n d e r ta k e th e co llec tio n of such fo lk lo re .

She w as a lso a s t r ik in g ly in d e p e n d e n t, c o lo u rfu l, flam boyen t p e rs o n a l i ty whose p r id e in h e r b la c k n e ss an d in tim a te connec tion w ith th e r u r a l South n e v e r le f t h e r ; one of a g ro u p of b r i l l a n t b la c k w r ite rs of the 1920s known a s th e Harlem R en a issa n c e .

In h e r l a t e r y e a rs she becam e a r ig h t-w in g R e p u b lic a n , h e rc o n se rv a tism a r is in g in p a r t from h e r d is l ik e of th e Communist P a r ty , an d from h e r own in d iv id u a lis m , "a lm ost a k in d of eg o tism ". She d ied in a coun ty p o o rh o u se , a lo n e , i l l a n d im p o v erish ed .A t h e r fu n e ra l the m in is te r sa id :"S h e d i d n 't come to you em pty . . . The Miami p a p e r s a id she d ied poor. But she d ied r ic h . She d id so m e th in g ."

A f in e ly - re s e a rc h e d , f a s c in a t in g b io g ra p h y .

Hilda B ernstein

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

THE DAYS OF THE GOOD SOLDIERS R ichard Kisch Journeyman £ 6 .9 5

The Second World War saw some re m a rk a b le c h a n g e s , one of the most re m a rk a b le b e ing th e em ergence of a p o li t ic a l arm y from the womb of th e r ig id r e a c t io n a ry B ritish m il i ta ry m achine n u r tu re d on c o lo n ia l re p re s s io n an d t e r r o r . There w ere , b a s ic a l ly , two re a so n s fo r t h i s . Not o n ly h ad c o n sc r ip tio n b ro u g h t te n s of th o u sa n d s of

com m itted a n t i - f a s c is ts in to the r a n k s , b u t a lso the a l l ia n c e w ith th e Soviet Union an d th e s tro n g ly p o li t ic a l n a tu re of the w a r forced th e a u th o r i t ie s to re o rg a n ise and ex p an d th e Army e d u c a tio n a l s e rv ic e s .

An ex p losion of d isc u ss io n an d d e b a te fo llow ed. Not sin ce the e s ta b lish m e n t of C rom w ell's New Model Army in 1646 h a d th e re been such an arm y open ly d isc u ss in g p o li t ic a l is s u e s , a C it iz e n 's Army c a p a b le of w ag ing a P e o p le 's War- a t le a s t fo r th e d u ra t io n , u n t i l , l ik e C rom w ell, C h u rch ill took f r ig h t an

11

BOOK REVIEWSEdited byTamara Philipps" The Making of Modern Tibet?' by A Tom Grunfeld,Zed Books Ltd 1987.Hp £22. pb £7.95

To most people in the western world, Tibet is a little-known land of remote towering mountains, shrouded in myths and mysteries, compounded of memories of the film version of James Hilton's novel "Lost Horizon" and Shangri-la, rare references to its unusual Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, and alleged sightings of the "abmoninable snowman". To date, there has been no serious post Second World-War study of the people and their history in English, which can be regarded as comprehensive and balanced, to compare with Tom Grunfeld's book. At £7.95, the paper back is an outstanding bargain for anyone interested in the course of Tibetan history from its beginnings, in the scramble between the imperialist powers for the Far East or the development of the Chinese People's Republic and its policies towards historic Chinese territories, inhabited by distinct nationalities.

In 1950, Tibet came into the headlines with the news of its takeoverr by the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Whether this is held to have been justified by long-standing historic links or not, any idea that the country was Ruritanian bliss is dispelled by Tom Grunfeld's account.

Land was owned by Buddhist monasteries, the lay nobility and the Government, while the majority of the population were illiterate serfe, living in filth, squalor and ignorance. VD and g astro-intestinal diseases were very common and leprosy took its toll, while medicine consisted of bloodletting, exorcisms, the use of herbs and "holy" spittle, urine and excrement. A survey of eastern Tibet in 1940 showed 75% of households ate grass cooked with cow bones and mixed with oat or pea flour at times.

| Torture and mutilation were used to punish crime.

Until 1959, the Chinese were

very circumspect in dealing with the Buddhist culture in the greater part of the country but they built roads and a railway, introduced the telegraph, telephones, radio and newspapers, establishedindustrial installations and hospitals and organised secular education and associations designed to raise political consciousness.

After resistance and a revolt in 1959 in which the CIA was probably involved, however, the Chinese got tough and during the Cultural Revolution from 1966, most of the 2000-2500 monasteries were destroyed and a campaign was pursued to eliminate Tibetan dress and culture and ancient religious writings. This was largely responsible fbr tens of thousands of Tibetans fleeing the country.

Today the Chinese authorities are seeking to make amends and achieve reconciliation.

Tom Grunfeld details all this in a dispassionate and painstaking form. This is truly a splendid book which makes fascinating reading andabounds with lessons fbr those genuinely concerned with the liberation of oppressed and exploited peoples. 4 .

Stan Newens.

THE RISE OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN REICH. V ”7Brian Bunting, International Defence and Aid. £6.

This meticulously documented book traces the rise of the ideology that has enforced and extended apartheid, explaining how and why the Nationalist Party, representing one section of the white minority, has been able to take and hold power.

There is a brief but clear historical background and a fUll account of the role played by the leaders of the present regime during World War 2. Brian Bunting explains how, after ooming to power in 1948, they were able to eliminate opposition and cement the racial basis of society in every field, through laws based on an ideology of total discrimination and reaction (e.g. "Native education should be based on the principles of trusteeship, non-equality and segregation. Its aim should be to incalcate the white man's view of life, especially that of the Boer nation which is the senior trustee.")H ow ever, a s th e book w as

f i r s t p u b l is h e d in 1964, a n d re v is e d in 1969, th e in fo rm a tio n p ro v id e d e n d s n e a r ly tw en ty y e a r s a g o . So m uch h a s c h a n g e d in th o se y e a r s in e v e ry f ie ld th a t f ig u re s p ro v id e d , a n d in fo rm a tio n ab o u t r e p re s s iv e la w s , need much u p d a t in g . E v ery a s p e c t o f th e l e g a l , s o c ia l , p o l i t i c a l a n d econom ic l i f e in South A frica h a s u n d e rg o n e im m ense c h a n g e ; in a d d i t io n , t a b le s on e a rn in g s m i l i ta ry s p e n d in g , e d u c a tio n , e tc , a r e v a l id fo r t h e i r tim e, b u t no t fo r now .

