In this fresh and highly readable collection of South African biographical essays, a distinguished group of authors illuminate the lives of eleven colourful and complex men and women whose personal experiences throw fascinating light on the times in which they lived. The individuals whose stories are told here are very different in time, in place and in work and at play, but are united by an abundantly rich humanity and by the fascinatingly different ways in which they navigated their existence through the uneven waters of South Africa’s distant and more recent past. Including administrators and activists, sportsmen and teachers, a missionary, a pilot, a painter and a poet, Illuminating Lives is a wide-ranging and moving book which provides readers with striking and unexpected insights into history. Here are some intriguing South African lives well worth knowing about.

In this book you will read all about inventors, bright minds and other brilliant science heroes of South Africa. You’ll read the stories of people who made medical breakthroughs. Stories about people who love animals and plants. Stories about people who try to understand the secrets of the sky. Stories about people who made interesting discoveries about fossils, the earth, water and the climate. This is a truly South African book that will inspire all readers to question, to explore and discover, and to create.

It took 350 years to come up with the list of shame for the original best-selling 50 People Who Stuffed Up South Africa, published to critical acclaim in 2010. But it's taken only ten more years to come up with the next 50... From Shaun Abrahams to Mosebenzi Zwane, 50 People Who F***ed Up South Africa is shot through with the architects and beneficiaries of state capture who have defined The Lost Decade. There's Dlamini, there's Zuma and there's Dlamini-Zuma. There are the Guptas, Geoghegan and Gigaba. There's a malady of "M"s - Mabuza, Magashule, Mahumapelo (and many more mofos). There are the crony-corporate enablers and big business abusers. Importantly, there are clean takedowns of those who represent the scandals that will live in infamy when the history of this time is written: Eskom, Nkandla, Marikana, Life Esidimeni, Steinhoff, Bosasa, VBS Mutual Bank... And then there is the joker in the pack (Niehaus), the naked emperor (Survé), the zombie killer (Pistorius), the Twittering twit (Zille) and the twit who got past security (Thamsanqa Jantjie). The end result is a readable, accessible, entertaining overview of South Africa's recent political and socioeconomic landscape. Because sometimes humour (along with a clearly painted picture) really is the best coping mechanism...

50 People Who Stuffed Up South Africa, originally published in 2010, is the original book in the best-selling and critically acclaimed 50 People series. Part history, part social commentary, 50 People Who Stuffed Up South Africa is an engrossing and edifying read that delves into South African politics, war, sport and culture, and answers the question, who are the greatest villains, the direst leaders, the foulest corrupters and the most offensive personalities to have spread their regrettable influence through our fine and glorious land? From Jan van Riebeeck in 1652 to Jacob Zuma in 2016 - via Basson, Botha, Shaka and Shaik - it is filled with the nastiest names to have besmirched our past. These are men of infamy (and three women) who have steered the good ship South Africa firmly in the wrong direction by virtue of their ruinous megalomania (Mbeki, Rhodes), foul convictions (Verwoerd, Terre'Blanche) or general idiocy (Malema, Erwin). But the obvious political gangsters and historical heavy-hitters are just the half of it: there's also the colonial warmonger (Lord Milner), the national embarrassment (Rudolf Straeuli), the societal delinquent (The minibus taxi driver), the unexpected sports villain (Richie Benaud!), the Euro-chancer (Mark Thatcher), the traitor (Kevin Pietersen) and the twat (Kevin Pietersen).'A well-researched, considered look at those who have had an influence on South Africa's progress; or rather, have hindered it.' - City Press 'Entertaining... enlightening... comes highly recommended.' - Business Day 'The writing is sharp and the scope impressive... provides some great moral sword fights and it's worth reading for the cartoons alone.' - Rapport Short-listed for the Nielsen Booksellers' Choice Award 2011 The other books in the 50 People series are: - 50 Flippen Brilliant South Africans (2012)- 50 People Who Messed Up The World (2017)- 50 Who F***ed Up South Africa: The Lost Decade (2020)

As the public increasingly questioned the war in Vietnam, a group of American scientists deeply concerned about the use of Agent Orange and other herbicides started a movement to ban what they called “ecocide.” David Zierler traces this movement, starting in the 1940s, when weed killer was developed in agricultural circles and theories of counterinsurgency were studied by the military. These two trajectories converged in 1961 with Operation Ranch Hand, the joint U.S.-South Vietnamese mission to use herbicidal warfare as a means to defoliate large areas of enemy territory. Driven by the idea that humans were altering the world's ecology for the worse, a group of scientists relentlessly challenged Pentagon assurances of safety, citing possible long-term environmental and health effects. It wasn't until 1970 that the scientists gained access to sprayed zones confirming that a major ecological disaster had occurred. Their findings convinced the U.S. government to renounce first use of herbicides in future wars and, Zierler argues, fundamentally reoriented thinking about warfare and environmental security in the next forty years. Incorporating in-depth interviews, unique archival collections, and recently declassified national security documents, Zierler examines the movement to ban ecocide as it played out amid the rise of a global environmental consciousness and growing disillusionment with the containment policies of the cold war era.

From one of the top 25 food websites in America and the "queen of healthy desserts,” Katie Higgins, comes Chocolate Covered Katie's first cookbook with 80 never-before-seen recipes, such as Chocolate Obsession Cake, Peanut Butter Pudding Pops, and Ultimate Unbaked Brownies (Glamour magazine)! What if you CAN eat all of your favorite desserts . . . and still be healthy and fit into your skinny jeans? Meet Katie: a girl who eats chocolate every day and sometimes even has cake for breakfast! When Katie's sugar habit went too far in college and left her lacking energy, she knew something needed to change. So she began developing her own naturally sweet recipes and posting them online. Soon, Katie's healthy dessert blog had become an Internet sensation, with over six million monthly visitors. Using only real ingredients, without any unnecessary fats, sugars, or empty calories, these desserts prove once and for all that health and happiness can go hand-in-hand-you can have your dessert and eat it, too!