Review by Choice Review
The UN was established in 1945 only three years before apartheid was adopted in South Africa in 1948. In fact, the UN's first action against South Africa took place in 1946 before apartheid was established. The successful conclusion of the liberation struggle in South Africa in 1994 is therefore an appropriate time to publish this retrospective history. It has two sections: (1) a narrative overview of UN actions, and (2) a chronology, a selective bibliography of UN documents, and reproductions of the most important documents. Section 1 is divided into three chronological periods and has marginal notes citing the documents included. The narrative describes events but avoids analysis. Important trends inside South Africa are sometimes omitted (e.g., the rise of the United Democratic Front and COSATU). Each section has a good separate index, but their formats and subject terms do not match; however, both include good cross-references. Section one is written in typical dry UN style with numbered paragraphs. Other than the title page and one small paragraph in the introduction, the work lacks introductory matter describing the format and arrangement of its contents; at the least, a more detailed title page would be of great benefit. The work omits a list of important previous UN bibliographies on South Africa. However, these are minor shortcomings. There is a great wealth of information here for serious researchers. All libraries. A. Kagan; University of Illinois
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
