"The novel is set in South Africa, home to five distinct populations: Bantu (native Black tribes), Coloured (the result of generations of racial mixture between persons of European descent and the indigenous occupants of South Africa along with slaves brought in from Angola, Indonesia, India, Madagascar and the east Coast of Africa), British, Afrikaner, and Indian, Chinese, and other foreign workers. The novel traces the history, interaction, and conflicts between these populations, from prehistoric times up to the 1970s.
Michener writes largely from the point of view of the Afrikaners, descendants of Dutch settlers and French Huguenot immigrants who traveled to South Africa to practice freedom of worship in the Calvinist tradition, and other European groups (such as the Germans), all of whom were absorbed by the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch Reformed Church. The Afrikaners, whose Dutch ancestors first established a trading and refueling stop at Cape Town in the 17th century to service ships moving between Holland and Java, and whose ranks were augmented by Huguenot and other northern European immigrants, considered themselves the "New Israelites". They found in the Old Testament verification for their belief that God favored their conquest of the new land. Their strict, fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible supported them through the Great Trek of the 19th century; battles against Zulu and other Bantu tribes, who also laid claim to lands to the north; the Anglo-Boer War (when small guerrilla bands of a few hundred Afrikaner farmers were able to hold off tens of thousands of British regulars); and their institution of Apartheid in the 20th century, when they insisted on racial purity, separatism, and white supremacy, per the moral expectations of the god of Israel in the Old Testament and their own determination to keep political power in the hands of Whites of European descent." (wikipedia)
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I first read this book decades ago and enjoyed it so much that I read most of Michener's books. I like the way he covers the whole span of history of a specific place.
This time around I decided to purchase a copy instead of borrowing the book from the library. When I went to Kirkland’s independent bookstore, the cashier (who is also the owner) gingerly questioned me about the book – what interested me in it and so forth. I could tell she was being careful with her questions. As we spoke, she finally revealed that she was born and raised in South Africa. She and her husband decided to bring their children to the States to raise them in what they felt was a safer environment.
If you've ever wondered how apartheid could come to be, this book will give you hundreds of years of history that led to apartheid.
Click here to read interesting insights written by the man who helped Michener research the book.
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Now I'm rereading Michener's book "Caribbean."
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