Johannesburg - You’ll find Joburgers in all sorts of odd places around the world. You see, we like to travel – and we like to tell people that. But what we don’t do is travel in our backyard and explore one of Africa’s most fascinating cities.
Now, writers Mike Alfred and Peter Delmar have removed one more excuse not to explore your city: that one of “where do we get information and where do we go?”
Their newly-published, and handily-sized The Johannesburg Explorer Book is the sort of thing tourists snap up in the most visited cities around the globe… and it is an ideal way for us to explore our own environs, whether we want to get out and explore or just absorb while ensconced on the couch.
And it’s a fascinating story, that this wild mining town has. It has always been wild and mining has always driven it since it was founded in the late 1800s.
In a meander from Sophiatown to Soweto via the CBD, Doornfontein and out to Parkview, with many places in between, the authors recount many interesting tales of rags-to-riches, political brawling, capitalist greed and communist rebellion and the seeds of the struggle against apartheid.
There are little vignettes of places, events and people and useful, simple and easy-to-follow maps and guides should you decide to get out and see for yourself.
Delmar’s Parkview Press has previously published highly successful guide books to the N3 and N4 highways with what Delmar terms a “history-from-your-car” methodology. The book is easy to fit into a pocket, to haul out while walking or driving… and looks to be sturdily bound, promising a long, useful life.
And, with you-know-what coming up, it’s an ideal gift. – Saturday Star
l The Johannesburg Explorer Book by Mike Alfred and Peter Delmar, published by Parkview Press, ISBN 9780620487115, RRP R180 including VAT