Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on
bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
The Last Elephants
by Colin Bell & Don Pinnock
African savanna elephants--among the most magnificent and beloved of our fellow mammals--are an extraordinary, social, and intelligent species. The Last Elephants, an homage to these animals and a clarion call for their preservation, is based upon a shocking finding: savanna elephant populations across Africa are being decimated, with two to three murdered every hour for their ivory. Without action, these elephants soon will vanish from our world. They are a species in imminent danger of extinction, and it is up to us to save them.
Cape Town, A Lonely Planet City Guide
by John A. Murray
A practical guide to the city and surroundings, featuring suggested walks, excursions and attractions. This surprisingly complete book also includes color photographs and a map.
Long Walk to Freedom
by Nelson Mandela
An unpretentious tale of an extraordinary life. Mandela recounts the circumstances of his imprisonment and ultimately his successful drive to end Apartheid.
Disgrace
by J.M. Coetzee
Set in Cape Town and on a remote farm in the Eastern Cape, Coetzee's Booker Prize-winning novel explores the devastating realities of racial politics in post-apartheid South Africa.
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
by Trevor Noah
A harrowing look at life in South Africa under apartheid and country's lurching entry into a post-apartheid reality told through the prism of Trevor Noah and his family. Noah is the most successful comedian in Africa and is the current host of the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning The Daily Show on Comedy Central.
Lonely Planet Southern Africa
by Anthony Ham
This hefty practical guide to the nine nations of southern Africa, including Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Swaziland (Eswatini), Malawi, Mozambique and Lesotho, is ideal for independent travelers on a multi-country tour.
The Myth of Wild Africa
by Jonathan Adams, Thomas McShane
A no-holds-barred attack on old-style conservation in Africa, provocative and dead-on. The authors explore the fallacy of an untouched continent where animals roam freely in sanctuaries.
The Scramble for Africa
by Thomas Pakenham
A well-written, meticulously researched history of the Victorian land grab in Africa. The book includes especially good portraits of the egomaniacal personalities who overran the continent.
Tomorrow is Another Country, The Inside Story of South Africa's Road to Change
by Allister Sparks
Essential to understanding South Africa today, this comprehensive account shows the extraordinary developments that led to multiracial democracy in South Africa.
Out of Darkness, Shining Light
by Petina Gappah
So begins Petina Gappah's powerful novel of exploration and adventure in nineteenth-century Africa—the captivating story of the loyal men and women who carried explorer and missionary Dr. Livingstone's body, his papers and maps, fifteen hundred miles across the continent of Africa, so his remains could be returned home to England and his work preserved there.
Southern Africa Wildlife, A Visitor's Guide
by Mike Unwin
A popular, photographic guide to the mammals, birds, reptiles and habitats south of the Zambezi. With 300 color photographs and illuminating text.