The Hidden Thread

Revolutionaries, Politicians, Refugees, Soldiers, Tycoons, Criminals, Spies and Ballerinas ... THE HIDDEN THREAD is a journey of revelation about the relationship between Soviet Russia and South Africa, hidden for most of its duration. The story is told with insight and depth by Irina Filatova and Apollon Davidson, who have many years of experience writing on Russian and South African history. This insightful work follows the often-surprising twists and turns in the history of South Africa's relationship with Russia. From the first dramatic voyages of the 18th century to Pando chiefs' letters to the Tsar; from the Russian volunteers who fought alongside the Boers in the Anglo-Boer War to South Africans who participated in the Russian revolution and Civil War; from the Russian Jewish immigration to South Africa to the dose involvement of South African communists in the Communist International. The authors take the reader from the Soviet consulates in South Africa to the Cold War and the war in Angola. They explain the SACP and ANC's relations with the USSR, the volte-face of perestroika, and today's business, political, cultural and sometimes criminal connections between Russians and South Africans. There is no doubt that without Soviet assistance, the ANC as we know it would not have existed, and South Africa's history would have taken a very different course.