Between two fires

John Kane-Berman is uniquely qualified to look back over the enormous political and social changes that have taken place in his lifetime in this fractious country. In his career as student leader, Rhodes Scholar, newspaperman, independent columnist, speech maker, commentator, and Chief Executive, for thirty years, of the South African Institute of Race Relations, Kane-Berman has been at the coal face of political change in South Africa.

The breadth and depth of ideas and events covered here are striking: the disintegration of apartheid, the chaos of the 'people's war' and its contribution to the broader societal breakdown we see today, the liberal slide-away, the authoritarian ANC with its racial ideology and revolutionary goals, to mention only a few. Kane-Berman's willingness to confront received wisdom is thoroughly refreshing, and he is forthright about the threats to freedom, democracy, and growth in contemporary South Africa, many of which he identified even before the ANC came to power.

Writing, debate, and reasoned argument have been Kane-Berman's stock in trade and his clarity of vision and personal insight have created a memoir of rare candour and absorbing interest.

John Kane-Berman este calificat in mod unic sa priveasca inapoi asupra enormelor schimbari politice si sociale care au avut loc in timpul vietii sale in aceasta tara neobisnuita. In cariera sa de lider studentesc, Rhodes Scholar, ziarist, columnist independent, producator de discurs, comentator si sef executiv, de treizeci de ani, al Institutului sud-african pentru relatii rasiale, Kane-Berman a fost in fata carbunelui schimbarilor politice din Africa de Sud. Largimea si profunzimea ideilor si evenimentelor acoperite aici sunt izbitoare: dezintegrarea apartheidului, haosul „razboiului poporului” si contributia sa la defalcarea sociala mai larga pe care o vedem astazi, alunecarea liberala, ANC autoritar cu ideologia sa rasiala si obiectivele revolutionare, pentru a mentiona doar cateva.