Jonathan imprint: 202 books

'Some people think it a very bad thing to have an opinion about anything. Blend in, don't make too much noise, just be happy with what you know and do. I can't do that.' South African DJ personality and Idols judge Gareth Cliff likes to shoot from the hip. Whether on air or judging a trembling Idols...

Liz McGregor follows the fortunes of South African Fana Khaba, a boy from a severely disadvantaged township background, a former taxi-driver, who achieves celebrity status and a cult following as the most popular DJ on Gauteng’s new youth radio station, only to die tragically and prematurely from...

South Africa is a land of contrasts, as the tourist brochures promise, and this is true for the game of rugby. From the Pretoria heartland to the aspirant Eastern Cape, from the hardscrabble Cape Flats to the islands of privilege at Bishops and Grey College. No other rugby-playing nation has to grapple...

The Dead Will Arise tells the story of Nongqawuse, the young Xhosa girl whose prophecy of the resurrection of the dead lured an entire people to death by starvation. The Great Cattle-Killing of 1856-57, which she initiated, is one of the most extraordinary and misunderstood events in South Africa's...

'I was made in Coffee Bay. Right there on the beach, in the sand.' From the opening lines, we are drawn in and engrossed by this startling memoir of a singular childhood. Suzan is adopted as a newborn in the late 1960s into a seemingly loving and welcoming family living in Pietermaritzburg. But Suzan...

In the last five years Riaan Manser has re-written the definition of tenacity and become the epitome of determination. Riaan rose to prominence when he became the first person to cycle around the entire perimeter of Africa. For over two years, he padalled a mammoth 37,000kms through 34 countries;...

Everyone said it couldn't be done; even internationally renowned sports scientists such as Dr. Tim Noakes. Certainly no-one had done it before, though many had tried: to run the Great Wall of China, end to end, non-stop. The journey would start in the Gobi Desert, cross the jagged Taihang Shan range,...

Mickey Arthur was one of SA's longest-serving and most successful coaches. In 2008, along with the national team, he created history when the Proteas beat both England and Australia on their own turf. Beating Pakistan away from home the year before, set in motion an unprecedented journey to the number...

From the day he joined a ramshackle Kenyan cycling club made up of orphans and street children, Chris Froome was destined for greatness. Froome: the Ride of his Life chronicles Froome's journey from the dusty mountain tracks outside Nairobi to the historic roads of the world's most famous bicycle...

For more than a century, the Springbok captain has represented the pinnacle of rugby achievement in South Africa. In this revealing narrative, Edward Griffiths and Stephen Nell tell the stories of the elite group of men who have been able to call themselves ‘Springbok captain’, exploring their...

‘Chad took a deep breath. He pulled on his goggles, pushed them up onto his forehead and slipped on his swimming cap. It was time for the men’s 200 meter butterfly final at the London Olympics of 2012. This was the moment he had been dreaming about for over a decade.’ This is the story...

Percy Tau grew up with seven siblings and a single mom in the mining town of Witbank. For Percy and his family, life is tough as their mother struggles to make ends meet. But there is one thing that brings the Tau boys together: soccer. At the Mmagobana Primary School, they quickly make a name for...

‘AB hopped over the boundary rope and onto the field, grinning at the sight and sound of a packed Wanderers Stadium. He swung his bat from side to side and listened to the crowd roaring his name.’ So begins the wonderfully entertaining story of the rise to fame of one of South Africa’s...

In the fifth book of the Road to Glory series, Jeremy Daniel shows us how Caster Semenya developed into a world-class athlete. Growing up in poverty in Limpopo, Caster’s early experiences at school are marked by many ups and downs: while her friends and family accept her for who she is, she is constantly...