Extra! Extra! ….. New Books via Rhodes Digest

The definitive biography of the twentieth century’s great poet. T. S. Eliot was arguably the greatest English-language poet of the twentieth century. In poems such as The Waste Land and Four Quartets, he spoke directly to his times, and his essays influenced a whole school of literary criticism. Today, as long-awaited personal papers and letters emerge, there is a new impetus to reexamine and understand Eliot—both as a poet and person. [R]

At times witty, at times moving, this autobiography/memoir by South African scientist Wieland Gevers tells the story of his overlapping personal and professional journeys as he navigated through school, home life, and a much-lauded career. Against the backdrop of the country during a time of dramatic political change, Gevers expertly weaves together the threads of personal vulnerability, uncertainties about his career path, and the history of higher education in pre- and postapartheid South Africa. [R]

Gareth Morgan (South Africa-at-Large & Linacre 2000) and Peter Willis

With deep experience over two major crises, Peter Willis and Gareth Morgan speak directly to leaders of organisations, encouraging them to make being good at crises a core part of their quest for excellence. They focus on the essential requirements of any leader in a time of major upheaval, uncertainty and threat, as well as on the set of core capabilities needed for an organisation to come overnext major next major next major crisis— coming out not only intact, but also healthier and more resilient. [R]

Where Cicadas Sing is the first of the independent, but linked, novels of the Tomorrow and Tomorrow Quartet. The last of the tetralogy of novels, Second Coming won the nation’s highest prize for Literature in English, the Patras Bokhari Award, Pakistan Academy of Letters.

“Where Cicadas Sing is the mesmerising narrative of a pre-teen youngster who gradually, uncovers a world both of innocence and experience. Complex adult scenarios are evoked through artfully candid vignettes in the mosaic-like structure.” – Prof. Dr. Waseem Anwar

The 145 essays in this comprehensive, concise, and highly readable book represent three decades of Adekeye Adebajo’s reflections and writing on the history, regional integration, politics, military rule, foreign policy, international relations, geo-politics, culture, film, sports, and travel of Africa and its diaspora. The legacies of this Black Atlantic in the Americas, Europe, and the Caribbean are examined panoramically, as Africa’s independence struggles from the 1950s were also mirrored by similar battles in the Caribbean and America’s civil rights struggle.

This volume demonstrates the continuities of five centuries of European slavery and colonialism in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Americas, examining calls for reparations in all three regions for crimes against humanity. Authored by eminent scholars largely based in these areas, it contributes to transforming educational curricula globally.

In 1967, media theorist Marshall McLuhan and his collaborator Harley Parker, pioneer of museum exhibit design, were invited by the Museum of the City of New York to moderate a two-day seminar on museum communication attended by leading museum officials from around the state and further afield. The seminar report, originally published in 1969, captures the extent to which the audacious views of McLuhan and Parker on rethinking the museum were greeted with puzzlement, scepticism, and consternation by those in attendance. Drawing on extensive archival sources, William J. Buxton sheds light on the context of the seminar, its main participants and organizers, its funding, and its reception.