Barbara Jones Book order (chronological)

Christo Brand was a South African farm boy, born into the Afrikaans culture which had created apartheid to persecute black people and claim superiority for whites. Nelson Mandela, also raised in a rural village, was the black son of a tribal chief. He trained as a lawyer to take up the fight against apartheid on behalf of a whole nation. Their opposing worlds collided when Christo, a raw recruit from the country's prison service, was sent to Robben Island to guard the notoriously dangerous terrorists there. Mandela was their undisputed leader. The two of them, a boy of 18 and a long-suffering freedom fighter then aged 60, could well have become bitter enemies. Instead, they formed an extraordinary friendship through small human kindnesses.

In this full colour, fully updated new edition of the book Grand Designs described as the essential guide to straw-bale building; Barbara Jones uses her 20 years of experience in natural building methods to guide self-builders and architects through using straw as a sustainable material for a diverse range of comfortable and environmentally friendly buildings.