The Special Collections Book of the Week this week is:

Memory is the Weapon by Don Mattera

The story of Sophiatown has been told before but never with the eloquence that Don Mattera brings to ‘Memory is the Weapon.’ Many faces make up the whole that was Sophiatown, teeming with political campaigns, bristling with the knives of the underworld and vigorous with the enterprises of ordinary people eking out a living for themselves. These are the memories of a man who has touched the cloaks of the holy and unholy, broken bread with the rich and the poor, crossed swords with the law and the lawless. The death of Sophiatown will remain an indictment of callousness and cruelty. That it is able to live on in the hearts and minds of generations to come is a proud tribute to the culture and artists it produced.

Access: https://univofpretoria.on.worldcat.org/oclc/18792574

This book is available at Special Collections, housed on level 5 of the Merensky 2 Library, and is part of our Africana (ZA) Collection.

The Special Collections unit of the Department of Library Services plays a stewardship role in the acquisition and preservation of the Library's rare and valuable information resources, making them accessible to students, staff and researchers, as well as safeguarding them for future generations.