Apartheid originated as populist Afrikaner endeavor to regain hegemony for poorer and less favored whites in a South Africa dominated by wealthier English speakers and their moderate Afrikaans-speaking allies. In time, leaders such as Premier Hendrik F. Verwoerd created a rationalized ideology in an attempt to justify legislated segregation, the denial of human rights, the end of free speech, extreme separation of the “races,” and much more. President John B. Vorster and ruthless securocrats, such as General Hendrik van den Bergh, fashioned a security apparatus to maintain apartheid through repression. President Pieter W. Botha, later, tried to buttress the hegemony conveyed to Afrikaners and other whites through apartheid while simultaneously recognizing and coping with the realities of South Africa’s status as an international pariah, its fundamental economic decay, and its need to find a satisfactory way forward.

Giliomee is a trusted guide through these convoluted waters, drawing effectively on his...

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