# Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Canonical: https://www.bookquiver.com/gavin-bell/somewhere-over-the-rainbow/9780349112619

![Somewhere Over The Rainbow](https://quivercdn.com/covers/abacus/gavin-bell/somewhere-over-the-rainbow_978-03-4911-261-9.jpg?v=2026-05-12%2003%3A12%3A45)

- Book: [Somewhere Over The Rainbow](https://www.bookquiver.com/gavin-bell/somewhere-over-the-rainbow) ([Somewhere Over The Rainbow.md](https://www.bookquiver.com/gavin-bell/somewhere-over-the-rainbow.md))
- Authors: [Gavin Bell](https://www.bookquiver.com/gavin-bell)
- Publisher: abacus
- ISBN: 978-03-4911-261-9
- Pages: 1
- Published: 2001-02-01
- Language: en_GB
- Binding: Softcover

## Description

Near the southern tip of Africa, there is a mountain that does a conjuring trick with the biggest tablecloth on earth. In a sacred forest near the Limpopo river, there is a bird that flies on wings of thunder, flashing lightning from its eyes and bearing rain in its beak. In between, there is a hauntingly beautiful land and millions of confused people. When Archbishop Desmond Tutu dubbed his native South Africa the 'Rainbow Nation', he conjured a vision of ethnic diversity and harmony in a country with eleven official languages, two national anthems, and a parliament that shuttled between two cities. As a foreign correspondent reporting on the last days of apartheid, Gavin Bell thought it was a brave image and wondered how long it would endure. A few years later, he returned to find out what had happened to Tutu's rainbow. In his travels he found a country at odds with itself, swinging between hope and despair, buoyed by a sense of freedom and haunted by a fear of violent crime. SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW is not only a fine travel book by an award-winning writer, it is a compelling portrait of a country in search of an identity. The leopard stories are good too.