Foreign Native

An African Journey

By: R. W. Johnson

Narrated by: Peter Noble

In Foreign Native, RW Johnson looks back with affection and humour on his life in Africa. From schooldays in Durban - fresh off the boat from Merseyside - to later years as an academic, director of the Helen Suzman Foundation and formidable political commentator, he has produced an entertaining and occasionally eye-popping memoir brimming with history, anecdote and insight. Johnson charts his evolution from enthusiastic, left-leaning Africanist to political realist, relating the episodes that influenced his intellectual worldview, including time spent among the exiled liberation movements in London during the 1960s, a sojourn in newly independent Guinea and more recent forays into Zimbabwe. There are wonderful stories, some hilarious, others filled with pathos, about the multitude of characters - Harold Strachan, Tom Sharpe, Ronnie Kasrils, Helen Suzman, Frederik van zyl Slabbert, among many others that he met along the way. Perceptive, critical and full of verve, Foreign Native is leavened with a deep humanity that makes it a pleasure to listen to.

©2020 Jonathan Ball Publishing (P)2020 Audible, Ltd

Hugely insightful, brutally honest and personal

Thank you R.W for this fascinating, frank and relatable journey through the political and social roller-coaster ride that has been South Africa over the past 70 years.

Speaking truth to power, on both sides of the political spectrum, is not an easy road to travel, but you have done so impeccably. I salute you and your principaled bravery.

A tremendously worthwhile investment in time to understand the origins and psyche of the ruling party, it's leaders and its Marxist maffiosa core which has influenced its rule, to the detriment of the majority of people it claims to serve.

A story that resonates with my experiences in SA

I lived for long in hope and then disillusion. RWJ helped me become realistic and hopeful again.