Review by Booklist Review
Beresford was born in South Africa but spent most of his professional life working as a correspondent for the British newspaper the Guardian, covering conflicts in Ireland, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. He returned to South Africa in 1984 to cover the rebellions in the townships against the repressive apartheid regime. Drawing on the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as well as interviews and his own impressions, he provides a complex portrait of the individuals and actions that eventually dismantled apartheid but have left a lasting legacy of racial distrust. Dispersed throughout are excerpts from the letters of John Harris, a member of the antiapartheid African Resistance Army, hanged for the bombing of a railway station. Beresford argues that government officials allowed the bombing to discredit antiapartheid groups. Among his vignettes: a white family making a fortress of their home, with doors constructed of wood from ammunition boxes and opaque windows to reduce the damage from fire bombs. This is a revealing portrait of the absurdities of the apartheid era, with its cumbersome classifications and severe restrictions, and the complex process of recovery.--Bush, Vanessa Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
