What I'm Reading Now -- The Reader's Companion to South Africa

On the first day of our 10-day Cape Town vacation, S and I popped into Clarke's Bookshop.  I found two different short histories of South Africa and was debating between the two when I found The Reader's Companion to South Africa.

It's a collection of excerpts from various pieces of writing about the country.  They're arranged chronologically, beginning in 1850 and running up through 1997. I expect some will be better - or at least more to my taste - than others, but just like short films, even if they're bad, they don't go on too long.  Each piece is accompanied by an introduction written by the book's editor; those little intros provide context and a tiny taste of the history I was looking for in the original books I picked up.