Unlike the bulky academic versions of SADET's Road to Democracy, the Abridged Edition series is much shorter; it is quicker and easier to read. The footnotes, the lengthy quotations, and overwhelmingly intricate detail have been removed. What remains is the stark truth; an outline of how, in a myriad of ways, African states helped the South African struggle for freedom. The names of authors of the Road to Democracy in South Africa Abridged Edition series have been removed from each chapter but theirs is the credit for researching and creating them. SADET acknowledges the sterling work by all these international scholars. This Abridged Editions series should be read by every South African. The hope is that others on the African continent and elsewhere in the world will find much of interest in its pages. After all, the history of the liberation struggle in South Africa is one of Africa's greatest success stories.

Volume 4 in the series focuses on the 1980s and 'further fortifies the intellectual traditions set by the earlier volumes'. Included in the volume are chapters by Bernard Magubane on the apartheid state; Sifiso Ndlovu on the ANC and negotiations; Bhekizizwe Peterson on the the arts; Zine Magubane on women's struggles; Gregory Houston on the ANC's underground and armed struggle; Thami ka Plaatje on the PAC; Mbulelo Mzamane and Brown Maaba on the BMC and AZAPO; Eddy Maloka on the SACP; Christopher Saunders on the above-the-ground struggles conducted by white activists; and Jabulani Sithole on the trade union movement.

Two enduring challenges in South African historiography are addressed by this group of committed scholars from SADET. The Road to Democracy in South Africa: Volume 4 [1980-1990] firstly addresses the muted voices of largely unpublished black scholars, and secondly, ensures that the voices of the majority of our population are at the centre of the historic narrative. Comprising of 32 chapters, Volume 4 in the series focuses on the 1980s and `further fortifies the intellectual traditions set by the earlier volumes'. Included in the volume are chapters by Bernard Magubane on the apartheid state; Sifiso Ndlovu on the ANC and negotiations; Bhekizizwe Peterson on the arts; Zine Magubane on women's struggles; Gregory Houston on the ANC's underground and armed struggle; Thami ka Plaatjie on the PAC; Mbulelo Mzamane and Brown Maaba on the BCM and AZAPO; Eddy Maloka on the SACP; Christopher Saunders on the above-the-ground struggles conducted by white activists; and Jabulani Sithole on the trade union movement.

The third volume in the series examines the role of anti-apartheid movements around the world. The global anti-apartheid movement was very successful in creating awareness of the liberation struggle in South Africa, and in contributing to the downfall of the apartheid government. This volume, in 2 parts, brings together analyses which in the main are written by activist scholars with deep roots in the movements and organizations they are writing about. Themes covered include: the ANC in exile; the ANC's armed struggle; the conduct of the ANC's underground political work; the history of the South African Communist Party; the PAC in exile and its internal underground; the United Democratic Front, the Azanian People's organisation during the 1980s/Black consciousness movement; the role of Women in the struggle; the independent trade union movement; the rise of social movements; the role of religious institutions in the liberation struggle; regional studies of township resistance; resistance and repression in the rural areas and Bantustans; above-ground organizations (including Afrikaner organizations); culture, resistance and representation; protest art; political violence; the ANC and Inkatha; sport and resistance; and the role of the Christian Institute. This volume, like the previous two volumes, makes extensive use of oral testimony on the historical processes, events, organizations and individuals under study.