Smuts: A Reappraisal - Bernard Friedman
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Description
'Smuts: A Reappraisal' by Bernard Friedman is a critical reassessment of Jan Christiaan Smuts (1870–1950), examining his political career and the consequences of his decisions for South Africa. Rather than offering a conventional life story or concentrating on Smuts’s military achievements, Friedman focuses on three pivotal periods: the negotiations and political compromises that led to the Union of South Africa in 1910, the political reconciliation between Smuts and J. B. M. Hertzog that produced the Fusion Government in 1933, and Smuts’s leadership of the United Party during the final years of his premiership from 1945 to 1948. Friedman scrutinises Smuts’s approach to race and political representation, challenging the favourable image of him as a liberal-minded statesman and drawing attention to his paternalistic attitudes towards black South Africans and his role in maintaining white political dominance. The author’s interpretation is informed by his own political experience: he had served in the United Party before resigning in protest at its refusal to commit to restoring Coloured voters to the common electoral roll. Published in 1975, this concise political study offers a pointed alternative to more sympathetic accounts of Smuts and invites readers to reconsider his legacy in the context of South Africa’s racial and constitutional history.
Condition
Fair condition, cover slightly worn.
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