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Hermann Buhr Giliomee

The Last Afrikaner Leaders: A Supreme Test of Power (Reconsiderations in Southern African History) Paperback – 15 Nov. 2013

by Hermann Giliomee (author) (Author)

4.1 16 ratings

Part of: Reconsiderations in Southern African History (12 books)

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In his latest book, renowned historian Hermann Giliomee challenges the conventional wisdom on the downfall of white rule and the end of apartheid. Instead of impersonal forces, or the resourcefulness of an indomitable resistance movement, he emphasises the role of Nationalist leaders and of their outspoken critic, Frederick van Zyl Slabbert. What motivated each of the last Afrikaner leaders, from Verwoerd to de Klerk? How did each try to reconcile economic growth, white privilege, and security with the demands of an increasingly assertive black leadership and unexpected population figures?

In exploring each leader’s background, reasoning, and personal foibles, Giliomee takes issue with the assumption that South Africa was inexorably heading for an ANC victory in 1994. He argues that historical accidents radically affected the course of politics.

Drawing on primary sources and personal interviews, Giliomee offers a fresh and stimulating political history that attempts not to condemn but to understand why the last Afrikaner leaders did what they did, and why their own policies ultimately failed them.

Part of series

Reconsiderations in Southern African History
Print length

448 pages
Language

English
Publisher

University of Virginia Press
Publication date

15 Nov. 2013
Dimensions

15.24 x 2.54 x 22.86 cm
ISBN-10

081393494X
ISBN-13

978-0813934945
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Product description

Review

A stunning achievement. --Athol Fugard on Hermann Giliomee's The Afrikaners: Biography of People

This is an excellent book that breaks new ground in the writing of modern South African history. Giliomee's stature as a historian has enabled him to gain easy access to many of the key people in the issues about which he writes. He does not shy away from challenging existing assumptions or prejudices. This is bound to set up interesting controversies that will enrich the debate about South Africa's tangled, disputed past. --David Welsh, author of The Rise and Fall of Apartheid

This is contemporary history at its best, and most lively. No one knows the ins and outs of Afrikanerdom and Afrikaner politics in South Africa as well as Giliomee....Essential --Choice

Utterly mesmerizing. --Anthony Leon, leader of the Democratic Alliance 1999-2007

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 and The Afrikaners: Biography of a People (Virginia). He is the founder of Die Suid-Afrikaan, an Afrikaans journal of opinion, and he has been a regular columnist for the Cape Times, Rand Daily Mail, and other periodicals.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Virginia Press; Reprint edition (15 Nov. 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 448 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 081393494X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0813934945
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.24 x 2.54 x 22.86 cm

Customer reviews:
4.1 16 ratings

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Afrikaner leaders - the elite during the apartheid era

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 19 January 2015

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A book about political `insiders` told by someone who gives us an insiders view during the apartheid era in South Africa unlike other writers.

One person found this helpful

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Pappashanga

A Succession of Canutes

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 10 June 2015

This book starts with Verwoerd,caries and through Strijdom-largely ignored, Vorster, Botha and De Klerk, with a chapter about van Zyl Slabbert-the only one who didn't espouse apartheid.
It is revealing in many ways.I never knew Schoeman didn't like Verwoerd and the extent of doubt within the National Party was kept well hidden at the time.
The author regards Verwoerd as an intellectual giant and the others, except Slabbert, as pragmatic politicians.Unfortunately Verwoerd's ideas, which in my opinion and that of many at the time, became an article of faith for his successors.It was a house built on sand.The tide of history was against them, and Verwoerd was the main Canute.
Unfortunately their repressive ways and narrow ideas-which the author overlooks in my opinion, hardened the opposition and drove the ANC into the arms of the Soviets, so much so that it was only the downfall of the USSR which allow reasonable men to come to a compromise.
It is fascinating how so many hindsighters criticise De Klerk's negotiations with Mandela. There are always those who think they could have done better. Unfortunately it was Verwoerd who really made sure that things would be difficult. The Afrikaners, obsessed with themselves and their 'Nationhood', are now a minority group with little power. If they had not been so greedy and manipulative perhaps they would have a bigger say in the government of South Africa today. As it is they have been replaced by another group who use the the methods shown to them by the Afrikaners to hold on to power. The SABC is still the government's propaganda tool, and the people in the middle are still nowhere.
This is a well written and interesting book. It does not tell the whole story, and the English speaking and Jewish people receive scant attention. It is also repetitive at times.

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Mr. D. J. Walford

The Complex nature of Apartheid and its Leaders Revealed !!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 28 March 2014

Hermann Giliomee's work documents and analyses the role of four of South Africa's leaders, and one opposition leader, during the Apartheid era; Hendrik Verwoerd, B.J. 'John' Vorster, PW Botha, F.W. De Klerk and the opposition leader Fredrick Van Zyl Slabbert. Whilst this book no way endorses the regime and what it stood for, it sheds new light on the characters of five very intelligent and astute politicians.

Verwoerd the Architect, Vorster the Protégé, Botha the Reformer, De Klerk the Brave and Zyl Slabbert the 'Useful Idiot'. These are the brief conclusions which Giiomee comes to. Verwoerd was the bright, shrewd, thinker who formalised Apartheid into a structured theory and, dare I say it, Ideology. He believed in the maintaining of Afrikaner domination of the nation and strove to achieve just that. However, he was also intelligent enough to see the need for the funding of a widespread non-white educational structure and also developed the 'Homeland' concept in order to promote the ideas of 'Separate Development' for South Africa's races.

Vorster was to be the maintainer, a man who was convinced of the need to maintain Verwoerd's dream of Afrikaner rule, but also saw the benefits of reducing some of the harsher aspects of Apartheid. Unfortunately, his disastrous ventures into Angola and his secretive, dictatorial approach to cabinet meetings, plus the 'Muldergate' scandal, were to undermine his leadership. The more relaxed (yet no less committed) Botha encouraged the reforming of the system in order to allow more freedom for the non-whites as well as the shaking up of the economy. An unlikely 'Verligte', Botha was to become inhibited, and unpredictable in his later years by illness.

History remembers F. W. De Klerk as a visionary, the man who dismantled Apartheid in order to achieve the democratization of South Africa, but it was not to be an easy journey for a man who would ultimately become disillusioned after underestimating the ANC and their commitment to a non-power sharing solution. Finally, Frederick Van Zyl Slabbert was one of the few Afrikaners who were vocal outspoken critics of the Apartheid regime. An intelligent operative who was not intimidated by the dominance of the National Party would place his faith in the ANC and his belief that he would be of use in the post-Apartheid state... and how wrong he would be.

However, one of the best aspects of this book is the fact that Giliomee documents one key factor common amongst the four Apartheid leaders; their belief that they would eventually need to negotiate with the non-white peoples of the nation at some indeterminate future date. This was the motive behind Verwoerd's mass education policy, Vorster's re-thinking's, Botha's reforms and economic planning and De Klerk's co-operating with the ANC.

This is a really interest piece by Prof. Giliomee and is a valuable addition to the already vast library on Apartheid South Africa. I would certainly recommend this for anyone interested in the era of Apartheid and also those curious about the psychology of leadership.

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