Empire development and colonialism: The past in the present

In 1996, as South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission was beginning its hearings, Nicholas Gcaleka, a healer diviner from the town of Butterworth in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, set off on a journey to retrieve the skull of Hintsa, the Xhosa king. Hintsa had been killed by British troops on the banks of the Nqabarha River over a century and a half before and, it was widely believed, been beheaded. From a variety of quarters including the press, academia and Xhosa traditional leadership Gcaleka's mission was mocked and derided.

This is the story of one mans single-minded, unremitting, always creative, campaign to provide material support to South Africas liberation struggle, assisting leaders like Nelson Mandela and ordinary township and rural activists, as well as families who suffered because their loved ones were political prisoners, had fled into exile or been killed by the apartheid regime.

A variety of authors contribute to this book on the causes of crime and violence in South Africa. Based on a public health approach, it presents strategic case studies and local and international research findings. The writers develop a model of integrated crime and injury prevention strategies for South Africa.

In this fascinating collection, full of different textures, narratives and nuances, sixteen authors have begun to tackle the task of writing South Africas history from an overtly feminist perspective, giving readers an opportunity to understand and reflect on debates about real womens power in completely new and fresh ways.