The Great Treks: Black and White Migration and the Making of South Africa

"After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb." -- Nelson Mandela The end of Apartheid and the beginning of democracy in South Africa demands a new kind of history. For the first time accounts of the 'Great Trek' of the Boer farmers and the African nationalists' "mfecane" are brought together and clarifies the confusing and contentious debate on the "mfecane." Includes anecdotes and stories.

The end of Apartheid and the beginning of democracy in South Africa demands a new kind of history. This deeply original approach to the making of modern South Africa will transform current thinking on the subject.The mass migration of the Boer farmers from Cape Colony to escape British domination in 1835-36 - the Great Trek - has always been a potent icon of Africaaner nationalism and identity. For African nationalists, the Mfecane - the vast movement of the Black populations in the interior following the emergence of a new Zulu kingdom as a major military force in the early 19th century - offers an equally powerful symbol of the making of a nation. With their parallel and contested visions of populations on the move to establish new states, these two stories became part of divided South Africa's separate mythologies, treated as unconnected events taking place in separate universes. For the first time, in this groundbreaking book, accounts of both migrations are brought together and examined: the histories of all the movements of people and their leaders in the 19th century are told. In uniting these separate visions of African and Afrikaner history, Norman Etherington provides a fascinating picture of a majorturning point in South African history, and points the way for a new kind of South African history for the future.

Norman Etherington has published widely on Rider Haggard, South Africa, Southern African history and politics and has spent long periods travelling and working in South Africa. He lives in Australia where he is Professor of History at the University of Western Australia.