JEWISH LIFE IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN COUNTRY COMMUNITIES (3 Volumes)

Softcover, illustrated, maps, portraits, 215, 528, 500 pp. Contents: Volume 1: The northern Great Escarpment, the Lowveld, the northern Highveld, the Bushveld; Volume 2: Boland, Bushmanland, Central Karoo, Fairest Cape, Griqualand West, Kalahari, Koup, Namaqualand, Swartland, West Coast; Volume 3: Camdeboo, Cape Midlands, Garden Route, Griqualand East and Transkei, Langkloof, Little Karoo, North Eastern Cape, Overberg, Settler Country. Includes bibliographical references and index. "The first two volumes, part of the unique on-going research project of South African Friends of Beth Hatefutsoth (or the Museum of the Jewish Diaspora), have enjoyed great success among readers, both in South Africa and abroad. Volume One focused on the northern and eastern Transvaal areas (mainly comprising today's Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces). Volume Two focused on the Western Cape. The final instalments will cover the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal, and the southern Gauteng area, including the various towns on the East and West Rand. The third volume chronicles the history of the once strong and now largely vanished Jewish presence in the smaller towns and rural districts of South Africa, has now been published. The book starts with the earliest settlement of Jews in South Africa, before and including the 1820 Settlers. The areas covered in the new volume include the Garden Route, Little Karoo, the Cape-Midlands, Overberg and Settler country. The research covers almost 1500 small towns and villages in South Africa where Jews lived. No village, hamlet or railway siding has been too small; so long as there has been a Jewish presence there, every location has found its way into the record. In addition to recording the story of the various Jewish communities, it also recounts the history of the places in which they lived. The book also includes many colorful anecdotes of life in the country towns and villages, as well as numerous hitherto unpublished photographs". Inscription on flep of Volume 1, a fine set.