T h is d oes no t i n v a l id a te th e book a s a w ho le ; i t h a s p le n ty of f a s c in a t in g m a te r ia l fo r the h is to r ia n a n d th e r e s e a r c h e r . But 1 am no t s u re w hy i t h a s b een r e p u b l is h e d w ith o u t f u r th e r u p - d a t in g a t th e p re s e n t tim e .

H ilda B e rn s te in

"ASKING FOR TROUBLE" (A u to b io g ra p h y of a b a n n e d jo u r n a l i s t )b y D onald W oods. P e n g u in . P a p e rb a c k 364 p p . £3 .9 5 p

Most p eo p le in te r e s te d in th e a n t i a p a r th e id m ovem ent w ill know of D onald W oods. A f i f th g e n e ra t io n S ou th A fr ic a n , e d i to r fo r 12 y e a r s of th e D a ily D isp a tc h , one of th e c o u n t r y 's lo n g e s t e s ta b l i s h e d n e w sp a p e rs , he w as f in a l ly fo rc e d ( in 1977) to le a v e th e c o u n try i l l e g a l ly (d is g u is e d a s a c le rg y m a n ! )

T h is b o o k , f i r s t p u b lis h e d in 1980, t e l l s th e s to ry of a l i b e r a l a n d h u m an e m an who w as b ro u g h t u p am ong b la c k s a n d h a d g r e a t a f fe c tio n fo r them b u t a c c e p te d more o r le s s w ith o u t q u e s tio n t h a t th e y h a d to be " k e p t in t h e i r p la c e " . He g rew u p am ong th e Bom vana tr ib e sm e n in th e T ra n s k i T e r r i to ry , one o f th e t r i b a l r e s e r v a t io n s f a r from th e b ig c i t i e s . A w h ite c h i ld am ong te n s of th o u s a n d s of B om vanas, he spoke X hosi a s w ell a s he spoke E n g lis h .

His fa m ily w as w ell o ff a n d o r ig in a l ly he w as d e s t in e d to be a la w y e r , b u t a f t e r com pletin g h is t r a i n i n g fo u n d jo u r n a l ism m ore a c c e p ta b le . L ike m any of th e b e s t jo u r n a l i s t s he s ta r t e d a t th e b o ttom . D onald Woods is a f in e w r i te r a n d h a s a keen nose fo r n ew s. He a ls o h a s a h ig h ly d e v e lo p e d se n se of h u m o u r. T h a t 's w hy th is book w ould be a f in e p re s e n t fo r a n y o n e who h a s a n y d o u b ts a b o u t th e i n iq u i t i e s of a p a r th e id . D onald W oods, w ith h is b a c k g ro u n d a n d t r a i n i n g a n d in te r e s t in p o l i t i c s , co u ld h av e - become p a r t o f th e South A fr ic -

N

'1{ o \ v > +

SWEETNESS AND POWER - THEPLACE OF SUGAR IN MODERNHISTORY. by S idney M intz. P en g u in . £3-95

"Sugar w as th e co r n e r -s to n e of B r itish West In d ia n s la v e r y and th e s la v e tr a d e , and the e n s la v e d A fr ica n s who p rod uced the su g a r w ere lin k e d in c le a r econom ic r e la t io n s h ip s to the B ritish la b o u r in g p eo p le who were le a r n in g to e a t i t ."

"Sw eetness an d Power" sh ou ld become com p u lsory r e a d in g for stu d en ts of im p e r ia lism and the B ritish Empire in i t s h e y d a y .

While su g a r w as not r e a l ly ex ch a n g ed in th e U.K. but so ld for p ro fit by th e p la n ta t io n prop r ie to r s , it i s a ls o a fa c t th a t n ea r ly e v e r y th in g consum ed in the West In d ia n co lo n y cam e from E n glan d . F in ish ed good s were so ld to A fr ic a , A fr ican s la v e s were so ld to Am erica an d in turn su g a r w as exp orted to th e Mother cou n try an d to h er European n e ig h b o u rs who im ported from E n g la n d .

In t h i s t r ia n g le tra d e , m i l l ion s of huiran b e in g s were t r e a t ed a s co m n cd ities .

But the h is to r y o f su g a r d oes not b eg in w ith im p e r ia lism . The au th or tr a c e s it to a S a n sc r ip t m anu scrip t o f arou n d 350 BC to the p resen t d a y . l t w as a lso an a d d it iv e to a m u ltitu d e of p rod ucts to the d ism a y o f an ev er in c r e a s in g num ber of

d ie te r s .From a v e r y lu x u r io u s b e g in n

in g in th e 13th ce n tu ry in Engla n d when su g a r w as o n ly con sumed in th e R oyal H ousehold and the top a r is to c r a c y , i t b ecame by th e mid 20th cen tu ry a n e c e s s ity an d s ta p le d ie t of the w ork in g c l a s s .

S ugar u n lik e most o th er a g r icu ltu r a l p r o d u c ts , i s not ju s t sown and h a r v e s te d , l t h a s to be p rod u ced , th u s d u r in g the su g a r h a r v e s t , su g a r m ills op erated in c r e a s in g ly , an d th e la b our req u irem en ts w ere h orren d o u s , s la v e s fa ced h ard and cr u e l fa c to ry d is c ip l in e s w hich are d esc r ib ed b y m any con tem porary tr a v e l le r s .

The o n ly c r it ic ism w h ich cou ld be made of th is im m ensely fa c t u a l and in fo r m a tiv e book i s th a t it d oes not t e l l en ou gh about the l i f e o f th e a c tu a l p rod u cers both at th e b e g in n in g and in our tim e.

In sp ite o f th is c r it ic is m , no read er w ill rem ain unm oved by th is e n th u s ia s t ic an d k n ow led gea b le c r it ic o f im p eria lism who sp en t a life t im e on h is su b je c t .

B ridget N icolson

WOMEN OF THE CARIBBEAN.E dited b y Pat E l l is .Zed B ooks. £5-95p

If you sk ip th e in tro d u ctio n ( in te r e s t in g fa c ts b o r in g ly p resen ted - you ca n a lw a y s come back to i t la t e r ) you w ill f in d , in r e a d a b le sh o rt c h a p te r s , a b so rb in g g lim p se s in to the l iv e s o f C arib b ean women.

