Respectability and Resistance: A History of Sophiatown Book

As always, please read the publisher's introduction (above) first, for context.

I didn't at all care for the speculative anthropology that opens the book (see Max Carmichael's review, ). The author's personal observations are the meat of the book, and some are extraordinary. For instance, I invite you to jump to her description of Kalahari lions and other dangerous predators (p. 150). The most memorable part of her wonderful book "The Tribe of Tiger: Cats and Their Culture" was about the lions and the Bushmen. The Bushmen didn't bother the lions, and the lions (largely) left the people alone. Which wasn't true of the hyenas, who regularly killed and ate people, though (usually) old and sick people.

So you should skip over the introductory material and start either with the lions, or with EMT's family and their first trip into the Kalahari in 1950, when it was largely unknown to Westerners. The wonderful picture of EMT and her mother on p.57 should catch your attention.

And then continue on, skipping over anything that doesn't hold your attention. But maybe come back to those sections later. These are interesting people ' both the locals and the Americans. They were one of the last pure hunter-gatherer cultures, and it was an admirable success. EMT doesn't gloss over the hardships, and she's a graceful writer.

Sadly but predictably, the outside world moved in, and the result wasn't pretty. But the Ju/wasi people have a resilient culture, and the book ends on a note of hope.

I'd written a "meh" review, the book is due, but I decided to give it one more chance. I'm glad I did! 4 stars.