Sol Plaatje's Mhudi is the first full-length novel in English to have been written by a black South African and is widely regarded as one of South Africa's most important literary works. 'Set in the 1830s it tells the tale of Mhudi and Ra- haga. A romantic story set against a violent backdrop of war between Baroleng and Matebele, complicated by the intrusions of Boer trekkers with whom the Baroleng form an alliance. 'It is notable, among other things, for the way Plaatje uses the past to explore the roots of oppression and injustice suffered by his people a century later, when the...