A History of South Africa

This is an excellent and engaging short history and well worth reading. It stands head and shoulders above most of the other histories of SA.

Quite a heavy read, full of facts

I confess I knew nothing about the history of South Africa and decided to learn a bit about it. I think that Leonard Thompson's book provides one a good summary and overview of the history of this complex and fascinating country. The books starts in the 16th century (pre-European arrival) and then explores the Dutch East India days (1652-1795)... the Afrikaner trek (~1830-50s) and much more - including the more recent history elements of post-Apartheid.

Extremely well written and informative.

Very interesting book

Great book

Comprehensive and educational, I learned alot from all eras of South African history, a great resource.

Came to me promptly and is an unbelievably good read.

I’m travelling to South Africa and wanted to learn about their history of apartheid. Excellent book that discusses this topic in great detail. Also an excellent book on the complete history of South Africa

Voici une Histoire de l'Afrique du Sud depuis les tous débuts jusque vers 2012, très documentée et très volumineuse. C'est vraiment pour des personnes qui veulent tout savoir, excepté les dernières années. Leonard Thompson, professeur d'Histoire à Yale et spécialiste de l'Afrique du Sud, est mort en 2004, cette édition a été mise à jour en 2014 par Lynn Berat. Ceci dit, pour les personnes intéressées par une Histoire plus rapide, je conseille "South Africa: History in an Hour", c'est nettement plus court et ça permet d'avoir une vue générale.

It is interesting to note the proportion of reviewers who read this book because of an anticipated or experienced trip to South Africa. I am among them! My wife and I went to South Africa early in February and while there my profound and embarrassing ignorance about the country led me to Amazon, where I downloaded the book to my Kindle and started reading it immediately. It reads very well. In some places it is a bit of a slog, but that is inevitable in almost any comprehensive history. (I didn't finish the book until after we came home) Overall, I think the book moved along very well and certainly provided me with the information I wanted and needed to learn about and enjoy South Africa and her people. I recommend this book highly.

For readers who want to learn more about SA‘s history and the development of the country as it is today with its lingering past. Great insight and comprehensible written.

It is important to understand the history of the clash of the Europeans (Dutch and English) and Africans (from West Africa and lands north of the Limpopo) and the treatment by the former of the Xhosa and Zulu people. It is also important to understand what the years of Apartheid has cost the country and, unfortunately, the levels of corruption and that are decimating the economy.