Synopses & Reviews
This accessible and concise introduction to South Africa's turbulent history this century is the first to emphasize the social and economic history underlying the political upheavals and the establishment and fitful dismantling of apartheid. Beinart, a leading South Africa historian, begins with the final colonial conquests of the late 19th century and ends with a prognosis for democracy and redistribution of resources in the 1990s. Along the way he considers how popular culture and politics help to explain the rise of Afrikaner and African nationalism, and looks at such key topics as patterns of violence, the significance of ethnicity, and the variety of radical politics and religious expression. Written for the student and general reader, this book will serve as a useful guide to this vital period in twentieth-century history.
Review
"...[a] meticulous, lively introduction....immensely readable, informative and timely."--New Internationalist
Review
"William Beinart's meticulous, lively introduction to the story of South African people through the twentieth century is an excellent place to start. The book is at once immensely readable, informative and timely, coinciding in South Africa with one of those rare, fleeting moments when there is a
shared feeling of human liberation."--New Internationalist
"[This book] admirably combine[s] impressive summaries of the leading research with historiographical debate and an emphasis on history as an interpretive discipline."--Southern African Review of Books
"One of the revelations of this very readable book is how Beinart skillfully weaves the black experience into the picture."--Good Book Guide
"This book effectively connects the political narrative to broad social changes and movements. It also points to scholarly interpretations and debates. A very effective text and introduction to South African politics."--Gregory S. Crider, Wingate University
Synopsis
An innovative examination of the forces--both destructive and dynamic--which have shaped South Africa, this book provides a stimulating introduction to the history of the nation in the twentieth century. It draws on the rich and lively tradition of radical history writing and weaves economic and cultural history into the political narrative.
About the Author
William Beinart is Professor of History, and Fellow of St Anthony's College, Oxford. He has taught at Bristol and studied at the University of Cape Town and the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, and has held research fellowships at Rhodes and Yale Universities. He was joint editor of the Journal of Southern African Studies from 1982 to 1987 and has been chair of its editorial board since 1992.
Table of Contents
Part I: A State without a Nation 1. African Rural Life and Migrant Labour
2. Economic and Social Change on the Settler Farmlands
3. War, Reconstruction, and the State from the 1890s to 1920s
4. Black Responses and Black Resistance
5. The Settler State in Depression and War, 1930-1948
Part II: Afrikaner Power and the Rise of Mass
6. Apartheid, 1948-1961
7. Economy and Society in the 1960s and 1970s
8. Farms, Homelands, and Displaced Urbanization 1960-1984
9. Black Political Struggles and the Reform Era of P.W. Botha 1973-1984
10. Insurrection, Fragmentation, and Negotiations 1984-1992
Part III: TBC