A History of South Africa

by Frank Welsh

'A remarkable feat of scholarship, fairness and readability, full of lively detail with a freshness of style which brings new life to the narrative' Anthony Sampson

Throughout its turbulent history, South Africa has frequently been the focus of worldwide attention -- usually hostile. Yet prejudice and ignorance about the country are widespread. The evolution of the present-day 'Rainbow Nation' has taken place under conditions of sometimes extreme pressure. Since long before the arrival of the first European settlers in the seventeenth century, the country has been home to a complex and uneasily co-existing blend of races and cultures, and successive waves of immigrants have added to the already volatile mixture. Despite the euphoria which greeted the dismantling of the apartheid system and the election as President of Nelson Mandela in April 1994, South Africa's history, racial mix and recent political upheavals suggest it will not easily free itself from the legacy of its tumultuous past.

Newly revised and updated, Frank Welsh's vividly written, even-handed and authoritative history casts new light on many of South Africa's most cherished myths. Like his A History of Hong Kong, it will surely come to be regarded as definitive.

Genres: History, South Africa, Africa, Nonfiction

656 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1998

Reviews

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative but very dry. I'm not sure who Welsh intended as his audience as he assumes an awful lot of prior knowledge. I found myself putting down the book every few pages and picking up my iPad to google things, people, and places he introduced without explanation. He uses a lot of foreign terms, mostly Afrikaans, and rarely explains them. The book could do with more detailed maps as well.

[Drew Whitley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this a very even handed and politically moderate (although anti-Marxist) account of a very complicated history. It does assume a general knowledge of European imperial and 20th century world histories, but I appreciate that the author didn’t often digress into explaining foreign events that influenced things in Southern Africa. And it was very engaging most of the time (as far as sober history books go). It’s dryness didn’t bother me. I really liked the occasional sarcasm the author used when describing mean, arrogant, racist, out hypocritical people/action/events. I also appreciated how much the author quoted primary sources to let significant figures in South Africa’s history speak in their own words.

I’m more impressed knowing that the author took up writing history only after a long career in banking.

My biggest complaint is only that the guy kept lauding Moshoeshoe I and comparing other (black) leaders to him but only spent two pages actually explaining how Moshoeshoe was able to carve an independent kingdom and ward off Afrikaner threats when so many other leaders failed.

[Thomas Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good history. It gave me a nice overview of South Africa's past. The narrative was clean and kept me moving forward at a nice clip. I bought the first edition (instead of the fourth), both because I was a cheapskate and also because I figured that I'd get another book that told the story of the past thirty years (so far I'm still looking!). The story of how apartheid was constructed just floored me with its blatant inhumanity. While it seemed clear that some churches' missionary activities sought to stem the tide of racism, it was unconscionable that the Dutch Reformed Church fed this racism with its own hideous rationalizations or casuistry (there must be a good book out there that does justice to this injustice). Like a character in The Heart of Redness, this sort of thing tends to put one off of religions in general, when they are used to oppress a people. And it was revealing that the British, in many ways, were just as inhumane as the Africaaners, in constructing apartheid and enslaving a whole group of peoples, although I suspect that the Africaaners get the most part of the blame (and perhaps deserve it!). Although this South Africa story may not have the horror of Auschwitz or even King Leopold's Congo, it is nevertheless an insidious portrait of evil, and helps explain many of the woes that currently assail post-apartheid South Africa.

[Berino · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is a pity that the author was unable to remove himself from popular politics and in doing so failed to present a concise objective narrative.
The text contains too many sneering subjective comments which appear to reflect the author's personal political orientation.
I would not recommend this at all.

[Fionnuala · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is difficult to review books such as this one for a number of reasons. Books focusing on so large a subject are limited in what they can include and how detailed they can be, otherwise the only way to fit everything in with the attention it deserves would be to have the book run to several dozen volumes. As a comprehensive yet reasonably succinct book, then, this is impressive – though it still runs to more than 600 pages, in small font at that.

While there is enough information to give a brilliant general overview, the information is sparse. It is very fast-moving, with every sentence containing names and facts and locations. To give an example of how abridged we’re talking, the account of the Second Boer War runs to a page and a half in length, and I just recently finished an entire book on the subject. There is enough there to give you the facts but not much more, and as a result the constant assault of information can be easy to get lost in. It's best to read this book in small, manageable chunks.

