"The Train from Rhodesia" is one of Nadine Gordimer's earliest stories, first published in 1952 in her collection The Soft Voice of the Serpent and Other Stories. The short piece about a train's brief stop in an impoverished African village exhibits the concise complexity that marks much of Gordimer's other work. As a native South African of European heritage, Gordimer has focused much of her writing on the injustice of apartheid as practiced in the country. Though not an overtly political story,' "The Train from Rhodesia" depicts the prejudicial attitudes that caused apartheid and reinforced it once racial segregation became law. Critics have praised the story for its unflinching yet subtle social commentary, a tactic that allowed Gordimer to publish it in South Africa without it being censored. By presenting characters of both races who are degraded by their belief in racial inequality, the author shows how both black and white South Africans are harmed by apartheid. While readers debate the merits of her detached, unemotional style, many find themselves compelled by her passion. The story has been published in several of Gordimer's collections as well as in other general short story anthologies.