Dougie Oakes is in his fourth decade as a journalist and writer, having written extensively in South Africa for the then Argus Printing and Publishing Company and Independent Media. He has specialised in sport politics, and features and leader writing. He was also commissioned by Reader’s Digest to conceptualise, edit and, to a large extent, write a book on South African History. The Illustrated History of South Africa – the Real Story sold almost a quarter-of-a-million copies in South Africa and about 40 thousand copies in other parts of the world.