The p ic tu r e th a t i s r e c e iv e d , of th e p r e ju d ic e s , d is a b i l i t ie s and e a r ly r o le - tr a in in g th a t op era te a g a in s t wom en, i s too d e p r e s s in g ly fa m il ia r . But th ere a r e , o f c o u r se , o th er d im e n s io n s . The h is to r y o f th e r e g io n , of s la v e r y and c o lo n ia lism , of th e a ttitu d e s an d m oral co n ce p ts th a t are p e r p e tu a te d , a re e x tr a b u rd en s th a t a l l C arib b ean so c ie ty and p a r t ic u la r ly th e women,

c a r r y on th e ir b a c k s . The ch a p ter on v io le n c e a g a in s t women - r a p e , in c e s t , a s s a u lt , se x u a l h a ra ssm en t - show s c le a r ly how su ch c r im es , th a t are not unknow n in th e W estern w orld , a re e x a c e r b a te d b y th e custom s an d p r e ju d ic e s th a t h a v e been p a rt of th e h is to r y and w ay of l i f e of th e C a r ib b ea n , l t d oes seem to me th a t u n d ersta n d in g w hy c o lo n ia l o p p r ess io n h as p rod uced su ch v io le n c e a g a in s t women by men (b o ls te re d by th e ir n eed to p resen t a macho im age) d oes not n e c e s s a r i ly make i t an y e a s ie r for th e women to co n fro n t. *

The prob lem s of women a re a s fun d am en ta l a s th e y a re u n iv e r s a l , s ta te s one of th e c o n tr ib u to rs , but th e women of the C arib b ean fa c e a m u lt ip lic ity of c h a l le n g e s . Some of th e se seem to echo th o se fa c in g women in South A fr ica : d om estic w ork ers th e re , a s in th e C a r ib b ea n , are s itu a te d a t th e p o in t w here th e l in e s o f s e x , ra ce and c la s s o p p ressio n c o n v e r g e .

H istory , la b o u r , women h uckster s an d e n tr e p r e n e u r s , the fa m ily , e d u c a t io n , c u ltu r e - th ese are am ong th e m any them es w ith w h ich th e book d e a ls , l t th u s p r o v id e s an in tr ig u in g

in tro d u ctio n to a w id er read in g of resou rce m a te r ia l, w hich is l is te d in th e a p p e n d ix .

H ilda B ern stein

ARGENTINA - FROM ANARCHISM TO PERON1SM. by R onaldo Munck w ith R icardo Falcon & B ernardo G a li te l l i : Zed Books, hb £27.95 pb £ 8 .9 5 .

L a tin A m erica is s t i l l s tu d ie d se rio u s by too few E u ro p ean s. Most n o n -L a tin A m ericans r a r e ly look beyond a h azy sc e n a r io of d ic ta to r s p u n c tu a te d by g u erri l l a s an d co u p s , o r a re aw are of th e so c ia l a n d economic su b s t r a t a u n d e rn e a th . Even before G a l t ie r i 's ju n ta , th e r e a l A rgent in a - a la rg e in d u s t r ia l i s e d an d p o li t ic is e d n a tio n - w as too seldom view ed b e n e a th sn a p sh o ts such a s the tra g i-c o m ic m ask of E v ita .

T his book - a lth o u g h not one fo r th e g e n e ra l r e a d e r - is the b es t s tu d y to d a te of th e p o litic s of A rg e n t in a 's u n io n s and in d u s t r ia l w o rk ers betw een 1855 sn f 1985.

E a r l ie r in th e l a s t c e n tu ry , a f te r s la v e ry h ad been a b o lish ed in 1813, a c e n su s n in e y e a rs la te r reco rd ed th a t a q u a r te r of th e p o p u la tio n w as b la c k . Today th e re is v i r tu a l ly no b la c k fa c e , a n d h a rd ly an y In d ia n o n es , to be seen in the w hole of A rg e n tin a : a d is tu rb in g book rem a in s to be w ritte n on the re a so n s to e x p la in th is ,

w hich a re not d e a l t w ith h e re .What th is book does do is to

c h ro n ic le in some d e ta i l how Peron s k i l fu l ly m a n ip u la te d the im m ig ran t w h ite w o rk e rs , b en ea th h is rh e to r ic c re a t in g "unionism from above" a n d a p l ia n t union le a d e rs h ip ; a n d how th e m iddle c la s s e s g a v e fa c i le a p p ro v a l as the p r ic e to be p a id fo r keep ing communism su p p re s s e d .

Ben W h itaker.Published by Liberation 490Printed by RAP Ltd., 201 Spotland Rd., Rochdale, Lancs. OL12 7AF

KLIPTOWN BOOKSby Hilda Bernstein

U lt is precisely the right moment, a s of burgeoning creativity in South Africa, that is already finding outlets in the fields of music and the theatre and increasingly in poetry and fiction by black writers. It is a time when art is ever more com m ercialised and becoming dependent on the finance of the market place, and for that reason the ethics of the market place — a Saat- chi and Saatchi o f contemporary respectability.

A further factor is the ever- in creasin g n e c e ss ity to w id en understanding of the nature of the South Africa struggle, to reach a wider audience than those who study the factual material. And Kliptown Books comes, for English-speaking readers, at a time when the withdrawal from reality among writers is making the Gothic-domestic novel the delight of publishers and critics.

.--''As the airports, newsstands and bran- ' ches of Sm iths’ fill up w ith more and

more gold and silver embossed covers of heavily-hyped ‘best-sellers’ it is welcom e new s w hen an independent, radical publishing company (an en dangered species) is announced. Klip-

„ town Books, launched by the Interna

tional D efence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa (IDAF) in August, has started life with the publication of three books of high social and literary interest.

In addition this is also a time when there is recognition o f the need for more flexibility in applying the cultural boycott to South Africa. The boycott policy has proved to be a strong and legitimate weapon against apartheid, bringing about changes in attitudes and policies in the field o f sports and (as recently shown by Barclays Bank,) in the economic field. The ultimte success of the policy w ill be w hen mandatory sanctions are applied. The cultural boycott must still operate in respect of artists from other countries who perform, or allow the performance of their works to segregated audiences, but it was never intended as a weapon against the developm ent of culture among the people. Culture within Southern Africa has m oved on from the export o f show s like Ip i-lbm bi, to a great burst of creativity o f the revolutionary people, and the spread of true South African culture needs to be enlarged.

The first three K liptoum Books are an augury o f good things to come.

uEscape From Pretoria, by Tim

Jenkin (£10 hardback, £5 paperback) is a true story that reads like a thriller. Three political prisoners escaped from one of South Africa’s top security prisons, making their way through fourteen locked doors. It is more than a con tem p orary ‘C o ld itz ’ story , how ever, it also charts the conversion of a typical young white racist to his deep involvem ent in the liberation struggle. This one, I predict, will becom e a best seller.

