A history of South Africa : from the distant past to the present day / editor: Fransjohan Pretorius.

"An initiative of the History Commission of the Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns (South African Academy for Science and the Arts)."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 675-686) and index.

South Africa's primeval past / Andrie Meyer -- The Dutch era at the Cape, 1652-1806 / Johan de Villiers -- People of bondage / Robert Shell -- Cape colonial society under British rule, 1806-1834 / Johan de Villiers -- Migration and the societies north of the Gariep River / Jan Visagie -- The emigration of the Voortrekkers into the interior / Jan Visagie -- State formation and strife, 1850-1900 / Jackie Grobler -- The mineral revolution / Wessel Visser -- An economic history of the nineteenth century / Grietjie Verhoef -- Afrikaner nationalism, 1875-1899 / Hermann Giliomee -- Everyone's war: the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) / Fransjohan Pretorius -- Post-war race relations, 1902-1948 / David M. Scher -- Afrikaner nationalism, 1902-1948 / Hermann Giliomee -- Black political awakening, 1875-1949 / Jackie Grobler -- The consolidation of the apartheid state, 1948-1966 / David M. Scher -- B.J. Vorster and separate development / Kobus du Pisani -- Black resistance against apartheid, 1950s-1980s / Jackie Grobler -- "Adapt or die", 1978-1984 / Hermann Giliomee -- Uprising, war and transition, 1984-1994 / Hermann Giliomee -- Apartheid: a different angle / Hermann Giliomee -- The South African economy in the twentieth century / Grietjie Verhoef -- The development of trade unions and organised labour / Wessel Visser -- South Africa after apartheid, 1994-2004 / Japie Brits -- The troubled teens: South African democracy, 2004-2013 / Jan-Jan Joubert -- Coloureds: a complex history / Cornelius Thomas -- The Indians in South Africa / Goolam Vahed -- English-speaking South Africans: uncertain of their identity / John Lambert -- The South African churches and apartheid / J.W. (Hoffie) Hofmeyr and J.A. (Joan) Millard -- An environmental history of South Africa / Elize S. van Eeden -- From state capture to Covid: the decline of the ANC, 2014-2020 / Jan-Jan Joubert.

"Who were the first people of South Africa? And who came after them? How did the interaction among Afrikaners, English-speaking South Africans, the British government and black people help form the country? Where do we stand as a nation today? Some prominent historians try to answer these questions. Led by the well-known Professor Fransjohan Pretorius, they reflect on the origin of planet Earth and look at some pivotal moments in our South African history. Chapters cover, among others, the Dutch era at the Cape, the mineral revolution, the Anglo-Boer War, Afrikaner nationalism, the apartheid government, the black resistance movement and a South Africa after 1994."--Back cover.