[.ca] Anatomy of a Miracle: The End of Apartheid and the Birth ... (ISBN 0813525829)

From Amazon.com:
How ironic that Nelson Mandela felt such empathy for former South African President P. W. Botha, one of the most repressive and brutal supporters of apartheid, while his relationship with F. W. de Klerk, the man who surrendered power to the black majority, was chilly from the first. Despite their different ages, outlooks, and politics, Mandela and de Klerk are the men primarily responsible for South Africa's relatively peaceful transformation, and their story is told in Patti Waldmeir illuminating book, Anatomy of a Miracle. The miracle, quite simply put, is that South Africa avoided the bloody destiny history seemed to have assigned it. Instead of holding on to the bitter end, white South Africans under de Klerk's leadership acquiesced gracefully to democratic principles; instead of seeking revenge by replacing white oppression with their own, black South Africans under Mandela's leadership magnanimously forgave and moved on. Waldmeir, a journalist who was present in South Africa during almost every critical step of apartheid's dismantling, was also personally acquainted with the main players, Mandela, de Klerk, and Chief Buthelezi. Through interviews, she has managed to present multiple points of view of such diverse figures as South African presidents past and present, prison guards on Robben Island, and ordinary South Africans both black and white. By the time you reach the end of Anatomy, you may well believe in miracles, too.

Spellbinding and authoritative:
This is surely the most informative book to have been written on the subject of South Africa since the end of the white regime. Ms Waldmeiris a superb writer, with a perceptive and self -deprecating wit.May she write heaps more. Dermot Ros

Insightful and dramatic!:
Reads like a cloak and dagger thriller at times. This is a riveting account of the end of apartheid and the birth of democracy in a society that should be, by all rights, engaged in civil war at this time. Instead, Ms. Waldmeir gives us the reasons, historically and diplomatically, as to why this amazing transition took place in relative peace. She tries to give a fair representation of the roles of all the major players in this incredibly complex real life drama. I found the writing to be very insightful as an academic work while at the same time it was told as the dramatic, tension filled drama that the story truly is.

Informative, interesting, and impartial:
I bough the hardcover version of this book when leaving South Africa, and I never regretted it. The author describes real-life events with plenty of hard facts, documentation, and insight. It's obvious that the author has done research about the stuff she's writing about. It's also very pleasant to see first hand information, and accounts of her interviews with most prominent figures in the SA politics of the last half-century. And the chapers are delimited with short epic stories (e.g. a 1-page description of a peasant family in Transvaal) which are Absolutely Lovely. This book immerses you in the realm of SA politics, culture, and conflict, and contains a lot of good reasoning, and analysis. In fact, some of the conclusions of this book regarding apartheid can be applied to conflicts outside Africa. Furthermore, this is no extended and monotonous cry for black rights in the white South Africa. The author examines the situation from every point of view, including the short economical success of the apartheid, the deteriorating SA economy in the last decade, and the challenges that free society faces. But make no mistake, the author doesn't have even the slightest taint of white supremacy, or anything like it. She's well grounded in her beliefs, including free speech, equal human rights, and universal suffrage. This book, its illustrations, and the pictures drawn in your mind by the text are fantastic...

A Great History Book:
Anatomy of a Miracle is one of those history books you never forget. It does such a good job putting you there. You feel like you are at the meeting between Mandela and DeKlerk. This is history at its best. Anyone interested in Current Events or the History of South Africa and its transformation from Apartheid and White Rule to One Man One Vote and Democracy needs to read this book. I had no idea that Mandela and the South African government had been in negotiation long before Mandela's release. I also had no idea how well Mandela used his ability to speak Afrikaaner and his knowledge of Afrikaaner History to while negotiating to end Apartheid. You see the challenges DeKlerk, Mandela, and all of South Africa had to overcome. And they did. This is a short book, but after reading this you will become an expert on the events that led to the end of Apartheid and the beginning of Democracy in South Africa. This is a great book.