A banquet of food for thought

NEW HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA

Hermann Giliomee, Bernard Mbenga, and Bill Nasson

Loot.co.za (R299)

TAFELBERG

FOR many (myself included), it is likely that the last time they read a book about the history of this country was at school.

So, it was with much interest and curiosity that I approached a new book, New History of South Africa, a collaborative work under the editorship of Herman Giliomee, Bernard Mbenga and Bill Nasson and a diverse and weighty group of contributors.

“We hope that this collective effort to present a coherent South African past and an intelligible present will help readers, wherever they may be, to come to grips with a complex, difficult, exasperating, bewildering and intriguing country.”

This general history of South Africa begins with a chapter headed From the First People to the First Settlements and its sweep through history ends with a look at the 2021 local government elections.

The History has been written in a most approachable style and is beautifully illustrated and presents its fresh look at our past in a way that is easy to digest. With the broad time span of its narrative, the book is weighty in both senses of the word. And, as much as it informs, it also gives a banquet of food for thought.

“We hope this book will hep to illuminate the human complications, paradoxes and ambiguities of South African history are, in many respects, the most characteristic thing about it.”

Some of its forthright content will elicit a response from those that disagree. That is not a bad thing at all, because this History is a living narrative about a dynamic and evolving country.

The New History of South Africa is an enormously stimulating read, and I look forward to revisiting much of its content.