"The history of South Africa, one of the oldest inhabited areas of the world, is also that of one of the newest nations, made and remade over the last century. This narrative, current through 1999, is the only up-to-date history of South Africa.

Beginning with an overview of the modern nation, this narrative history traces South Africa from prehistory through the European invasions, the settlement by the Dutch, the imposition of British rule, the many internecine wars for control of the nation, the institution of apartheid, and, finally, freedom for all South Africans in 1994 and the subsequent Mandela government."--BOOK JACKET.