M Y FIGHT AGAINST APARTHEID by M ichael D ingake (£10 hardback, £6 paperback) is autobiography, and totally absorbing. Dingake was bom in Botswana, but spent his adult life in South Africa. His activities in the banned, underground ANC resulted in 15 years imprisonment on Robben Island; his account of the other prisoners, of their jo in t struggles is told w ith humour and with power.

A TOUGH TALE, by Mongane Wal- ly Serote (S3) is a powerful and moving poem by a South African poet who has already published several collections of poetry, and one novel.

The name o f the new publishing h o u se , K lip to w n B ooks, com memorates the Congress of the Peoples in 1956 w here the Freedom Charter was adopted as the policy of the liberation movement. The congress was held at a small place outside Johannesburg— Kliptown.Hilda Bernstein

PUBLISHING LIBERATION LITERATURE ON SOUTH AFRICA AND NAMIBIA__________

M Y FIGHT AG AINST APARTHEIDMichael Dingake. 256 pp Must. £5 (pb) £10 (hb). Imprisoned for 15 years on Robben Island in 1965, Michael Dingake in his autobiography clearly reveals, w ith hum our and political insight, how his whole life has been bound up w ith the struggle for liberation in South Africa.

ESCAPE FROM PRETORIATim Jenkin. 256 pp Must £5 (pb) £10 (hb).In 1979 three political prisoners caused a sensation in South Africa w hen they broke out of Pretoria Central Prison. This is their incredible story, told by one of the escapees

A TOUGH TALEMongane Watty Serote. 48 pp. £3

Internationally acclaimed as one of South Africa's foremost liberation poets, Serote, in this his latest work, has written an extraordinarily powerful poem which depicts the protracted and bitter struggle against apartheid .... and the fighting spirit of the people.

BOOK REVIEWSEdited by

Tamara PhilippsETHIOPIA’S CAMPAIGN AGAINST FAMINE

by John ClarkeHarney and Jones £3.00.

The W estern nations w ho congratulated them selves for donating a m ere fraction o f their prosperity to the victims o f drought and fam ine, in E thiopia have ignored the courageous and radical measures taken by the Ethiopians them selves.

The U.S. and British governm ents refused to give long-term aid to perm anent solutions to the problem o f hunger in the country , and condem ned the Ethiopian government for its highly creative survival schem e o f resettling thousands o f people from the drought-torn north o f the country in the more fertile and less populated territories o f the south-west.

The story o f this huge resettlement is set out in clarity and detail by John C larke.

He considers the insulting and often contem ptuous criticism s o f resettlem ent by W estern detractors, then answ ers them by describing objectively the process o f this huge m ovem ent o f people, the struggling to carve out new homes at the other end o f their massive country.

The task before the governm ent’s Relief and Rehabilitation Com m ittee was formidable. Three to four m illion people would need to be m oved from the stricken region before 1994, they calculated.

This book describes events that constitute a true human epic, and tells frankly o f the future being constructed in the present. For the Ethiopian people’s brave challenge to the mass hunger which is the scourge o f Africa may yet create a solution despite U.S. scorn, w here few in Europe had the vision to see its possibilities.

Chris Searle.

COLD HEARTHS AND BARREN SLOPES: The Woodfuel Crisis in the Third World

by Bina AgarwalZed Press. Hb £18.95. Pb. £66.95.

This well researched book exam ines fuel sources com es to the conclusion that wood is the most viable source o f energy in the developing world today.

T he causes o f the c ris is inc lude deforestation; land clearance for crop cultivation and industrial developm ent; rising populations and the use o f trees for tim ber production. The problem has been increased in many countries by State policies.

The crisis m ainly affects the poor, who are dependent on free w oodfuel as their on ly source o f energy for cooking and heating. Depleted sources mean that women, who are the main collectors o f w ood, now spend longer to gather it as they have to travel fu rther afield, so they have insufficient fuel to cook food properly , increasing m alnutrition in their fam ilies.

Im provem ents in w ood-burning stoves is one m eans o f reducing fuel consum ption, but they have rarely been a success when introduced. In general, technology has been introduced w ithout a proper understanding o f local needs. The w om en w ho use the stoves w ere not consulted on design or instructed in their use and so have reaped few benefits.

Due to the fact that stoves involve capital expenditure but give no financial rew ard, the men who control finance do not see the benefits for the w om en, saving tim e and energy, o r the im provem ent in nutrition, so they prefer to spend money elsew here.

Fuel supply can also be im proved by tree-planting, but once again lack o f com munication between innovators and users has often resulted in failure. W here the w hole com m unity has been involved, particularly w here land is held com m unally , these schemes have worked well, providing not only fuel wood but also plants.

I would recom mend this book to anyone studying the subject who wants to understand the crisis and change the situation.

Franqui Wolf.

BLACK AND GOLD: Tycoons, \ ( g lRevolutionaries and Apartheid.

by Anthony Sampson.Hodder & Stoughton, £12.95.

Anthony Sampson w rites with more intimate knowledge than many “ experts” . Fascinated by the relationship between corporations and politics, he traces the role o f W estern m ultinationals inside and outside South A frica in sustaining A partheid.

H is book traces the parallel rise o f the black nationalist m ovem ent and the role o f the corporations. He shows how “ constructive en g ag em en t” — investm ent and econom ic im provem ent — did not and will not in themselves lead to peaceful change and the achievem ent o f black rights.

This is a clear-eyed look at the realities o f the South African situation. As the choices becom e harsh , m ythologies clash with realities. T rue, the Afrikaners have nowhere else to go; but for that reason they must in the end face reality and com prom ise as the colonists never did.

Sampson concludes that there is a crucial role for W estern corporations that choose to stay (he feels that disinvestm ent in itself is a purely negative policy .) H e believes that emergency laws and the clampdown on news may give the appearance o f success for some tim e, but no m ilitary strategy can succeed w ithout w inning hearts and minds — and today it is not only black hearts and minds that are rebellious, but those o f many adm inistrators, theologians and executives who cannot contem plate a perm anent m ilitary solution.

I found this a w ise and perceptive book, w ritten in a readable, anecdotal m anner. It deserves a place on any library shelf.

