The multinational naval exercise WILL FOR PEACE, hosted by the South African Navy in Simon’s Town, brought the navies of China, Russia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates to Cape waters in January 2026.
BOOK REVIEWS
Michael Stevenson’s Samuel Daniell: A Life of an Artist in Southern Africa and Ceylon, 1799–1811 stands as a work of rare distinction: sumptuous in production, meticulous in scholarship, and deeply rewarding in intellectual substance.
BLUE PLAQUES
One of the first high-rise buildings in Johannesburg, “Astor” referred to an extremely wealthy American family whose fortune came from real estate in New York, thus linking it to the grand apartment buildings and skyscrapers of Manhattan. In 1932, with the name emblazoned on glass between the twin towers, the architects, Obel & Obel, were able to meet their brief to make it the tallest building in town.