Mind Of South Africa, The

From Publishers Weekly
Former editor of the Johannesburg Rand Daily Mail , and now a correspondent for U.S. and U.K. newspapers, Sparks here writes one of the most sensitive and best balanced histories of relationships among South Africa's Dutch, English, Indian and indigenous peoples. In this hopeful assessment of the transition period, he points out that "no ideology on earth, no politician, no guns, no army, no regional superpower strategy" can stem the "blackening" of South Africa, as the country at last begins to move out of its "capsule of illusion." Although industrialization and urbanization render apartheid ideology unworkable, only political action can shift South Africa to a pan-tribal, nonracial, mixed economy and society, stresses Sparks. There will be no revolutionary transfer of power; instead, there will be an incremental process, with whites yielding ground reluctantly, inch by inch, trench by trench. Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Fifth generation South African newsperson Allister Sparks presents a scholarly, sweeping historical study that explains and documents the changes taking place in South Africa today. His 40 years of journalistic experience and worldwide recognition by World Press Review provides reliability when he interprets apartheid and Afrikaner nationalism. The author carefully analyzes his homeland's present-day social, economic, and political crises. The conclusion assesses the future for the country. A seven-page bibliography, footnotes, and a detailed index make this book ideal for serious young adults who are exploring the South African situation in light of happenings in 1990. --Mike Printz, Topeka West High School, KSCopyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
A consummate, if controversial, South African journalist, Sparks has turned the incisive mind which made him such a force at the Rand Daily Mail (prior to its being closed by the government) to a history of his troubled country. Adopting the style and scope of W.J. Cash's classic The Mind of the South (Knopf, 1960), Sparks probes the diverse threads of South Africa's past in an effort to explain and understand the multi-hued fabric which constitutes its society today. His conclusions are controversial, and few of any political stripe will agree with all of them. Nonetheless, he makes us think, and think deeply, about how today's South Africa came to be, and that is the strength of his book. He is particularly eloquent on the current situation. Every library should own this book, just as all concerned about apartheid should read it.- James A. Casada, Winthrop Coll., Rock Hill, S.C.Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.


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Fifth generation South African newsperson Allister Sparks presents a scholarly, sweeping historical study that explains and documents the changes taking place in South Africa today. His 40 years of journalistic experience and worldwide recognition by World Press Review provides reliability when he interprets apartheid and Afrikaner nationalism. The author carefully analyzes his homeland's present-day social, economic, and political crises. The conclusion assesses the future for the country. A seven-page bibliography, footnotes, and a detailed index make this book ideal for serious young adults who are exploring the South African situation in light of happenings in 1990. --Mike Printz, Topeka West High School, KS


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