In 1992, a gang leader was shot dead by an ANC member in Kroonstad. The murder weapon was then hidden on Antjie Krog’s stoep. In Begging to Be Black, Krog begins by exploring her position in this controversial case. From there the book ranges widely in scope, both in time - reaching back to the days of Basotho king Moshoeshoe - and in space - as we follow Krog’s experiences as a research fellow in Berlin, far from the Africa that produced her. Begging to Be Black is a book of journeys - moral, historical, philosophical and geographical. These form strands that Krog interweaves and sets in conversation with each other, as she explores questions of change and becoming, coherency and connectedness, before drawing them closer together as the book approaches its powerful end. Experimental and courageous, Begging to Be Black is a welcome addition to Krog’s own oeuvre and to South African literary non-fiction.

This book is not about the political history of Apartheid South Africa; it is about an extraordinary South African woman?s life. It depicts where she was born, and chronicles her courageous journey into exile to Lesotho, Zambia, Zaire, and Britain, culminating with a diplomatic assignment in the United States of America. This is where the politics of the day intersects with personal lives, making us all more deeply appreciative of how profoundly the ?personal is political?.

A review and record of current literature.