ISBN: 9780275983116    Publisher: ABC-CLIO Year of publishing: 2004     Format:  Hardback No of Pages: 256        

In this accessible narrative, Louw effectively tells the story of 20th-century South Africa by examining three political periods: British Hegemony (1900-1948), the Afrikaner Nationalist Period (1948-1993), and the post-1994 Black Nationalist Period. He argues that apartheid was premised upon the notion of "political partition" and not "white supremacy." Apartheid was a political strategy, constructed by the ethnic minority in order to retain political power. However, the partition plan failed, causing an era of conflict. With apartheid now formally over, Louw presents a comprehensive overview of this important 20th-century phenomenon. Topics covered include: The roots and causes of apartheid; What was apartheid? The struggle against apartheid; Why did Afrikaner Nationalists negotiate their own demise in the 1990s? The impact of apartheid in contemporary South Africa.
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P. Eric Louw is Director of Communication Programs at the University of Queensland. During the 1980s, Louw was a United Democratic Front anti-apartheid activist.
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