SEVEN VOTES, how WWII changed South Africa forever

327pp., illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2020

Richard Steyn on how South Africa's decision to go to war in 1939, won by only seven votes, galvanised both Afrikaner and African nationalism, which later transformed the country. 

"Steyn illuminates the intricate human muddle of hopes, anxieties, fears and disappointments of that feverish period ... Clothed in smoothly written prose, this is a history that strikes a fine balance between scope and detail." Bill Nasson

Richard Steyn practiced as a lawyer before switching to journalism. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, editor-in-chief of The Star and Standard Bank's director of corporate affairs and communications. He is the author of Louis Botha, a man apart; Churchill & Smuts, the friendship and Jan Smuts, unafraid of greatness.