Land of the Thirst King

[Malcolm Bertoni]

Just finished reading Land of the Thirst King by Willem Steenkamp.  It was published in 1975 and is out of print now, but there are second-hand copies available online.  Got mine for about $15 (R150).

Great book about Namaqualand region in the early days.  Lots of good stories and well worth a read.  History of Hondeklipbaai and the copper railway is interesting . . .

Them was the days.

Malcolm

[henniek]

thanks Malcolm . Question . Where can I get a copy

[Bob Molloy]

Malcolm,
               Thanks for the reminder of a superb book. I have a signed copy on my bookshelf.
I worked with Willem for many years in the Cape Times newsroom. He was a superb reporter
and a great writer. Also quite a character in his own right. He was eventually asked to join the
President's Council by De Klerk which was the group that advised him on the transition.
He is now long retired and living in Tamboers Kloof.

His book stands alongide yours on the Spergebiet as an outstanding piece of Africana.

[Malcolm Bertoni]

hi Hennie

I did a Google search and managed to get a second-hand hard cover one from Amazon UK (of all places) for about $20.00 plus postage, which I think was about $5.  There seem to plenty of copies around - in both hard cover and soft cover.

Malcolm

[Malcolm Bertoni]

hi Bob

Willem Steenkamp reminds me so much of Lawrence Green.  Really easy writing style and LOTS of history and information about Southern Africa. I believe he wrote a few books about the border war as well.

Good to hear he's still around; would love to meet him.  I'm sure he has many tales to tell.

Malcolm