The Making of Modern South Africa: Conquest, Apartheid, ... (ISBN 1405154292)

Book Description:
In The Making of Modern South Africa, Nigel Worden provides a comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to the key themes and debates central to an understanding of the region. The book examines the major issues in South Africa's history: the colonial conquests of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; the establishment of racism, segregation, and apartheid; the spirit of reform, resistance and repression of the 1980s; and the eventual break up of institutional apartheid and founding of democracy. For this fourth edition, a completely rewritten final chapter takes the story from the second free election of 1994 to the present, alongside new and revised maps and an updated further reading section. Worden places the new South Africa in a wide historical context and provides a sharp, analytical overview for all those interested in modern South African history and politics.

interesting:
Picking up where David Yudelman's The Emergence of Modern South Africa: State, Capital, and the Incorporation of Organized Labor on the South African Gold Fields, 1902-1939 (Contributions in Comparative Colonial Studies) this book seeks to complete the picture of the development of South Africa. However it primarily views this through a post-apartheid lens where there is a good versus evil approach where the 'indigenous' people are always suppressed by the 'evil' people from outside. This is a narrow minded view. the idea that South Africa's history is primarily one of 'conquest' and 'Apartheid' is a mistaken view. Afrikaners lived in South Africa for two hundred years before the advent of Apartheid. The 'conquest' of South Arica was one that also involved Zulus conquering others. This book seems to ignore this diverse history, especially as it relates to the Coloured people and the Indian/Asian population of South Africa. This is unjust and an unfair telling of history, especially as it ignores the evils of the Boer War. But this is history as it is being told. Seth J. Frantzman

Excellent book:
This is one wonderful book, beautifully written, concise and easy to read. It's 4 hours of fascinating reading. Do buy the book if you're interested in learning more about the recent history of South Africa.