The Road to Democracy in South Africa

The road to democracy is a five-volume work that aims to redress the lack of historical material on the events that led to democracy in South Africa over a period of four decades. In Volume 1, which covers the years between 1960 and 1970, a dedicated and experienced team of researchers unravels and analyses events that would eventually lead to a negotiated settlement, focusing specifically on: the Sharpeville and Langa massacres as a turning point in the struggle; the banning of liberation movements and the imprisonment of struggle activists; the measures taken by the apartheid state to suppress resistance; the underground activities of, among others, the ANC and PAC; the decision to resort to armed resistance; life in exile for political activists; and the activities of mainly white activists in above-ground organisations. Volume 1 provides new insight into how anti-apartheid movements operated in the 1960s - a decade generally known as 'the golden age of apartheid' - drawing on previously unexploited documentary sources, such as trial records and state archives, as well as the archives of the liberation movements.;Most importantly, it includes the voices and experiences of libera