Hilda Bernstein

FURNITURE, TIMBER AND ALLIED TRADES UNION

©FT A T greets all Trade Unionists

campaigning for peace and social progress

Colin A. Christopher General Secretary

Phil Davies President

"Fa irfie lds”Roe Green Kingsbury

LONDON NW9 OPT Tel: 01-204 0273

11

I

V ,

Liberation Book Reviewsedited by Tamara Philipps

4

DIVIDED FAMILIES

Ranjit Sondhi

Runnymede Press £2.95

Commonwealth citizens who settled in Britain before 1973 were apparently guaranteed the right to bring their dependents to Britain to settle. This was in accordance with the 1981 Immigration Act. This book addresses, among other issues, the clause in the Act which states that incoming dependents must not rely for support on public funds. Since the rise of unemployment in Thatcher’s Britain, many citizens from Africa and the Indian sub-continent have found themselves among the newly unemployed. Many are forced to remain in low paid and menial jobs in order to demonstrate that they can support their families.This book analyses how British racist practices continue to segregate black families. Parallels are drawn between the present immigration polices developed through legislative, administrative and bureaucratic systems and the forced family separation during slavery. The author documents the effects of the Entry Clearance Certificate system with the direct experiences of many Asian families. In many cases the British passport holder is forced to brief their incoming relatives with the correct responses to the interrogation by Entry Clearance Officers. This puts enormous pressure on them and often entails expensive and time consuming journeys, for example, across rural areas of the Punjab.

The cases of the 21 Bengali families currently battling in the courts for the right for their families to remain and be housed in Britain is a clear example of how the social and racial structures are resolute in barring loved ones from reconciliation. This book which updates the law on immigration will help the labour and trade union movement to put the fight against racist immigration controls at the top of the political agenda.

Amanda Mensah

FORCED REMOVAL

Elaine Unterhalter

IDAF £5

In South Africa it is called ’resettlement’. But the four million people who have been uprooted from their homes and communities since 1948 have been subjected to a violent and brutal process which can have no parallel except in countries where people are the victims of war.Various studies and research projects have focused on this staple of the apartheid system from Cosmos Desmond’s The Discarded People, published by Penguin in 1971, to the massive five volume Surplus Project published in South Africa in 1983. The present book, while utilising material published in the past, develops some of the ideas taking into consideration the major shifts in the balance of forces supporting apartheid. There are five chapters; the first deals with the history, which shows how forced removals have developed out of economic considerations

and the bantusan policy from its inception in the 1950’s. The second examines forced removals through the application of the pass laws, with many examples of the system and of influx control. The third deals with urban removals, the determination to enforce segregation and division and turn all workers into migrants, the conflicts created by Crossroads and other squatter camps. The fourth examines rural removals; the eviction of labour tenants and the seizure of freehold land by the clearance of ’black spots’. The final chapter is titled Popular Resistence and New State Strategies, showing how opposition to forced removals has become increasingly linked to the demand for full political rights as hopelessness becomes anger and State polices, accompanied by economic recession, iead to greater brutality and repression.The book is meticulously researched, with statistical information in the form of tables, a summary of all laws relating to removals, and an extensive bibliography. Forced removals are not a mere ideological offshoot of apartheid but an intrinsic part of the whole system. Highly recommended.

THE CHILD IS NOT DEAD

Compiled by Anne Harries, Roger Diski, Alasdair Brown.Learning Resources Branch of ILEA and the British Defence and Aid Fund. £2.95.

Although not new - it was published in 1986 - this is

Liberation January 1988 page 11

such a valuable publication for parents, teachers, students - for anyone - that I wish to draw attention to it.It is a 64 page book in magazine format dealing with the youth resistence in South Africa in the decade 1976 to 1986, using news cuttings, poems, photographs, cartoons and factual information presented in a visually attractive and lively manner. The material is intended for use in middle, upper secondary and further education across a range of humanities subjects. It is a resource material designed to stimulate ideas and research and includes a variety of activities. Excellent for students and teachers, lively and stimulating, every parent should get a copy.Non parents also.

Hilda Bernstein.

ON CALL

Political Essays by June Jordan

Pluto Press £4.50

Black American poet June Jordan writes politics like it matters to people, in these short passionate jabs against T h e monster on our backs" her politics go from the personal - anti-racist and feminist - but do not evade the global. Throughout these essays, she challenges progressive America - and black Americans in particular - to face the moral personal imperative of opposing Reagan and all he stands for, and to reclaim the banner of those who are truly ’pro-life’ and ’freedom fighters’. But she is not only oppositional - she sustains a vision of the New World as it should have been, multi-racial and truly democratic and free from the class and race

LIBERATION BOOK REVIEWSedited by Tamara Philipps

GATSHA BUTHELEZI - Chief with a double agenda

MZALA (Zed Books, £24.95 hb, £7.95pb)

Peaceful protest in South Africa was virtually outlawed earlier this year when the most far-reaching bans were imposed on 17 organisations, including the United Democratic Front. It is illegal for the 17 organisations to call for the release of any detainees or political prisoners. But the organisation led by Chief Gatsha Buthelezi - Inkatha - does not fall under these restrictions. Inkatha held a mass meeting of, it is claimed, 40,000 people, and Buthelezi called for the release of Nelson Mandela. (The release Mandela Campaign is among the 17 restricted organisations.)

To many, the role of Buthelezi is a perplexing one.He is the one leading person publicly claiming to be opposed to apartheid who has chosen to work from within the system. He is head of the KwaZulu bantustan, but he is opposed to the bantustan system. He is opposed to the policies and tactics of the African National Congress, but has adopted the flag, colours and uniform of the ANC for his own followers. He is a self-proclaimed ‘man of peace’, firmly opposed to violence, but he has not acted to curb the deadly violence and terror unleashed by Inkatha against all those who do not support them.He says he supports peaceful protests such as consumer boycotts but Inkatha refused to support the boycotts in 1985 when people all over South Africa were drawn into the campaigns.

Buthelezi claims six million followers. He is undoubtedly a man of intellect and personality and bears no resemblance to other bantustan chiefs, such as Mangope and Mantanzima. He is a complex character, and his policies and organisation present a challenge to those struggling against apartheid both inside and outside South Africa.

This book, therefore, is essential reading for anyone concerned with the problems of the anti-apartheid struggle. It is excellently researched, and full of illuminating information. It deals with the role of Inkatha, and specifically uncovers the role of Inkatha vigilantes in relation to the apartheid state. Amongst other things it explains very clearly the origins and policies of the proposed federalism and power- sharing of blacks and whites in Natal, known as the KwaZulu-Natal Indaba, the conference held in 1986 with the purpose of establishing Natal and KwaZulu as a single economic and administrative region. This is one of the most fascinating sections of the book.

