Author Description

Blame me on history is the autobiography of William Bloke Modisane. He was one of a team of black writers of the 1950s who created Drum magazine and who also became an actor and playwright. His story was originally published in 1963, but was banned in South Africa during the 'struggle' years. He lived in Sophiatown, Johannesburg until 1958 when the township was bulldozed flat by government order. Consequently, Modisane decided that the time had come to leave the country and settled in West Germany. But he always felt very much an exile. His evocative writing transports the reader back in time to experience the life and shebeen culture that existed at that time in Johannesburg and particularly in Sophiatown. As one of the first urban black intellectuals Modisane became host to such people as Dame Sybil Thorndike and Adlai Stevenson, as well as to many South African whites who wanted to know and understand the culture of shantytown life and the problems of the urban blacks living there. Blame Me on History takes us back to those days and gives us some insight into the vitality and the vibrant energy that was Sophiatown.