447pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2012
Historian Herman Giliomee evaluates the leadership of five Afrikaner leaders: Hendrik Verwoerd, John Vorster, P.W. Botha, Frederik van Zyl Slabbert and F.W.de Klerk, in an attempt to understand why they did what they did.
This book was short-listed for the 2013 Alan Paton Non-Fiction Award.
Herman Giliomee is Extraordinary Professor of History at the University of Stellenbosch. His many books include The Shaping of South African Society, From Apartheid to Nation-Building and The Afrikaners.