Anatomy of a Miracle: The End of Apartheid and the Birth of the New South Africa by Patti Waldmeir (Pre-Owned)

Product Description

The late 1980s were a dismal time inside South Africa. Mandela's African National Congress was banned. Thousands of ANC supporters were jailed without charge. Government hit squads assassinated and terrorized opponents of white rule. Ordinary South Africans, black and white, lived in a perpetual state of dread. Journalist Patti Waldmeir evokes this era of uncertainty in Anatomy of a Miracle, her comprehensive new book about the stunning and-historically speaking-swift tranformation of South Africa from white minority oligarchy to black-ruled democracy. Much that Waldmeir documents in this carefully researched and elegantly written book has been well reported in the press and in previous books. But what distinguishes her work is a reporter's attention to detail and a historian's sense of sweep and relevance. . . .Waldmeir has written a deeply reasoned book, but one that also acknowledges the power of human will and the tug of shared destiny."-Philadelphia Inquirer

Review

Ms. Waldmeir watched the unfolding of what she describes as "a strange and wonderful tale of collective liberation" of blacks and whites alike. Virtually every page of her deft narrative about that tale sparkles with insights that ring true. . . . This eyewitness account, told with a passion for color and detail, leaves one admiring Ms. Waldmeir's journalistic skills. But it also inspires enormous respect for the South Africans themselves, who have set a precedent in conflict resolution for the rest of the world to follow. -- The New York Times Book Review, Christopher S. Wren

About the author

Patti Waldmeir is an award-winning author and journalist. She has spent nearly forty years working as a reporter and columnist for the Financial Times, reporting from Ghana; Zambia; Nigeria; London; South Africa; Washington, DC; Shanghai; and now Chicago. Raised in Detroit, Waldmeir graduated with honors from the University of Michigan and went on to win a Marshall Scholarship to earn her master’s degree at Cambridge University.

Waldmeir’s previous award-winning book, Anatomy of a Miracle: The End of Apartheid and the Birth of a New South Africa, chronicled the peace deal between white and black in South Africa and the rise of Nelson Mandela. Her latest focuses on a more personal issue. When Waldmeir adopted two Chinese daughters, she decided to move the family to Shanghai to help them keep close to their Chinese heritage. Chinese Lessons is a story of identity, race and culture, told through the prism of family.