Customer Reviews

Loosing the Bonds

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I've long been searching for a clear, narrative history of the modern political development of South Africa. This book is it!

Massie's book is a clear, concise history of 20th Century South Africa that is very well-written and highly engaging. Though the premise is ostensibly about US-South African relations, in practice I found this to be only a very loose focus. At best, the book is just a narrative of South Africa's own evolution as a country. When the foreign policy of United States played a role in that evolution, America is mentioned, but the focus is not American-centric overall. Massie primarily reports on South Africa's own internal struggles and political battles, making this a far more thorough and complete story than one might imagine from the title.

"Loosing the Bonds" is neutral and not polemic. The author does not overtly pass judgement on the nature of South African-American relations over the years, but merely reports the facts. In seeking to educate about such an inherently controversial history, this book does a great service to all its readers.

This is a striking, fabulous accounting of one of the most significant international 'revolutions' of our era - even though the scope, the struggles, the mecahanisms...the lessons..of this struggle....are so soon forgotten in our society. In this case, the activism against apartheid South Africa - a rough coalition of students, religious leaders, artists, and more....helped move our government (sluggish at best) and major financial institutions (largelty apathetic) to act ethically. OWS could learn a lesson or three from the anti-apartheid divestment campaigns of the 1980's - if we collectively haven't forgotten that struggle altogether. The coalition of students, in particular, to force university divestment was a major element withing US anti-apartheid politics back then; not sure there has been anything on campuses half-as successful, or passionate, since....

In any event, this is a fabulous book = essential reading for any student of US activism, US policy towards apartheid South Africa and of racisim in financial politics. (See: Ford's history in SAfrica). Long overdue -- this book is a gem of recent history.

I bought this book about two years ago by amazon, it was a used edition but in good condition. I think it can be really hard to read through some passages but in the whole is a very complete book about the subject it talks. A compilation of things I really dind't know and over all a really interesting book!

This book was obviously written with the intent of deifying a minor movement that had virtually no impact on US foreign policy towards South Africa. The 'evidence' that was provided to justify some of these claims seem to come out of nowhere (as they likely must have). If you want to add another book to your collection which has completely recreated history with regards to South Africa, buy this book! If you want an enlightened account of US Economic Policies with regards to South Africa, keep searching.