This edited volume encompasses a range of themes and approaches relevant to the field of South African history today, as viewed from the perspective of practicing historians at the cutting edge of research in the discipline. The collection features the historians offering critical reflection on the theoretical and methodological aspects of their work. This involves them both looking back at the inherited historiographical tradition in the respective areas of their research, while also pointing forwards to possible future directions for scholarly engagement.

1.Towards a school of their own: the varieties of South African historiography
Thula Simpson
2. Beasts of the southern world: multi-species history and the Anthropocene
Sandra Swart
3. Black academics matter: history and anti-blackness at South African universities
Janeke Thumbran
4. Black mothering, 'maids' and mixed-methods in women's history: Zanele Muholi's contemporary art and Sindiwe Magona's short stories
Mandisa Mbali
5. Vernacular traditions as counter-hegemonic archives in Eastern Cape historiography
Nomalanga Mkhize
6. The revolution in South African historiography
Thula Simpson
7. From grand narratives to complicated subjects: biography in the post-apartheid era
Lindie Koorts
8. Whiteness must fall: whiteness, whites and insurgent history writing
Neil Roos
9. Bringing white workers back in: new histories of race and class in South Africa
Danelle van Zyl-Hermann
10. The transnational nation: South African history beyond and across borders
Rob Skinner