Damian P O'Connor

A Short Guide to the History of South Africa 1902-1989 Damian P O'Connor

Drawing on twenty years of research and travel in Africa, this is a book which deals with the controversies of Southern African history in a manner designed to be accessible to the general reader but with enough scholarly depth to ensure its credibility. It charts the way in which Afrikaaner Nationalism rose to the point where very many decent and reasonable people were brought to accept the monstrous system of Apartheid. In particular, it deals with the much neglected period between the end of the Anglo-Boer War in 1902 and the 1948 National Party election victory during which a black working class grew up, poor whites struggled and trade unions conspired to keep black workers down. The ANC goes under the microscope too and searching questions are asked and answered; were they really Communists? And just how effective as opponents of Apartheid were they? Finally, the issue of how and why Apartheid collapsed is looked at and some surprising conclusions drawn. Warning: this will not make comfortable reading for those who took part in the anti-Apartheid campaigns of the 1980s or those for whom the mere mention of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan is apt to provoke an outbreak of nausea.