Product Description

This work is a biography of the Afrikaner people by historian and journalist Herman Giliomee, one of the earliest and staunchest Afrikaner opponents of apartheid. Weaving together life stories and historical interpretation, he creates a narrative history of the Afrikaners from their beginnings with the colonisation of the Cape of Good Hope by the Dutch East India Company to the dismantling of apartheid and beyond. While document - and revising - the history of the Afrikaners' pursuit of racial domination (as well as British contributions to that enterprise), Giliomee supplies Afrikaners' own, often divided, perspectives on their history, perspectives not always or entirely skewed by their struggle for privilege at Africans' expense. The result is not only a magisterial history of the Afrikaners but a fuller understanding of their history, which, for good or ill, resonates far beyond the borders of South Africa.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #962430 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06-09
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 698 pages

Review
"A book to welcome-a history of the Afrikaners from the first European settlement to the present day written by a proud and even patriotic Afrikaner which is nevertheless critical in its approach and untainted by Afrikaner nationalism. It includes an account of the origins and demise of apartheid that must rank as the most sober, objective and comprehensive we have." -J.M. Coetzee "A strong historian at the peak of his powers ... Real historical truth always lies concealed in the thickets of contradiction, irony and paradox. To flush it from where it skulks amidst the shadows of competing interpretations of racially-based nationalisms requires truth-tellers rather than praise-singers; honest historians who tread with the greatest of care, with the sharpest of eyes, the keenest of hearing. For the genuinely curious - those who wish to see the species rather than the spectre - there can be no more experienced or honest guide than Hermann Giliomee." Charles van Onselen "The Afrikaners is all that we have come to expect from him: authoritative, original, well written and full of insights, many of them causing one to ponder not just the might-have-beens of South African history but the difficulties of democratic transition elsewhere in the world too. At a time when much writing about South Africa is either wishful, ideological or both - and when many intellectuals have decided to keep their heads well down, Giliomee is level-headed, independent minded and wholly unafraid to take on even the most difficult questions." R.W. Johnson'a magisterial new study.' -The Economist

About the Author
Hermann Giliomee, Professor of History at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, is the editor or author of thirteen books, including Negotiating South Africa's Future, Awkward Embrace: One-Party Domination and Democracy in Industrialising Countries, From Apartheid to Nation-Building, and The Shaping of South African Society. In 1984 he founded Die Suid-Afrikaan, an Afrikaans journal of opinion, and he has been a regular columnist for the Cape Times.

Customer Reviews

The best book on South African history
This fascinating book is subtitled, "Biography of a People," and it certainly lives up to it. The book follows the history of the Boers of South Africa, from their arrival in the seventeenth century, through to the final collapse of apartheid and beyond (the book having been published in 2003). Along the way, the reader is treated to an in-depth and yet highly readable history that makes South African history come alive in an exciting and highly informative way.

I must say, this book is nothing short of a tour de force! I have read several books on South Africa, and I must admit that I was at first intimidated by this book's size and appearance, which convinced me that it was a school book. But, while this book is eminently useful as a school book, it is still highly readable, making South Africa's history interesting. It covers many details without sounding dry and academic.

So, while I have read several books on South Africa's history, I can easily say that this is the best one that I have read so far. If you are interested in South Africa and the Boers, then this is the best book you can get on the subject. I give this book my highest recommendations!

350 year 'Liberty Trek' of a nation
For the respected writer M.E. Rothman, the Afrikaners as a people are marked by two clearly discernable tendencies. ‘They want to survive as a nation and do no harm to others’. These two key character traits of the Boer-Afrikaner volk flow through Hermann Giliomee’s insightful historical record of a freedom-loving nation, a nation that refuses to be provoked into misbehaviour, despite at times quite severe provocation.

A must for history buffs worldwide. Filled with fascinating quotes such as Verwoerd’s triumphant Republican victory of 1960 where, in his victory speech, he stated that ‘We are now a United people. We have risen above pettiness and selfishness. The Afrikaans and English-speaking people have become like the new bridegroom and bride who enter upon a new life together as soulmates’.

Monumental work
An interpreted history, The Afrikaners, is a deeply engrossing and thought provoking work. As an Afrikaner himself, Hermann Giliomee, brings a largely dispassionate and objective analysis to the emotionally charged history of a South African people. In particular, I admire the content for its ability to dispel the many Afrikaner founding myths that I was taught in school during the 1980s. For those of us who have often thought that the Great Trek and the Anglo Boer War are the defining moments of the Afrikaner, Giliomee offers an alternate perspective. In shedding centuries of subjugation and finally apartheid itself, the Afrikaner is finally on a journey unhindered by the Raka that has plagued the soul of a people for far too long. Giliomee delivers on his opening promise; to understand is not to pardon, but there is no harm in understanding.