The sequel to Of Warriors, Lovers and Prophets, this book is a collection of more colourful, fascinating – and mostly unknown – characters, spanning more than three hundred years of South African history.

There are stories of slaves, lively Khoisan characters and the first ‘Cape Malays’ and Muslims. The story of the Xhosa prophet Makhanda, who nearly succeeded in taking Grahamstown from the British in 1819 and who later escaped from Robben Island, will take most readers by surprise. Also covered are the Foster gang of Johannesburg, who were indirectly responsible for the killing of Boer hero Koos de la Rey; David Pratt, the man who shot Hendrik Verwoerd in the head at the Rand Easter Show; and the three men who pulled off the biggest jewellery heist of the time, stealing Bridget Oppenheimer’s jewellery in 1956. And there’s the sensational and previously unknown story of how a right-wing attack using small aeroplanes at Nelson Mandela’s inauguration in 1994 was thwarted at the last moment.

This is history as storytelling at its very best.