Hermann Giliomee 
The Rise and Demise of the Afrikaners 

Acclaimed historian Hermann Giliomee explains the dramatic ascent – and possible demise – of a small minority group that dominated 20th-century South Africa. The Afrikaners are unique in the world in that they successfully mobilised ethnic entrepreneurship without state assistance, controlled the government for almost 50 years, and then yielded power without military defeat. Giliomee takes a hard, analytical look at the Afrikaners’ fortunes over the past 100 years. Topics range from political parties’ use of the ‘coloured vote’, ethnic entrepreneurship, ‘Bantu education’, and the Rubicon speech to Nelson Mandela’s relationship with the last Afrikaner leaders. Finally, he examines the most likely future for this contentious group and the nature of its imprint on South Africa.

Despre autor

Hermann Giliomee is an internationally renowned historian. He recently received a Lifetime Achievement in the South African Literary Awards for his historical writing, while his book The Afrikaners was published with acclaim in South Africa, the US and UK. He has been an associate at Yale, Cambridge and the Wilson Centre for International Scholars in Washington DC.