Ian Thornton

New or recently sterilized islands (for example through volcanic activity), provide ecologists with natural experiments in which to study colonization, development and establishment of new biological communities. Studies carried out on islands like this have provided answers to fundamental questions as to what general principles are involved in the ecology of communities and what processes underlie and maintain the basic structure of ecosystems. These studies are vital for conservation biology, especially when evolutionary processes need to be maintained in systems in order to maintain biodiversity. The major themes are how animal and plant communities establish, particularly on 'new land' or following extirpations by volcanic activity. This book comprises a broad review of island colonization, bringing together succession models and general principles, case studies with which Professor Ian Thornton was intimately involved, and a synthesis of ideas, concluding with a look to the future for similar studies.

On August 10, 1976, South African football suffered one of its darkest days following the cold-blooded murder of Kaizer Chiefs official Ewert 'The Lip' Nene. A straight-talker with the gift of the gab, he was the driving force of the AmaKhosi off the pitch, and had been instrumental in its formation. He was an official at Orlando Pirates when the breakaway happened, and did the talking for the new Chiefs in the public space. Ewert Nene was an innovating and trailblazing giant in the vanguard of African sport, and who bizarrely and unfairly remains unheralded in entertainment and untrumpeted in football. Nene was killed as he went to the house of Pilkington United Brothers midfielder Nelson 'Teenage' Dladla in an attempt to persuade the young star to move to the AmaKhosi. This was a man who was on the cusp of tearing down Apartheid years ahead of schedule through a mulish love of football and his brothers-in-arms. Whites were starting to play against and with Blacks, and it was in part because of Ewert "The Lip" Nene, the man of whom it was said, "If they cut out his tongue, he'd find a way of speaking through his ears." August 2026 will be the 50th anniversary of Nene's murder. Ian Thornton is co-writing the incredible story of Nene's life with Sello Moloko, whose polite obsession about The Lip has lasted five decades and which fuels this venture. Despite a pending anniversary, the driving force behind this project is to recognise a great man, who has been lost to history even in his homeland. His family is deserving of a true legacy piece. And of course, one pauses to wonder what more The Lip could have achieved had he not lost his life so needlessly? How different might not only world football, but South Africa have been? We will never know. However, we can tell a new generation of his astonishing story. A series of rare interviews with family, friends, the family of the murderer, judges, former players, national captains and even an ex-President will tell the true story of Ewert Nene, while asking what South Africa would have looked like without him and what it might have looked like had he survived.

Aleister Crowley, also known as the Great Beast, is one of the most reviled men in history. Satanist, cult leader, debauched novelist and poet, his legacy has been harshly contested for decades.Crowley supposedly died in 1947, but in Ian Thornton's new novel, set in the present day, the Great Beast is alive and well and living in Shangri-la. Now over 130 years old, thanks to the magical air of his mystical location, he looks back on his life and decides it is time to set the record straight.For Crowley was not the evil man he is often portrayed as. This was just a cover to hide his real mission, to save the twentieth century from destroying itself and to set humanity on the road to freedom and liberty.The Death and Afterlife of Aleister Crowley is an epic novel that will make you see this notorious figure in a completely new light, as he encounters an impressive cast of real-life characters including Timothy Leary, The Beatles, Princess Margaret, Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock.

Johan Thoms (pronounced Yo-han Tomes) was born in Argona, a small town twenty-three miles south of Sarajevo, during the hellish depths of winter 1894. Little did he know that his inability to reverse a car would change the course of 20th Century History forever… Johan Thoms is poised for greatness. A promising student at the University of Sarajevo, he is young, brilliant, and in love with the beautiful Lorelei Ribeiro. He can outwit chess masters, quote the Kama Sutra, and converse with dukes and drunkards alike. But he cannot drive a car in reverse. And as with so much in the life of Johan Thoms, this seemingly insignificant detail will prove to be much more than it appears. On the morning of June 28, 1914, Johan takes his place as the chauffeur to Franz Ferdinand and the royal entourage and, with one wrong turn, he forever alters the course of history.

After the eruption, Krakatau provided a unique opportunity to study the colonization of a sterile area by plants and animals across a sea barrier and the gradual incorporation of the newcomers into the developing ecosystem. Krakatau is a comprehensive account of the reassembly of a tropical forest ecosystem over the past century. Ian Thornton tackles the many questions and controversies surrounding the eruption and its aftermath. He writes, “The natural healing process has followed the most extreme form of ecological destruction possible, total biological extirpation. Yet the islands surviving the 1883 eruption are covered in secondary forest, and over 200 species of plants, 70 species of vertebrates, and thousands of invertebrate species now inhabit these forests.”Krakatau will be essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand not just the rebirth of Krakatau but also the resilient nature of life everywhere.