I very much looked forward to receiving this book through the mail, due to the tons of praise which people expressed for it. I am however very disappointed. I have only read the first few pages (including the first one which quotes the multitude of praise) with emphasis on the summary/chronology of South African history. I am a South African, and I find it littered with inaccuracies which SHOULD NOT be present in a history book. It is painfully obvious that the book was written by a foreigner. Examples: The Boer war becomes "The war between the whites". I would have liked to see the Rand Revolt mentioned by name. Botha becomes prime minister. Botha who? Pik? PW? A newcomer to SA history should not have to guess at such things. 1981-1988 South African forces invade Angola. Uh....NO. SA started incursions into Angola in 1976. Since this is a history of SA, I will point out that a quick scan of the book reveals no more detail around these events, yet he takes a cheap shot at the Afrikaner government by making it sound as though they willy-nilly went into Angola for the sake of oppressing people. It seems that the author opted to avoid explaining the historical facts behind these VERY important events. What the reader does not know, is that Fidel Castro through this period of time circulated 350 000 (if I remember correctly) Cuban soldiers through Angola to infiltrate southern Africa with communism, through a war sponsored by Soviet money and state-of-the-art military equipment and training. The South Africans were responding to this threat to avoid the spread of communism into the region (it is rumored that the CIA condoned this until the withdrawal from Vietnam). Simultaneously civil wars in other southern African countries were tied in to this, as well as Soviet military training of ANC members such as Thabo Mbeki and others. The events surrounding the incursions into Angola has tremendous complexities tied into it that had a direct cause and effect role in the interaction between the government, apartheid era crackdowns, and African political organizations. That the author did not discuss these influential details in a modern history book is a scandal. He chooses to refer to a province we officially call KwaZulu-Natal, as KwaZulu. Overall the first few pages do not bode well for the rest of the book, but I will report back when I'm done reading it.
This is the report-back:
After reading the book I realized that my initial harsh criticism was borne from an expectation of having purchased a detailed history book. After realizing that it was not, I eased my expectations somewhat despite the errors. Overall the book is a readable but superficial summary of South African history, and anyone who wants to claim that they have a balanced understanding of South Africa's history cannot do so without having read further than this source. The book was clearly written for an audience (perhaps at freshman university level) who need a first-order introduction to SA history. In this sense the book is fairly well written but omissions of essential events and several factual errors prompt me to rate it 3.5 stars. I rate it 2 stars however, because this book is marketed as THE authoritative book on SA history, as the praise by Desmond Tutu and the title of the book misleadingly suggests. It is nothing of the kind (at least I hope it's not the best there is!!!!!). I think the praise this book received is outdated and inappropriate for today's day and age and the title should read "A summary of SA history". Since the author seems to update the book as time goes on, by adding chapters, he cannot be excused for not filling in the gaps, correcting errors in previous chapters, and adding details. The book therefore seems to propagate the gaps in recorded SA history instead of aspiring to become an accurate and detailed authoritative reference as time goes on. It's a pity.
One more comment: At least one reviewer has advised to take the last chapter with a grain of salt since it appears too pessimistic to him. I couldn't disagree more! The last chapter is - apart from a few opinionated (would be subtle to foreigners)statements by the author in terms of seemingly continuing to make Africans the underdogs and Caucasians the antagonists - factual, and an accurate (and perhaps even understated) recording of the dismal deterioration of SA society and the incompetence of the government that played out from 94-2000. The continuing trend of these events can clearly be seen in everyday South African news up to this day.
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