Changes

|title=Canvas Under The Sky

|author=Robin Binckes

|publisher=30 Degrees South

|date=September 2011

|website=http://www.spearofthenation.co.za

|summary=A novel written by a man who has a passion for and extensive knowledge of Africa: the land, its struggles and history. He has a gift for writing non-fiction that doesn't always transfer to his fiction but when it does, he shines.

}}

Rauch Beukes is a 17 year old Boer lad living with his family on the Eastern Cape frontier in Africa. Sadly for them, the year is 1834: not a good time as the Boers live under the dictates of the British and in fear of indigenous local tribes. This becomes all too real to Rauch when, returning from a trip with his father, he discovers a smouldering heap where his home once stood and a row of graves bearing the remains of his mother and sisters. Wanting a better life, a group of farmers decide to travel towards Africa's southern interior to establish a self-determining Boer homeland and so Rauch, his father and brothers join them feeling they have nothing to lose. The momentum grows and the migration will become known as 'The Great Trek', a tough, dangerous period of South African history, challenging Rauch's strength, courage and a fair bit of his libido.