The Last Defenders of the Laager: Ian D. Smith and F. W. de Klerk [Hardcover]

Dickson Mungazi [Deceased] (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 30, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0275960307 | ISBN-13: 978-0275960308

When the Afrikaners (Boers) migrated northward from the Cape to escape British rule, they enountered the Zulu people. To protect their claims, the Boers formed the laager, a circle of wagons. As years passed, the laager acquired wider political dimensions and became a symbol of Afrikaner determination to survive under hostile conditions. Ian D. Smith, last colonial leader of Zimbabwe from 1964 to 1979, and F. W. de Klerk, the last white president of South Africa from 1988 to 1994, were the last defenders of the laager on the African continent. Rising nationalism and the devastation of civil war would eventually force these leaders to abandon the colonial systems that they had inherited from their predecessors.

The study details the origins and development of the laager system in Africa. It discusses how and why previously successful tactics to maintain the system would fail amidst the rising African nationalism of the late 20th century. The focus of each of the eight chapters alternates between Smith and de Klerk and examines the efforts of each to overcome unanticipated challenges.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

DICKSON A. MUNGAZI is Regent's Professor of History at the Center for Excellence in Education at Northern Arizona University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Praeger (May 30, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275960307
• ISBN-13: 978-0275960308
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,391,394 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent history of South Africa and Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, December 25, 2009

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Last Defenders of the Laager: Ian D. Smith and F. W. de Klerk (Hardcover)

During the era when colonialism engulfed southern Africa, the European settlers tended to view themselves as a sort of white island in a black sea, and they built societies designed to maintain themselves in a superior position. In the modern era, when the black Africans began to embrace modernity and demand equality and opportunity in the lands of their birth, many of the whites began to see their societies as besieged by blacks that would engulf them if they were granted any real equality, and themselves as defenders of this besieged laager.

But, unlike what the title might suggest, this book is so much more than a mere examination of Ian D. Smith and F. W. de Klerk. It traces the history of both South African and Rhodesia/Zimbabwe as they developed as colonial societies, and then as besieged societies that were willing to use almost any means necessary to suppress their black majorities, finally culminating in the "storming of the laager" when racist control structures were swept away. Most interesting is Dr. Mungazi's demonstration that the key point of contention between the black and white populations of both countries was the system of education that was designed to educate and uplift whites, and merely train blacks in physical labor to ensure their inferior status.

When I first got this book, its cover and general organization convinced me that the book was written for academic purposes, and as such it would be extremely dry and uninteresting. But, in fact, quite the opposite was true. The author did do an excellent job of telling the stories of South African and Rhodesia/Zimbabwe in a manner that is both educational and yet extremely interesting.

So, if you are interesting in the history of southern Africa, and want a good history of the South African and Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, then I would strongly recommend that you get this book. I highly recommend it.