Title: Robben Island
Subtitle: A place of Inspiration: Mandela's Prison Island
Author: Charlene Smith
Publisher: Randomhouse Struik
Imprint: Travel and Heritage
2nd edition. Cape Town, South Africa 2013
ISBN 9781920572907 / ISBN 978-1-920572-90-7
Softcover, 15 x 21 cm, 176 pages, many photos
Far-reaching political changes in South Africa have re-ignited much interest in Robben Island, particularly as the former South African President, Nelson Mandela, was imprisoned there for so long. This is an informative guide to one of the most controversial places in the country. Besides covering its political history, the book also discusses Robben Island as a key naval and military base during World War II, its environment, flora and fauna, the Xhosa chiefs interred on the island in the 19th century, the lives of the Robben warders, its shipwrecks, escapes and many tourist attractions. Fully revised, this new edition of Robben Island provides absorbing accounts of daring escapes, maritime disasters, lepers ostracized from mainland society, the fates of the great Xhosa chiefs of the nineteenth century, and the unique bonds of friendship and compassion forged among the political prisoners confined on the Island during the apartheid era.
Foreword
Lawbreakers, Lunatics, Lepers, and Hope
Of Whale and Ships, and Sealing Wx
Birds, Deer and impertinent Sharks
Escapes: Looking for the Road
Honour Dies: The
Xhosa Chiefs
The Second World War
The Last Day of October
The 1960s: Years of Terror
The Warders
The 1970s: Years of Struggle
The 1980s: How Do We Release Them?
The Time God Chooses
Touring Robben Island
Bibliography and Interviews
Index