This is the risk of books like this, though – they do what they can in the space that they have, and overall this is a remarkable piece of work. Meticulously researched, it is an impressive history and filled in a lot of gaps in my knowledge, as well as pointed me to new places to look into in depth. While I wish there had been a succinct reference page for all of the people mentioned, just to help keep things straight, I did not ever find myself hopelessly lost.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a comprehensive 600-page book that details the history of South Africa from 1488 and the first encounter between Europeans and the Khoikhoi, the peoples of what is now known as South Africa. It has had a tumultuous history since that time, and this is a definitive record of that history.

I have a strong affection for South Africa, and this book was an educational pleasure to read. It is not an easy read, but is very rewarding.

[Glenn Botto · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best single volume history of South Africa. Leonard Thompson's book is shorter and perhaps easier to read but this book goes into much more detailed. I especially enjoyed the portions covering the history of the Cape Colony following the British annexation (i,e, the 1821 settlers and the Xhosa Wars). Many narratives of South African history go "East India Company > Boer Trek > Diamonds/Gold" and skip over these important decades. Highly recommended.

[Lisa Harlow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been dipping in and out of this book for over a year. It’s a long book, but a very good account of the history of South Africa, a country I often visit. Some of the history I knew, but much I didn’t. Worthwhile if you want to know more about the country but would be a very brave person to read it without the relief of something lighter

[Dawn A Denton · Rating 4 out of 5]

An academically written book. It is quite heavy reading, but jam-packed with historical facts. And super interesting!

[Cameron Seegers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I genuinely think every South African should read this.

[Francois · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read. Exceptionally well done to cover such a convoluted, tumultuous history in a concise, balanced manner. In addition to the main thrust, I particularly enjoyed some of the tidbits the author dug up, such as this quote about Sir Walter Currie, who founded the Frontier Mounted Police:

'He "could ride without a saddle, march without boots, but could not move along with adjectives".'

Or his observation that, following Susanna Smit's impassioned two-hour harangue threatening to walk barefoot across the Drakensberg rather than submit to British jurisdiction (as shoved down many a throat in apartheid SA's white school history classes):

"in one of history's little ironies, however, Susanna did no such thing, but continued to live for many years with Erasmus in Pietermaritzburg, on a pension from the British authorities. Her defiance appears in most history books; the outcome in none."

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading the history of South Africa is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. Things just keep getting worse and worse until finally the whole crash comes to a stop. Luckily at the end there are survivors who limp away to a hopefully better life. I learned a lot and was very impressed by some brave, passionate, caring people who stood for the right thing even when it was not popular and most people did not even think it was the right thing. I also saw what can happen to a society if people with the wrong agenda take over as happened unfortunately many times in the history of South Africa and not just among one race or nationality.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

For someone like me with no background on South Africa this is a good read. Welsh provides a solid overview of colonial and modern South African History (through 1990s). Even though the book is over 500 pages long, I felt at times he glossed over seemingly important events. One thing that did nag me at times was his subjective commentary on people; he would often describe someone as good or bad but give no further information, so you couldn't tell how grounded in fact his accusation was. In that way I could see how he could have sneaked in his own biases without the reader really knowing it.

[Michel Van Roozendaal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read the book whilst in South Africa, a rather good overview of its history. However, let me just make one comment; I thought it was written from a biased Anglo-British perspective and also inaccurate on non-British details where the author couldn't be bothered to get his facts straight (e.g. the VOC was founded in 1602, not 1601, a rather important institution for the early history of South Africa). That then begs the question how complete and accurate the book is in other areas.

[Michael Mullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some interesting omissions and 'also ran' treatments, no doubt in the name of commercially driven brevity, add to the very slight taint of this otherwise and apparently objective account of a region with a nail-clipping's worth of documented history.

[Lois Keller · Rating 2 out of 5]

I mean, obviously biased but overall I learned quite a bit from this book. It doesn't give a good account of background of native SA culture (pre 1600s), however, I learned about the English vs Afrikaners conflict. That, in itself, was worth a read for an American living in South Africa.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intensely detailed, this book proved invaluable in preparation for my trip to South Africa.

Extensive details about names, the book would have been enhanced if it came with more maps.

[Avril Merwe · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent account of the history of South Africa, written in a highly reader-friendly style.

[Mwanza The]

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