Customer Reviews

South Africa: A Modern History

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S Africa is one of those countries that seems to create both dangerous and yet fundamental historical precedents. Its history is peopled by individuals who went on to become great by any world measure: not only did Mahatma Gandhi pioneer his methods of non-violent protest there, but Winston Churchill first distinguished himself for his leadership qualities during the Anglo-Boer War. Then there was Nelson Mandela, a man who emerged from over 25 years as a political prisoner without bitterness and ready to help a divided society begin to heal. And there are scores of others, including the ruthless Cecil Rhodes and dynamic chiefs whose struggel to maintain their culture and independence was doomed. Of course, S Africa set a series of horrible precedents as well: the refinement of civilian concentration camps at the turn of the century, institutionalised racism, and the heartless exploitation of captive ethnic groups.

Unfortunately, instead of telling these tales with drama and flair, this book gets bogged down in laborious descriptions of the recommendations of obscure commmissions, tallying election results, and the complete details of discriminatory wage policies. Alas, reading this offers about as much pleasure as wading through a Webster College Dictionary page by page. How can academics turn something so fascinating into a sludge of seemingly disconnected facts? In the rate moments when I felt my interest rising on a particular topic, the authors abrupty dropped it in the middle and fail to follow it up.

Moreover, though it purports to be a modern and updated history, this book stops at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (yes, it gets boring treatment as well) and barely even addresses the twin crises that threaten to rip this fragile new society apart: escalating random violence and the threat of Aids, which may kill 25% of the population or more in the next ten years. Can S Africa continue even to exist? Was all the struggle for naught? If you are interested in these questions, you have to look somewhere else, I'm afraid. The authors don't even offer a conclusion to sum up their points of view.

Look elsewhere, unless you crave scholarly detail at the expense of even minimal storytelling.

Dear Reader,
This book is very useful. It can't be read in one sitting since it is quite dense, but it provides a marvelous level of detail aobut South Africa. Great as a reference book and, although it must be read over a long period of time, it also has an engaging narrative. It has excellent newspaper political cartoons that give a sense of the political commentary of the day.
EAC