THE PEOPLE'S PAPER, a centenary history & anthology of "Abantu-Batho"

543pp., illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2012

'Abantu-Batho' was an African multi-lingual newspaper founded in 1912 by African National Congress (ANC) convener Pixley Seme, with assistance from the Swazi queen. It was published until 1931.

This book comprises a collection of essays and a selection of never-before-published columns from the newspaper.

Essays include:
"A Centenary History of 'Abantu-Batho', the People's Paper", "'Only the Bolder Spirits': politics, racism, solidarity and war in 'Abantu-Batho'", "'They Must Go to the Bantu-Batho': economics and education, religion and gender, love and leisure in the people's paper" and "Assessing the Decline and Legacy of 'Abanu-Batho'" by Peter Limb
"Pixley Seme and 'Abantu-Batho'" by Chris Saunders
"Queen Labotsibeni and 'Abantu-Batho'" by Sarah Mkhonza
"'Abantu-Batho' and the Xhosa Poets" by Jeff Opland
"'Johannesburg in Flames': the 1918 Shilling Campaign, 'Abantu-Batho' and early African nationalism in South Africa" by Paul Landau.

"Once this material is in the public domain, it will be impossible to write about this era of popular politics in South Africa without making reference to 'Abantu-Batho' and the key role it played. The many gems in this book have been uncovered through extraordinary detective work and the wealth of analysis tells a rich tale of the paper. A neglected aspect of South African politics, history and culture, about which many scholars have commented over the years, has at last been addressed." Heather Hughes, University of Lincoln

"A fascinating and very important, pioneering volume. For the first time the story of the 'Abantu-Batho' newspaper is told here, based on a massive amount of research. The scholarship is impeccable. The book not only tells the story of a key newspaper, but also sheds entirely new light on the early history of the ANC and the hitherto largely neglected social, economic and political history of Africans on the Rand. An important, radical voice had been missing: here it is restored." Brian Willan, Rhodes University

Peter Limb is an adjunct associate professor and Africana bibliographer at Michigan State University.