Hilda Bernstein.

THE THATCHER YEARS

Latin America Bureau (£2.95)

British Government policy on Latin America since 1979 has either coincided with US policy - or it has been subservient to it. The few occasions when there has been a clash of views - Grenada was one - have done nothing to disturb this apparent harmony. Meanwhile we have been increasingly out of step with our EEC partners.

In the years since 1979, Latin American affairs have made a greater impact on the British public. Pre 1979, only Chile had ‘registered’ as a country of political significance for Britain, and that largely within the labour movement and the left. Since then, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Belize, Grenada and of course, Argentina and the Falklands/Malvinas, have all impressed themselves on a previously mostly unaware people. Unaware up to and including the Foreign office and Cabinet, whose inability to understand or take Argentinian politics seriously was to cost 1,000 lives and still costs Britain £100 million annually.

The debt crisis - a crisis for the Western banking system perhaps, but chiefly for the Latin American poor - is also still with us, and perhaps more than any other issue demands campaigning for a popular solution. This booklet usefully summarises the main areas of British policy towards the continent, with chapters on Argentina, Chile, Central America, the debt crisis and others, with overviews by Hugh O’Shaunnessy and Judith Hart. It makes a clear case for changing British policy, to our own benefit as well as that of democracy, peace and progress in Latin America.

Quentin Given

A LANGUAGE IN COMMON

Marion Molteno

(The Women’s Press, £3.95)

For Marion Molteno, a language in common means much more than the common knowledge of a language, with the intricacies of words, pronunciation, idiom and syntax, important as all that is so that people can communicate and - perhaps - understand one another. Even more important in this delightful book, her first work of fiction, a language in common means friendship: friendship based on mutual respect and support, mutual trust and the desire to make life better so that difficulties might be defeated to make way for the shared happiness of shared achievement.

With sensitivity and perception, an endearing humour and freshness of expression, she tells us about the men and women, mostly women, of Asian origin who

he s a id , "y o u w o u ld n 't h a v e h a d th e T et o f f e n s iv e " , a n d i t h a s b een w id e ly a c c e p te d t h a t th e p s y c h o lo g ic a l im p a c t o f th e T et o f fe n s iv e w as su c h t h a t i t becam e th e tu r n in g p o in t of th e w a r - th e b e g in n in g o f th e e n d .

The T u n n e ls o f Cu C hi i s a n a u th o r i t a t i v e a n d w e ll r e s e a rc c h e d a c c o u n t o f l i f e in th e t u n n e l s , from w h ich a t t a c k s w ere c o n t in u a l ly la u n c h e d a g a in s t th e A m erican b a s e s im m e d ia te ly a b o v e th em .

The tu n n e ls o f Cu C hi w ere o r ig in a l ly d u g a s h id in g p la c e s fo r th e V ie t M inh , th e g u e r i l l a fo rc e s f ig h t in g th e F re n c h c o lo n ia l i s t s .

The a u th o r s e n d e a v o u r th ro u g h o u t th e book to r e l a t e th e e x p lo i ts o f 'h e r o e s from b o th s i d e s ' m a k in g l i g h t o f th e f a c t t h a t w h e re a s no A m erican tu n n e l r a t w ou ld re m a in in th e tu n n e ls a f t e r d a r k , b u t w o u ld r e tu r n to th e co m fo rts o f l i f e in a w ell e q u ip p e d a n d w e ll s to c k e d b a s e , th e V iet Cong w ould re m a in in th e tu n n e ls n o t o n ly fo r th e n ig h t , b u t fo r w eeks on e n d , b u t fo r w eeks on e n d , som etim es m on th s w ith th e b a r e s t m inim um of u n co o k ed s u b s is te n c e r a t i o n s .

B ut in s p i te o f th e o c c a s io n a l la p s e s o f p r e ju d ic e th e book i s in te n s e ly e x c i t in g , a n d b r in g s v iv id ly to l i f e th e in d o m ita b le h e ro ism a n d w ill to w in o f th e V ie tn am ese p e o p le in t h e i r s t r u g g le fo r in d e p e n d e n c e a n d freed o m .

JOAN K. McMlCHAEL-ASKINS

FACING UP TO ANTI-SEMITISM By D av id R o sen b erg JOARP P u b l ic a t io n s £ 1 .5 0

In th i s b o o k le t s u b t i t l e d "How th e Jew s o f B r i ta in c o u n te re d th e t h r e a t s o f th e 3 0 s" , D av id R o sen b e rg p r e s e n ts u s w ith a n a u th o r i t a t i v e a n d s c h o la r ly w ork a b o u t th i s p e r io d a n d p a r t i c u l a r l y a b o u t th e r e a c t io n of Jew s to th e s e t h r e a t s .

As a y o u n g E a s t L o n d o n er a t th e tim e , 1 w e ll rem em ber th e f ie r c e a rg u m e n ts , th e a n g e r a n d f r u s t r a t i o n , th e m any a n d v a r ie d o r g a n i s a t io n s s e t u p w ith th e aim of c o u n te r in g th e d a n g e r s .

In d e e d , I jo in e d one in w h ich tw o t r e n d s soon a p p e a re d - th e Z io n is t t r e n d w h ich so u g h t to p ro v e th a t a n ti- s e m itis m w a s in h e r e n t

am ong a l l n o n -Je w s , a n d th e S o c ia l i s t a n d d e m o c ra tic t r e n d w h ic h a rg u e d t h a t a n t i sem itism w as a p o l i t i c a l w eap o n u s e d b y r e a c t io n a r i e s to c o n fu se a n d d iv id e th e p e o p le .

T he l a t t e r v itfw s h e ld t h a t b e c a u s e o f t h i s , a n t i - s e m it is m w a s n o t a t h r e a t to Jew s a lo n e , b u t to a l l d e m o c ra ts th e re fo re th e w id e s t p o s s ib le u n i ty of a l l sh o u ld be b u i l t to d e fe a t i t .

T he Je w ish " e s ta b l is h m e n t" in th e s h a p e o f th e Jew ish B o a rd o f D e p u tie s , a t f i r s t c a u t io n e d Jew s a g a i n s t g e t t in g in v o lv e d in a c t io n a g a i n s t th e e m e rg in g f a s c i s t o r g a n i s a t i o n s , r e f u s in g to l in k fa sc ism a n d a n t i - s e m it is m .

