Customer Reviews

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

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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.