Drum : an index to "Africa's leading magazine," 1951-1965 /

Drum, the leading popular magazine in South Africa in the 1950s and 1960s, was also popular enough beyond South Africa's borders to spawn editions in both East and West Africa. Through this index its contents are made accessible to researchers interested in all aspects of the life of South Africa's black population between 1951 and 1965. The lively magazine provided a wealth of information, including social and political exposes, fiction and poetry (some by well-respected South African authors whose works today are in many academic library collections), photographs, columns, and news reports. The index is easy to use. Its 2,000 citations are grouped into 23 separate subject and regional categories in which they are arranged chronologically. Several specialized indexes following the main body of the work provide additional access. Among these is a detailed "Subject Index" that includes many personal names. The compiler has written an introductory essay putting Drum into its historical context. Although original issues are not widely held by academic libraries, Drum is available on microfilm and is held by the Center for Research Libraries Cooperative Africana Microform Project. Recommended for any academic library in which upper-division undergraduate and graduate students are actively engaged in the study of South Africa. -D. L. Easterbrook, University of Illinois at Chicago