B ut w ith th e t h r e a t s g ro w in g a n d p ro v o c a t io n s t a k in g p la c e in t h e i r own s t r e e t s a n d lo c a l i t i e s th e "n o n e s t a b l i s h m ent" Je w ish o r g a n i s a t io n s took a c t io n . In Ju n e 1936 a c o n fe re n c e w as c a l l e d b y th e Je w ish L a b o u r C o u n c il in w h ich th e Je w ish W orkers C irc le p la y e d a m a jo r p a r t .

T he h ig h p o in t o f th i s r e s i s t a n c e in th e E a s t End w as th e fam ous " B a t t le o f C a b le S tre e t" in w h ich th e C om m unist P a r ty p la y e d a le a d in g r o le .

W ith th e in c r e a s in g n u m b er o f r a c i s t a t t a c k s now ta k in g p la c e , th e le s s o n s o f th e 1930' s a r e s p e c ia l ly im p o r ta n t a n d fo r th i s r e a s o n th i s book h a s p a r t i c u l a r r e le v a n c e to d a y .

SOLLY KAYE

WINNIE MANDELA M other of a N atio n b y N ancy H a rr is o nV ic to r G o lla n c z P r ic e £ 8 .9 5

The s u b je c t o f t h i s b io g r a p h y d e s e rv e s a b e t t e r a n d m ore p e r c e p t iv e w r i t e r . C liv e D av is in th e New S ta te s m a n , s a y s : " (N a n c y H a r r is o n ) c a n d id ly a d m its t h a t sh e l iv e d m ost o f h e r l i f e in S ou th A fr ic a w ith o u t m e e tin g a b la c k p e rso n s o c ia l ly . She h a s b r o u g h t to t h i s b io g r a p h y th e b r e a th le s s s ty le w h ich i s th e h a l lm a r k o f F le e t S tre e t w om en’s jo u rn a l is m a t i t s w o r s t , a n d w h ich r e d u c e s W innieM a n d e la 's h e ro ism a n df o r t i tu d e to th e le v e l o f a P r in c e s s D ia n a fa s h io nf e a tu r e . "

A lth o u g h i t w o u ld be im p o s s ib le to w r i te a b o u t W innie M an d e la w ith o u t some p o l i t i c a l b a s i s , a t th e sam e

tim e th e p o l i t i c a l e v e n ts th a t t h r e a d th ro u g h h e r l i f e become h e r e j u s t b a c k g ro u n d m a te r ia l w ith o u t a n y r e a l r e l a t io n to th e c o n te x t of th e l ib e r a t io n s t r u g g l e . N ancy H a rr is o n g iv e s W innie M a n d e la 's l i f e th e sam e s u p e r f i c i a l t r e a tm e n t ; d e s p i te th e m any e x c i t in g , t r a u m a t ic a n d a lm o s t in c r e d ib lee p is o d e s . T hey a r e r e l a t e d , b u t w ith no r e a l d e p th , n o r l in k e d w ith th e g e n e ra l s i t u a t io n .

In a few p a g e s , th e a u th o r d e s c r ib e s th e d e te n tio n a n d s u b s e q u e n t tw o t r i a l s of W innie M a n d e la a n d a n u m b er o f o th e r s in 1969. The lo n g im p riso n m e n t a n d in te r r o g a t io n c o n s t i tu e s a m ost r e v e a l in g e p is o d e , n o t o n ly of W innie M a n d e la ' s c o u ra g e a n din g e n u i ty , b u t a ls o of th e w ho le g ro u p ; a n d in a d d i t io n , of th e m eth o d s o f th e S e c u r ity P o lic e . The m a te r ia l is a v a i l a b l e , b u t s c a r c e ly u s e d . W inn ie M an d e la i s one of m any o u t s ta n d in g ly c o u ra g e o u s b la c k w om en, b u t w ith o u t d o u b t she h a s b e e n s u b je c t to m ore s e v e re a n d c o n tin u o u sp e r s e c u t io n th a n m o st. Why is t h i s so? A good b io g r a p h e r w o u ld a t te m p t to p ro b e a n d to a s k t h i s a n d o th e r q u e s t io n s . 1 o b s e rv e d d u r in g th e R iv o n ia T r i a l in 1964, w hen N elson M an d e la w a s s e n te n c e d to l i f e im p r is o n m e n t, t h a t sh e w as s in g le d o u t fo r s p e c ia l a t t e n t io n , a n d i t w as q u ite c l e a r t h a t th e d e s p ic a b le S w a n e p o e l, a c ru d e t o r t u r e r , h a d a n a m b iv a le n t a t t i tu d e to w a rd s W innie M a n d e la . T h e re a r e e x p la n a t io n s to th e s e p ro b le m s - b u t no t in th i s b o o k .

D e sp ite th e s e sh o rtc o m in g s a n d th e e x c r u c ia t in g s ty le of w r i t i n g , th e book c o n ta in s f a s c in a t in g m a te r i a l , e s p e c ia l ly a f t e r W innie M an d e la w as e x i le d to th e 'b l a c k lo c a t io n ' (w h e re sh e m ust s t i l l l iv e ) o u ts id e B ra n d fo r t . Her p e r s o n a l c o u ra g e i s im m ense; h e r d r iv e to h e lp o th e r s , to w o rk in th e com m unity d e s p ite a l l th e r e s t r i c t i o n s on h e r ( s h e m ay no t m eet o r t a l k to m ore th a n one p e rs o n a t a tim e) a n d h e r s p le n d id a c h ie v e m e n ts - a l l th e s e a r e m o v ing a n d w o rth r e a d in g . So b o rro w th e book from th e l i b r a r y , b u t a t th e sam e tim e b e a w a re t h a t th e books a n d so n g s a b o u t th e m o th e rs a n d d a u g h te r s o f S ou th A fr ic a a r e s t i l l to b e w r i t te n .

HILDA BERNSTEIN

, W H '

/ h r 6?

ID

proved by observers far remove frcm the left.He evades the reality tha': it

is Reagan1 s administration that is preparing for nuclear war and does not deal with the various proposals for disarmament based cn equality and equal security trade by the Soviet Union.The questions Mr Galting does not answer are: Who is threatening war and escalating the arms race for the benefit of the arms manufac turers? Who is consistently pressing for disarmament and in which country is there no profit in arms?

