SHORT-CHANGED? South Africa since apartheid

173pp., paperback, Reprint, Johannesburg, (2014) 2021

“South Africa is a place where the dust never settles. The past is always palpable in its present. In this exceptionally thoughtful book, one of the country’s most distinguished historians, Colin Bundy, explains quite how much this is true. For all its brevity, Short Changed? packs a hefty punch: not only does it offer a compelling explanation for the fall of apartheid, but it makes a very persuasive case for the ways in which the long shadow of colonialism has insinuated itself, is insinuating itself, into the South African here-and-now - and into its probable futures.” Professor John Comaroff, Harvard University, and author of The Politics of Custom

“If I was asked by a first time visitor for an accessible guide to the complexities of modern South Africa, I’d suggest Colin Bundy’s Short-Changed. But this isn’t just a primer for beginners. His overview of how South Africa has altered since 1994 contains plenty of fresh insight and new arguments for specialists as well.” Professor Tom Lodge, University of Limerick, and author of Red Road to Freedom, a history of the South African Communist Party, 1921-2021

“Bundy’s lively and deeply insightful book demonstrates the importance of historical analysis for those who wish to understand contemporary South Africa. Bundy shows that the country's past continues to cast a long shadow over her present; and he argues that the dangers and opportunities that the future holds can only be understood in the context of long range patterns of accumulation and exploitation.” Professor Anthony Butler, University of Cape Town, and author of Contemporary South Africa

Historian Colin Bundy is the author of The Rise and Fall of the South African Peasantry as well as the concise biography, Govan Mbeki. He has recently retired as Principal of Green Templeton College in Oxford.