South Africa An Historical Introduction

Originally published in 1972, this book covers South African history from the earliest times up to 1968. After portraying the land itself, its people and their migrations, it describes what early travellers found and the arrival of the first white settlers in 1652 under the aegis of the Dutch East India Company. The arrival of the British in 1795, the period of expansion, Wars of Dispossession, the founding of the Boer republics, discovery of gold and diamonds, the Anglo-Boer war and Union are all discussed. Showing that the roots of Apartheid lay deep in South Africa’s history, which repeated itself again and again, the author concludes ‘The tragedy and shame of it is that for so long there was such a fiercely glowing faith in British rule and British justice; yet when Britain had the power to check and control discrimination she did not.’