BENJAMIN BENNETT----South Africa's Greatest True Crime Reporter/Author

During his 25years as a crime reporter with the Cape Argus, Benjamin Bennett wrote many books on serious crime, particularly murder, and was acknowledged as the leading author in this genre,at the time,
so much so it is generally understood that he was consulted by the police when investigating some complicated and mysterious crimes.
His many books,some of which are listed below,reflect his close involvement ,both at the crime scene and also in the courtroom where he was regularly seen with pen and notebook in hand !
His books are a jolly good and fascinating read.

Book List:-

They Crossed my Path
Too late For Tears
The Clues Condemn
The Evil That Men Do
Murder is My Business
Why Did They Do It ?
And Your Verdict?
Destiny Comes Too Soon
Freedom--Or The Gallows
Murder Will Speak
The Amazing Case of the Baron von Schauroth.
The Cohen Case.

2nd List To Follow Shortly

ERIC ROSENTHAL------List of Publications----Part 1

Memories and Sketches
From Drury Lane to Mecca
Old Time Survivals in South Africa
Stars and Stripes in Africa
The Fall of East Africa
Fortress on Sand
General Dan Pienaar
Japan's Bid for Africa
General de Wet
Gold Bricks and Mortar
African Switzerland
The South African Saturday Book
Homes of the Golden City
They Walk in the Night
Pinelands
South African Jews in World War 2
Here are Diamonds
The Hinges Creaked
Shelter from the Spray
Shells to Shillings
Other Men's Millions
Cutlass and Yardarm
Today's News Today
The Changing Years
River of Diamonds.

Part 2 ---To follow shortly

C.P.CARTWRIGHT

A great chronicler of the history of South African industry is C.P.Cartwright , possibly better known for his biographies and company histories.For example his excellent biography of Sir Percy Fitzpatrick,who although is naturally known for his "Jock of the Bushveld",virtually everybody's favourite book !,had a very interesting and varied life that A P Cartwright  illustrated in a very well written biography'
His books on gold and diamond mining and the production of dynamite are classics of the genre.
A list of his books will also be published shortly.

ERIC ROSENTHAL

I mentioned in an earlier post the name of Eric Rosenthal who most of us will remember  from his broadcasting days but on closer examination of his life I discovered that he was probably South Africa's most prolific author of non-fiction on a very varied selection of subjects. Here was a writer on such different subjects which include the history of broadcasting,the production and consumption of beer,the story of the old Carlton Hotel and a biography of General de Wet and many others,mostly relative to South Africa.I plan to publish a complete of his 49 books shortly.

T.V.BULPIN.........."THE IVORY TRAIL"

Taking a short break recently I was able to get my nose into a copy of ,what is considered the greatest  of T.V.Bulpin's stories, "The Ivory Trail" and what a story it is !.Bvekenya the Shanganes called him-'The one who swaggers as he walks'.Just reading the 'Prelude' was enough to enthrall me and,no doubt many others before me.He was a legend of the bush and no yarn could be told about the bush without Bvekenya's name cropping up.His real name was Cecil Barnard but he always added 'better known as Bvekenya !' Born in 1886 in  the small village of Knysna he soon became  familiar with the local elephants , a passion that he enjoyed all his life.
The book in 18 chapters takes the reader through his many adventures at a time when the elephant roamed the bush and was of course hunted for his tusks.Illustrated throughout by the attractively graphic and much admired C T Astley Maberly ,Bvekenya's many adventures along the "Ivory Trail' are brilliantly told.

Find a copy . you will enjoy it !

T.V.Bulpin 1918-1999

Thomas Victor Bulpin can truly be described as a great South African writer,one who travelled the length and breadth of the country in search of history, places and peoples,whether they were black, white,coloured or Bushmen yellow.Essentially Bulpin was a travel writer but he really was more than that.Like his contemporary Lawrence Green, he revelled in making  friends,discovering new flowers and plants,enjoying the various foods he found as well as the sounds and melodies of Africa,new and old.Whilst his books are well known with enticing titles like 'Shaka's Country','The Ivory Trail','The Hunter is Death' and so on, he also wrote more than 2000 booklets, leaflets and magazine features.He also published books.He was rightly described as the "Doyen "of  African travel  writers.
I shall concentrate on his books and below you will find a list which I am told is incomplete.I will welcome any additions.
I hope from time to time to enlarge on the subject of some of the titles which might be helpful in identifying a particular genre.

T.V.BULPIN.......PUBLISHED BOOK LIST.(Probably incomplete)

THE IVORY TRAIL
LOST TRAILS ON THE LOW VELD
SHAKA'S COUNTRY
TO THE SHORES OF NATAL
THE HUNTER IS DEATH
ISLANDS IN A FORGOTTEN SEA
TRAIL OF THE COPPER KING
THE GOLDEN REPUBLIC
THE WHITE WHIRLWIND
THE GREAT TREK AND THE ZULU COUNTRY
LOST TRAILS OF THE TRANSVAAL
TO THE BANKS OF THE ZAMBEZI
LOW VELD TRAILS
DISCOVERING SOUTHERN AFRICA
TICKEY: THE STORY OF A CLOWN
SOUTHERN AFRICA: LAND OF BEAUTY AND SPLENDOUR
SCENIC WONDERS OF SOUTHERN AFRICA
ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO SOUTHERN AFRICA
STELLENBOSCH
BVAKENYA
TAVERN OF THE SEA


nb. any questions or information or availability of books can be addressed to:- doug. colnic@telkomsa.net

COMING NEXT----All about T.V.Bulpin !