This newly updated, comprehensive history of South Africa presents the story of our turbulent country in a fresh, readable narrative.

Grippingly retold by leading historians and other scholars under the editorship of Hermann Giliomee, Bernard Mbenga and Bill Nasson, New History of South Africa starts with recent discoveries about the origin of humanity in Africa.

A beautifully illustrated volume that makes the complex South African story, from earliest times right up to present, come alive.

This edited collection explores varying shapes of nationalism in different regional and historical settings in order to analyse the important role that nationalism has played in shaping the contemporary world. Taking a global approach, the collection includes case studies from the Middle East, Africa, Asia and North America. Unique not only in its wide range of geographically diverse case studies, this book is also innovative due to its comparative approach that combines different perspectives on how nations have been understood and how they came into being, highlighting the transnational connections between various countries. The authors examine what is meant by the concepts of 'nation' and 'national identity,' discussing themes such as citizenship, ethnicity, historical symbols and the role of elites. By exploring these entangled categories of nationalism, the authors argue that throughout history, elites have created 'artificial ' versions of nationalism through symbolism and mythology, which has led to nationalism being understood through social constructivist or primordialist lenses. This diverse collection will appeal to researchers studying nationalism, including historians, political scientists and anthropologists.

Teen die einde van die Anglo-Boereoorlog was terme soos "misdaad teen die mensdom", "oorlogsmisdadigers", volkemoord" en "etniese suiwering" begrippe wat nog ver in die geskiedenis le. Bykans 'n kwart van die konsentrasiekampbevolking het gedurende agt maande in 1901 daar omgekom. Aan die iende van die oorlog sou 29 000 afrikaners, waarvan 22 000 kinders, en moontlik soveel as 18 000 swart mense hulle einde in konsentrasiekapker-howe vind. Die sterftes in die kampe, hele dorpe wat verwoes is, die platteland wat grootskaals ontvolk is, en die vrees dat die "hele Afrikaanse volk kan uitsterf", sou uiteindelik tot die Vrede van Vereeniging lei. Die konsentrasiekampe het in die hart van die Afrikaner 'n vuur van verbittering aangesteek wat dalk nooit geblus sal word nie. As al die smart, smaad en verbittering wat die Afrikaner in sy ganse geskiedenis gely het, lankal vergete sal wees, sal daardie vuur nog vlam, want dit het " 'n merk vir die eeue gebrand op ons volk"(Leipoldt).

The slow collapse of the European colonial empires after 1945 provides one of the great turning points of twentieth century history. With the loss of India however, the British under Harold Macmillan attempted to enforce a 'second' colonial occupation - supporting the efforts of Sir Andrew Cohen of the Colonial Office to create a Central African Federation. Drawing on newly released archival material, The Politics and Economics of Decolonization in Africa offers a fresh examination of Britain's central African territories in the late colonial period and provides a detailed assessment of how events in Britain, Africa and the UN shaped the process of decolonization. The author situates the Central African Federation - which consisted of modern day Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi - in its wider international context, shedding light on the Federation's complex relationships with South Africa, with US Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy and with the expanding United Nations. The result is an important history of the last days of the British Empire and the beginnings of a more independent African continent.

This book examines conferences and commissions held for British colonial territories in East and Central Africa in the early 1960s. Until 1960, the British and colonial governments regularly employed hard methods of colonial management in East and Central Africa, such as instituting states of emergency and imprisoning political leaders. A series of events at the end of the 1950s made hard measures no longer feasible, including criticism from the United Nations. As a result, softer measures became more prevalent, and the use of constitutional conferences and commissions became an increasingly important tool for the British government in seeking to manage colonial affairs. During the period 1960-64, a staggering sixteen conferences and ten constitutional commissions were held for British colonies in East and Central Africa. This book is the first of its kind to provide a detailed overview of how the British sought to make use of these events to control and manage the pace of change. The author also demonstrates how commissions and conferences helped shape politics and African popular opinion in the early 1960s. Whilst giving the British government temporary respite, conferences and commissions ultimately accelerated the decolonisation process by transferring more power to African political parties and engendering softer perceptions on both sides. Presenting both British and African perspectives, this book offers an innovative exploration into the way that these episodes played an important part in the decolonisation of Africa. It shows that far from being dry and technical events, conferences and commissions were occasions of drama that tell us much about how the British government and those in Africa engaged with the last days of empire.

Muslims beyond the Arab World explores the tradition of writing African languages using the Arabic script 'Ajami and the rise of the Muridiyya order of Islamic Sufi in Senegal, founded by Shaykh Ahmadu Bamba Mbakke (1853-1927). The book demonstrates how the development of the 'Ajami literary tradition and the flourishing of the Muridiyya into one of sub-Saharan Africa's most powerful and dynamic Sufi organizations are entwined. It offers a close reading of the rich hagiographic and didactic written, recited, and chanted 'Ajami texts of the Muridiyya, works largely unknown to scholars. The texts describe the life and Sufi odyssey of the order's founder, his conflicts with local rulers and Muslim clerics and the French colonial administration, and the traditions and teachings he championed that shaped the identity and practices of his followers. In analyzing these Murid 'Ajami texts, Fallou Ngom evaluates prevailing representations of the movement and offers alternative perspectives. He demonstrates how, without the knowledge of the French colonial administration, the Murids were able to use their written, recited, and chanted 'Ajami materials as an effective means of mass communication to convey the personal journey of Shaykh Ahamadu Bamba, his doctrine, the virtues he stood for and cultivated among his followers: self-reliance, strong faith, the pursuit of excellence, nonviolence, and optimism in the face of adversity. This, according to Muslims beyond the Arab World, is the source of the surprising resilience, appeal, and expansion of Muridiyya.