<strong>By: Tony Van Niekerk, Editor COVER magazine</strong>

<h2><b>Less driving, less travelling and less events freed up some time to catch up on some outstanding books. </b></h2>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">One of the great privileges of my job as editor, researcher and advisor in different capacities, is that I have access to a wide range of research reports, analysis and can sit in on meetings with people who are experts in their fields. A large part of my day is taken up by doing just that, learning from the expertise and knowledge sharing of local and global experts.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;"><img class="size-full wp-image-142266 alignleft" src="https://www.cover.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Screenshot-2020-05-11-at-09.10.38.png" alt="" width="165" height="246" />I truly love and appreciate that privilege. However, a wonderful spinoff from this is that I am also invited to a number of book launches and I am sent books to read. During this lockdown period, which has been a good time to do some introspection as well as pondering on our country, its challenges and opportunities, I delved into two books, one called </span><b><i>Larry - Simply Larry</i></b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> by Elias Masilela and the second, </span><b><i>The Knock on The Door</i></b><span style="font-weight: 400;">, by Terry Shakinovsky and Sharon Cort.</span>

<b><i>Larry - Simply Larry</i></b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> was written by well know economist, editor, academic, strategist, policy formulator, negotiator, business leader, international events coordinator and author, Elias Masilela. This is a must read, which will lead you to </span><b><i>Number 43 Trelawney Park</i></b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and a further fascinating journey into our history. <strong>Larry</strong> tells the story of Fr Larry McDonnell, an inspiring Irish Salesian Priest and<img class="size-full wp-image-142267 alignright" src="https://www.cover.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Screenshot-2020-05-11-at-09.12.18.png" alt="" width="172" height="260" /> the Headmaster of Salesian High School in Manzini, Swaziland. For more than two decades, Larry was instrumental in the growth and development of hundreds of Swazi boys, as well as many from South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe who sought refuge in Swaziland during the apartheid era. Many of the boys whose lives he touched, directly and indirectly, are now prominent policy, political and business leaders in South Africa and the region.</span>

<b><i>The Knock on the Door</i></b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> shares personal accounts about detainees and their parents, partners or loved ones. This is shared through the eyes of the Detainees’ Parents Support Committee (DPSC), which started in 1981 in Johannesburg, South Africa. It was set up by the parents, spouses and families of activists who were detained and had no recourse to legal intervention.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> It </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">tells the story of the DPSC and of how the anti-detention movement became part of the mass uprising that brought down apartheid. It is an inspiring account of ordinary people coming together to stand up against racism and the abuse of power.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">I was lucky enough to receive a personal invitation to the launch of both books and to listen to the authors sharing the stories behind the books. Inspiring stuff. These two recent, and many other similar books, such a </span><b><i>You are Not a Country, Africa</i></b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> by Pius Adesanmi, and </span><b><i>7 Things Every Young Black Entrepreneur Should Know</i></b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> by Karabo C Mokoape are sources of great insight into the history, culture and socio dynamics of our country and continent. For me, they bridge the gap between my personal knowledge, experience and reading, to a place where I could start my 58 year old journey again, walking next to people I never knew and in whose shoes I can never walk. These as so many other books written by local authors are not exposes and they are not all personal journeys or histories, but they are personal takes on historical and current events, struggles and experiences. They are written, as I see it, to share sometimes simply that which we should not forget and other times what the authors thought would create better understanding and provide information to assist readers in their own life journeys.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;"><img class="size-full wp-image-142268 alignleft" src="https://www.cover.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Screenshot-2020-05-11-at-09.13.47.png" alt="" width="167" height="250" />There are so many similar books that will help people from all walks of life to get a better understanding of our continent, our country and our shared history, too numerous to mention.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">You could delve into</span> <b><i>Diamonds, Gold, and War: The British, the Boers, and the Making of South Africa</i></b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">(Martin Meredith), a masterpiece in understanding those early years of our country. You could also stretch yourself and read</span> <b><i>Waar Jy Sterwe</i></b><b> (</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jan Rabie)</span><b>, </b><span style="font-weight: 400;">more of a novel, but exceptional in sharing emotional detail</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">of a coloured man, living on the Eastern Frontier, who is caught in the conflict between tribespeople and European settlers.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Arthur Conan Doyle wrote one of the best books I have read on the Boer war. Titled, </span><b>The Great Boer War</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">, he wrote the book mainly based on the notes sent to him by various friends and reporters who were in South Africa during the war, either fighting or corresponding.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">The list goes on but what I am trying to illustrate here is that , yes, there are many popular books that gets widely marketed and talked about that we should also read, such as Mandela’s </span><b><i>Conversations With Myself</i></b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><b><i>The President’s Keepers</i></b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> by Jacques Pauw. However, don’t limit yourself, there are fantastic, lesser known gems that will assist greatly in expanding our communal knowledge of the history that shaped and will keep on shaping our future.</span>

<b><i>History has many perspectives and experience is personal. When we share our experiences and we delve into the experiences of others, a world of understanding and compassion opens up. </i></b>

<b><i>Thank you to the people like Elias Masilels, Pius Adesanmi and others who took the time to ensure that experience became stories and stories became sacred journeys for all to learn from.</i></b>

<b><i>Long live the book!</i></b>