Through their stories of heroism, duty, adventure and tragedy, the reader will follow the history of the SAAF from 1939 to the present day. To complement the stories, the final chapter includes a collection of squadron pub songs from the Second World War, Korea and the Border War.
Air empire is a fresh study of civil aviation as a tool of late British imperialism. The first pioneering flights across the British empire in 1919-20 were flag-waving adventures that recreated an era of plucky British maritime exploration and conquest. Britain’s development of international air routes and services was approved, organised and celebrated largely in London; there was some resistance in and beyond the subordinate colonies and dominions. Negotiating the financing and geopolitics of regular commercial air service delayed its inception until the 1930s. Technological, managerial and logistical problems also meant that Britain was slow into the air and slow in the air. Propaganda concealed underperformance and criticism. The study uses archival sources, biographies, industry magazines and newspapers to chronicle the disputed progress toward air empire. The rhetoric behind imperial air service offers a glimpse of late imperial hopes, fears, attitudes and style. Empire air service had emotional appeal and symbolic value, but disappointed in practice.
The dramatic story of the sinking of the Dunedin Star November 9th, 1942. Amid the cloaking gloom of the Liverpool docks lay the Dunedin Star. A ship of the Blue Star Line, she was bound for the Middle East, her consignment of munitions for the 8th Army supplemented by twenty-one fare-paying civilians escaping the Blitz for the colonies, all forced to take the long haul round the Cape. As an unescorted merchantman sailing U-boat infested waters, Dunedin Star's passage was, at best, a risky undertaking. But her eventual fate was to defy all expectation. Three weeks into her voyage, her hull mysteriously holed, Dunedin Star ran aground off Namibia's infamous Skeleton Coast - five hundred miles of raging surf and burning desert, the most violent and desolate shore on earth. Sixty-three men, women and children were to defy mountainous waves and unfathomable odds to reach land . . . but their struggle for survival had only just begun. From interviews with survivors, eyewitness testimony, historical resources and personal journals, Dawson skilfully reconstructs the Dunedin Star's doomed voyage, the terror of the wilderness and the painstaking rescue missions. From the grim waters of the North Atlantic to the blistering African wastes, he narrates a classic tale of pluck, set against the backdrop of World War II.
This book brings together recent and ongoing empirical studies to examine two relational kinds of politics, namely, the politics of nature, i.e. how nature conservation projects are sites on which power relations play out, and the politics of the scientific study of nature. These are discussed in their historical and present contexts, and at specific sites on which particular human-environment relations are forged or contested. This spatio-temporal juxtaposition is lacking in current research on political ecology while the politics of science appears marginal to critical scholarship on social nature. Specifically, the book examines power relations in nature-related activities, demonstrates conditions under which nature and science are politicised, and also accounts for political interests and struggles over nature in its various forms. The ecological, socio-political and economic dimensions of nature cannot be ignored when dealing with present-day environmental issues. Nature conservation regulations are concerned with the management of flora and fauna as much as with humans. Various chapters in the book pay attention to the ways in which nature, science and politics are interrelated and also co-constitutive of each other. They highlight that power relations are naturalised through science and science-related institutions and projects such as museums, botanical gardens, wetlands, parks and nature reserves.
When the famous South African fish scientist Professor JLB Smith published Old Fourlegs – The Story of the Coelacanth in 1956 he created an international sensation. After all, this 400-million-year-old fish, known only from fossil remains, was thought to have become extinct around 66 million years ago! JLB Smith’s dramatic account of the discovery of the first and second coelacanths in 1938 and 1952 turned him into a cult figure and put South African science on the world map. His book was eventually published in six English editions and translated into nine foreign languages. Mike Bruton’s The Annotated Old Fourlegs includes a facsimile reprint of the original book, to which he has added notes and images in the margins that provide an interesting and revealing commentary on Smith’s text, as well as new introductory and explanatory chapters that bring the coelacanth story up to date.
Experience the thrill of flying some of the world's most important airplanes and spacecraft. Best of the National Air and Space Museum provides unprecedented access to the most popular museum in the world. The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum hosts an average of seven million visits every year. The Udvar-Hazy Center—three football fields long and ten stories high—receives more than one million visits annually. Best of the National Air and Space Museum features the best of both museums, from the Challenger space shuttle and the Wright flyer to the Spirit of St. Louis and the stealth bomber. Robert Van der Linden, curator of aeronautics, has selected the most important, popular, and just plain impressive aircraft and spacecraft from the collections of both museums to be showcased in this beautiful book. Each page spread includes intriguing facts of the item's design, use, mission, specifications, and dimensions. A must-have for space and aviation buffs.
The perfect companion for the urban sightseer, Walking Cape Town features 24 easy walks and 9 drives through the streets and suburbs of one of the world’s most beautiful and diverse cities. From the Company’s Garden in the heart of the city to trendy Green Point, Sea Point and Camps Bay, the colourful Bo-Kaap and the bustling seaside villages of Muizenberg, Kalk Bay and Simon’s Town, this comprehensive guide reveals the fascinating history and urban charm that has made Cape Town one of the top destinations in the world. John Muir, an expert on Cape Town and its hidden gems, provides a wealth of information on all that can be discovered en route: the city’s colonial past, Victorian and contemporary architecture, museums and monuments, churches and mosques, parks and gardens, and rivers and wetlands. Fully illustrated with more than 250 photographs, this extensive guide also includes: • 32 easy-to-follow illustrated route maps • detailed route directions • absorbing fact panels detailing most the city’s iconic landmarks and famous residents • essential information on walking and driving distances, terrain and level of difficulty • opening times and contact details • suggestions for restaurants, pubs and coffee shops to be found along each route For locals and visitors wanting to discover more about the city’s rich heritage, whether by foot or by car, Walking Cape Town is an indispensable guide.