Customer Reviews

The Mind of South Africa: The Rise and Fall of Apartheid

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As a black South African I have read a lot of history books about my country and found a lot of distortions. Allister Sparks has come out with the most straight story of how it all came to be. This book tells you both sides of the story: Thank you Allister for representing the truth.

As a European historian who was preparing to travel to South Africa for the first time in the spring of 1998, I found Sparks's analysis of South African thought, culture, and society since the mid-17th century to be extremely helpful. The book is both informative and lively, and I recommend it without hesitation.

I suppose that this was the book that I most wanted to find after my trip to South Africa. I wanted something that would try to explain what the white South Africans were thinking. I wanted to know how a system as pernicious and self-evidently evil emerged-- because basically I don't accept that people are evil. No bad dogs or kids, that sort of thinking.

I'm not going to say that Allister Sparks totally succeeds in providing an explanation. However, he at least explained the combination of religious and political beliefs that led up to the system being instituted. It was fascinating (as an expat in the Netherlands) to read how much influence Holland has really had on the country. Wacky conservative Dutch leaders seemed to find open arms there, particularly after the war. And this is, of course, one of the points of the book. Before WWII, South Africa was more or less in step with world thinking. The real divergence came post-WWII, as they rejected the message of freedom and the end of the colonial era that was sweeping the rest of the world.

The book is also interesting in that it was originally written in 1990, on the very eve of the change. So, of course, although some predictions and fears turned out to be true, others are less so. Mugabe, for instance, turned out to be much less benign than Sparks hoped based on the events of the 1980s.

It helped me put some of the thinking behind the historical facts of the apartheid era. Sparks (a well-established and experienced journalist) is a good writer, if not a great one. The Mind of Africa flowed well and was relatively easy to read. Recommended.

Okay, so we all know what took place once the Afrikaaners came to South Africa, but just exactly 'why' did they feel so superior to all people and all races. Where did this mentality come from? Allistar Sparks goes into great detail about the minds of Afrikaaners before they came to South Africa and after. I have read many a book about South Africa and by far this is one of the best. Truthful, and holding nothing back. I applaud Mr. Sparks !

This first seven chapters of this book might be the best ever written on South African history. The middle three chapters are a bit weaker (and more journalistic) while the later chapters are much better. In total, this is a work of great importance for those seeking to understand where South Africa has been and why it is the way it is today.