History of South Africa

Thompson Leonard, Berat Lynn

A magisterial history of South Africa, from the earliest known human inhabitation of the region to the present. Lynn Berat updates this classic text with a new chapter chronicling the first presidential term of Mbeki and ending with the celebrations of the centenary of South Africa's ruling African National Congress in January 2012.

About the Author

Leonard Thompson was Charles J. Stille Professor of History Emeritus at Yale University and director of the former Yale Southern African Research Program. He wrote and edited many books, including "The Political Mythology of Apartheid", "The Frontier in History" (with Howard Lamar), and "South African Politics" (with Andrew Prior), all published by Yale University Press.

Lynn Berat earned her Ph.D. in African History from Yale and worked closely with Leonard Thompson on the first edition of "A History of South Africa". Berat is the author of "The United Nations and Apartheid: 1948-1994" (with E. S. Reddy) and "Walvis Bay: Decolonization and International Law" (Yale, 1990). In addition, she is the founding director of the American Association of Law and Reproductive Medicine and an internationally renowned expert on southern African law and legal history.

Reviews

"A history that is both accurate and authentic, written in a delightful literary style" – Archbishop Desmond Tutu

"Should become the standard general text for South African history... Recommended for college classes and anyone interested in obtaining a historical framework in which to place events occurring in South Africa today" – Roger B. Beck, "History: Reviews of New Books"

Back to the list of books