At the Fireside was born out of the need to preserve, retell and rekindle some of the stories of events and lives that have shaped and coloured South Africa. This book recalls our history and enables the reader to relive the stories of our sometimes forgotten past. These are tales of bravery and honour, greed and failure, hope and despair, but ultimately the stories are of real people who went beyond the expected and of events that surpassed the ordinary.