The Saldanha Bay Story. Jose Burman & Stephen Levin

Human & Rousseau, 1974. Hardcover with dustcover, 165 pages. Good condition. The dust cover has some wear and tear. Details of former owner written in front. Partial discolouring of endpapers. Somewhat dusty edges. The page before the title pages has been removed. The binding is good; neat and clean inside.

The history of this magnificent natural harbour teems with violent happenings naval battles, shipwrecks, murders, treasure hunts. The story of how the French nearly took South Africa centres on Saldanha Bay, as well as the events which have left us the song Daar Kom die Alabama. Yet this is the first time that the story of Saldanha Bay has been told. The co-authors of this work were well-suited to the task: Jose Burman has written a number of books on aspects of early Cape history, including two on shipwrecks, whilst fifty years of collecting material and delving into Saldanhas background has made Stephen Levin the leading expert on that subject. Between them they have produced a lively and utterly readable record, which includes a good many little-known facts. The unbelievable story of Saldanha Bays guano-rush, of how whaling came to South Africa, and the full story of Saldanhas days of glory dur-ing World War II are all told in this fascinating book. The account is enlivened with rare maps and charts and is liberally sprinkled with colour and monochrome reproductions of early paintings, watercolours and sketches. A book for the collector, for the interested reader, and a reliable source of information on the metropolis now in the making.