Drinking with Ghosts: Revisiting Apartheid's Dirty War

by Michael Schmidt

Drinking with Ghosts: The Aftermath of Apartheid's Dirty War is a fascinating exploration of the dark corners of South Africa's past by a veteran journalist. Michael Schmidt's revelations move from South Africa's nuclear program under Apartheid to the problem of today's deeply unequal society, tracing the threads of secrecy, privilege and the violence that is needed to maintain it.The book is also a testament to Schmidt's career as a journalist; his dedicated and uncompromising quest to uncover the truth of what he finds shines through on every page.

Drinking with Ghosts illuminates both past and present and is an invaluable contribution to understanding what South Africa is today. It is also written with verve and passion and is an unputdownable read.

Genres: Nonfiction, Africa

391 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2014

About the author

Michael Schmidt is a bestselling author, African human rights rapporteur, and investigative journalist with over 30 years in the field and a reputation for producing unique and challenging copy, having worked on some of South Africa's leading print titles including Sunday Times, Financial Mail, and Africa In Fact. He was a 2009 Fellow of the Academic Leaders Programme at Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico, a 2011 Fellow of the International Institute for Journalism (IIJ), Germany, as well as a 2011 Clive Menell Media Fellow at the DeWitt Wallace Center for Media & Democracy at Duke University (USA). He is: * former Executive Director, Institute for the Advancement of Journalism (IAJ) * Administrative Secretary, Professional Journalists' Association of South Africa (ProJourn) * Director & Strategic Relations for the non-profit Hammerl Arts Rights Transfer (HART) * Rapporteur & Curator, Safe Havens Freedom Talks (SH|FT).

Reviews

[Liam Murphy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Found out this guy was living a white-supremacist double-life like 85% of the way through, definitely colored the experience for the rest of the account :(

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read by one of South Africa's most fearless investigative reporters. Makes one realize that bloodshed and murder have driven this nation from the start, right up until now, well into the post-apartheid era. Highly recommended.

[Gurty · Rating 1 out of 5]

This guy is a nazi btw