GORDON SCHAFFER

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

SOMETHING OUT THERE by Nadine Gordimer Jonathan Cape. £ 8 .5 0

Nadine Gordimer is a higJfLy-skilled professional artist, using words to create her pictures of the pecple

and life of her country, South Africa. Her novels use a large canvas which often seems to become too congested with the multiplicity of descriptive strokes; but her short stories are, in my opinion, her masterpieces, more delicate and sparing.She is an observer,totally aware,

absorbing the Southern African scane and ccriposing it. not as it has been in the past, but as it is today. This is why each new bock is truly contemporary.There is a sense of betrayal

about four of the stories in this collection, yet each one also touches you with a sad compassion. At the Rendezvous of Victory is a portrait of General Giant Zwedu, whose leadership of his guerillas in the bush helped bring his country to liberation- and who becomes redundant after victory. He sits at the constitu- ticnal talks, ’He wanted to go back - to his headquarters - hemebut one of the conditions of the

cease-fire has bean that he would be withdrawn from the field as the official term, coined in wars foi.ight over poppy-meadows, phrased it.1 His story ringp with a bitter familiar truth. In the other sto- ries a husband betrays a promise

to his wife; a man betrays his lover; a weman in an African township performs an act of treachery to a man hiding in her home.The title story is a novella that

reveals the true menace that lies over the apparently calm and prosperous white suburbs. A schoolboy in a swimming pool, golfers searching for a ball, two lovers in a parked car, catch glinpses of something - not human - seme kind of escaped beast? While public and press built ip the story 'out there: is a group of four pecple two whites and two blacks,building

the preparations to blow up a power station. The whites provide the cover for the trained saboteurs. In sirrple strokes Nadine Gordimer creates each character.

'Mrs Naas Klopper was coming towards her through weeds, insteps arched like proud fists under an intricacy of narrow yellow straps, the bembe of hi'easts flashing gold chains on blue pxolka dots She creates as well the sense of menace that threatens the calm

normality of white lives- 'There was a surrmer storm coming up, first the single finger of a tree's branch paddling thick air, then the land expelling great breaths in gusts, common brown birds flinging themselves wildly, a raw, fresh-cut scent of rain falling somewhere else. So beautiful, the terrperament of the earth. Waiting, they saw the rain, dangling over the pale spools that were the power station towers.'The 'pale spools' are the target of the saboteurs. The story ends with their dispersal, the death of one, and a round-Lp of many disparate facts that tie all the characters together, and to their ojn history.An elimently readable and splen

did collection of stories.

HILDA BERNSTEIN

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Revered in his cwn country, he has also created great controversy with his so-called Islamic 'revol

ution1' and has made many enemies at home and abroad.

Unfortunately little is known about his role. He is an enigna and much that has been written about him deliberately mixes fact with fiction. However, an Iranian using a pseudonym has produced a book in an attempt to set the record straight.Ramy Nima. we are told, is a

socialist vino is critical of Khomeini :s regime, but vino believes that the Left in his country must accept some of the responsibility for the tide of reaction presently afflicting Iran.For example, he argues that the

only organised force, tine clergy, provided the necessary leadership to the peasantry and urban poor in the struggle to remove the Shah in 1979.

Nima makes clear, however, that Khomeini was not a revolutionary and that he and his fellow mullahs simply wanted to regain their 'igjnts and influence over the Iranian pecple.Yet there is no doubting that

Iran's militant version of Islam

was progressive in the early stages, although this quickly gave way to an attack cn ethnic and religious minorities, as well as on the Left in general.My view of tine Wrath of Allah is

that it is txo superficial and predictable, and tine "analysis1' raises more questions than it answers. But don't let that put you off - this short book is still worth reading if you want to krow scmething about tine lead ip to "ecent events in Iran.

RON BROWN MP

THE WRATH OF ALLAH b y RAMY NIMA Pluto P r e ss . £3-95

Mention Iran these days and rightly or wrongly - most pecple irrmediately think of Ayatollah Khomeini.

ing. This difficulty is further increased if the subject o f analysis is a strategically, economically, and politically important country like Iran; and if the writer has to rely on his personal experience rather than valid documents to assess a particular event or institution. The present book is such an undertaking; but with all its inevitable defects (the author wrote it when in prison) it remains an informative and readable book. Having said this, I should like to point out some of the most obvious of its shortcomings.

The assumption that during the Second World War “the principal contradiction in Iran was between people and imperialism” and not, as the Tudeh Party o f Iran said at the time, between Nazism and all the anti- Nazi forces, is an erroneous one. And this leads to certain accusations, assumptions, and contradictions in the book, which the author has to justify sometimes in the most naive manner. Or, the assumption that during the period 1946-53 (the fall of Mosssaddeq) there was a deep-seated contradiction between the British and U.S. Imperialism in Iran, and that Mossaddeq successfully capitalised on this contradiction, is, as the events have since proved, a simplistic one. It not only whitewashes Mossaddeq’s own erratic approach to imperialism in general but it also papers over the subsequent failure of Mossaddeq (a national bourgeois) to realise a dream. So the author chooses silence on why a democrarically elected leader was overthrown by the combined conspiracy o f the British and U.S. imperialism.

The author’s analysis o f the class- structure of the Iranian society is lucid and fairly well-informed; but here, too, the absence of valid and objective data produces grey areas of doupt and subjectivity — inevitalbly so because the time (period o f dictatorship) and place (prison) o f writing would have made it impossible to do the subject more justice. So the book can only be regarded as raw-material, informative enough to provide sufficient ground for a more comprehensive and objective research.

M.SHAYA

POWER TO THE PEOPLE! SOUTH AFRICA IN STRUGGLE! A Pictorial History by Peder Gouwenius. (Zed Press. £4.50)“ Power to the People” is a pictorial history o f the struggling and oppressed people of South Africa from the second half of the fifteenth century to the present day. It describes the search for a sea route to India by the

Portuguese via the most southern part of Africa and the first white settlements on the soil of South Africa.

It explains, with many cartoons and illustrations, the historical deve- ment in South Africa when land was forcibly taken away from the Africans. Africans were not only made squatters on their former land, they were forced to extract minerals for slave wages. They enabled the country to push into the industrial age on profits generated from the mines. The struggle of the oppressed people of South Africa took a new turn. The non white workers, oppressed people of South Africa took a new turn. The non-white workers, landless and without any form o f property, were turned into farm labourers, factory workers, mine workers and domestic servants. According to power to the People there emerged two sets of the oppressed people; there were optimists and pessimists. The optimists clung to the hope that liberal whites would prevail in South Africa and that gradually there would be acceptence of the educated and culturally elite blacks into white society. The pessimists believed that blacks would never win their country back without a fight.