Between 1985 and 1988, Nelson Mandela, then a political prisoner, had secret meetings with South Africa's minister of justice, Hendrik Coetsee, to prepare for Mandela's eventual release. This is one of many revelations in South African journalist Sparks's momentous chronicle. He also details clandestine talks, from 1987 to 1990, between members of Mandela's African National Congress (ANC) and top leaders of the Broederbond, the primary think tank of the Afrikaner nationalist movement and an architect of apartheid. At these meetings, plans for a national coalition government were hammered out, as the Broederbond sought to come to terms with the country's black majority without losing political control. The author documents former president F.W. de Klerk's efforts to undermine Mandela after his release from prison in 1990 by building an anti-ANC alliance around Zulu leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi's Inkatha party. He presents compelling evidence that the government secretly funded Inkatha and sowed violence aimed at derailing the transition. Sparks remains optimistic that a multiracial, multiparty democracy will emerge and predicts that South Africa will become an engine of salvation for the whole continent.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

This vivid description of South Africa's political transformation from the mid-1980s to the elections of April 1994 is a sequel to Sparks's earlier book, The Mind of South Africa (LJ 3/15/90), which chronicled the history of the rise of apartheid. Much of this readable and informative work is devoted to the details of the secret negotiations that went on for five years before the 1990 release of Nelson Mandela from prison; Sparks corroborates Mandela's autobiographical account, Long Walk to Freedom (LJ 12/94). In addition, our understanding of the white South African government is enlarged, with the author stressing the intelligence, patience, and humanity of many of those involved in the negotiations. Sparks also describes the violence of the period following Mandela's release and preceding the election. While not taking lightly the incredible problems facing South Africa, he lists in the final chapter ten reasons why he believes the country will not slide into disaster as many other African nations have done. This book is recommended for all readers interested in understanding the complexity and the uniqueness of the South African situation.?Maidel Cason, Univ. of Delaware Lib., Newark
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.