Buy used: $6.73
FREE delivery May 6 - 7. Details
Or fastest delivery April 30 - May 2. Details
Used: Good | Details
Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta
Condition: Used: Good
Comment: Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Marq De Villiers
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

White Tribe Dreaming: Apartheid's Bitter Roots as Witnessed 8 Generations Afrikaner Family Paperback – March 1, 1989

by Marq De Villiers (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 10 ratings
See all formats and editions
The author uses family letters and journals to offer a personal history of the country and discusses possible solutions to the problem of apartheid
Previous page
  1. Print length
    464 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Penguin Books
  4. Publication date
    March 1, 1989
  5. Dimensions
    5.25 x 0.75 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0140102701
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0140102703
  8. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A liberal Afrikaner here traces the history of his family, comparing it to the history of South Africa itself. "Regarding schism as fundamental to their tribal nature, he portrays and assesses Paul Kruger, Louis Botha, Jan Smuts, James Hertzog, Jan Hofmeyr and their successors," remarked PW. Photos.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books (March 1, 1989)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 464 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0140102701
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0140102703
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.75 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 10 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Marq De Villiers

Marq De Villiers

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
10 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Tabitha
5.0 out of 5 stars Informative read
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2017
Verified Purchase
Cleared up some of my misconceptions
Helpful
 Report
A customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Well written, engaging look into Afrikaner history....
Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2014
Verified Purchase
Although a defensive shift in tone toward the end makes it seem like the author is trying to justify apartheid, "White Tribe Dreaming" is not written to be for or against apartheid. Rather, "White Tribe Dreaming" is a book written to explain how apartheid came to be. Tracing the Afrikaner's history from settlement at the Cape, it chronicles the founding of race relations on slavery and a master-servant relationship. Through the never ending journey inland and contact with the Zulus and Xhosa, Marq de Villiers show both how the tribe alternately shaped and was shaped by history. He also shows how apartheid was not merely the creation of one people, but that the British Empire and its decisions played a role. By the time of the book's writing in the 80's, the white tribe knew that apartheid was wrong, but needed a safe way to surrender power without it triggering reprisals. Avoiding simplistic demonization or canonization of any particular characters and asking important questions, Marq de Villiers makes you to see the dilemma through Afrikaner eyes and gives his tribe a human face.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Adrian van Ginhoven
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2014
Verified Purchase
Very Good
Helpful
 Report
bee13
5.0 out of 5 stars The Afrikaner's journey
Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2015
“White Tribe Dreaming,” by self-exiled Afrikaner, Marq De Villiers is a masterful portrayal of a misunderstood, isolated people. A history both personal and tribal, a powerful memoir of family and place, “White Tribe Dreaming,” is a great read.

De Villiers writes a clean, muscular prose with a gift for the descriptive. ”The Boers were large and raw-boned and tough in fibre; they were an intimate part of the country through which they rode…there were plenty of British tommies of the time who spoke of the fell apparition of grim commandos emerging from nowhere with their Mausers and bandoliers of bullets, killing, melting away into nothingness…” With such virile sentences, De Villiers puts the reader on the continent immediately and takes you on a wild trip through the sacred events of Afrikanerdom from the establishment of Van Der Stel`s tiny Cape colony, through the Great Trek and Blood River, to Oum Paul and the “Vryheid-oorslog,” against the British imperialists, to that final misguided place of a fearful people too long on the defensive, apartheid.

De Villiers documents the ethnic and spiritual journey of the Afrikaner people from their Dutch and Huguenot roots in the Cape to their final `laager’ in the Transvaal province. With engaging anecdotes and journal/letter material, De Villiers creates a rich story of a people harassed by British persecution and spurred on by the ‘trekgees’—spirit of wanderlust. They move into ever wilder hinterlands, facing the predations of both man and beast, most of all, the voracious quest of the Zulu tribe for better lands, the ‘mfecane.”

De Villiers etches the seminal clash between Zulu and Boer in vivid detail.
De Villiers gives much analysis to the massive victory of Pretorius's 500 Boers over Dingaan's thousands at Blood River. He argues convincingly that the battle's significance cannot be underestimated. For the first time, the white tribe of Africa felt it had earned a legitimacy to subjugate other African peoples.

The Afrikaner's conflict with arch-enemy, England, makes up a good portion of the book. De Villiers separates the war into three distinct phases. The first deals with the early Boer victories—thanks to superior tactics and firepower. The second covers the British strong-arm response while the third explores the final stage of Boer commando guerrilla warfare and Lord Kitchener's concentration camps for Boer women and children and their African/Coloured retainers.

De Villiers argues that the creation of the ‘apartheid’ caste system arose from the Boers' humiliation during the war. It grew into a system that ensured Afrikaner privilege in South Africa's industrial economy. As to the system itself, De Villiers goes into great detail about the many insipid and unjust laws that did so much damage to South Africans of all groups. The Group Areas Act, the Bantu Education Act, the Population Registration Act, the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act are concisely explained.

The obvious critique of this otherwise wonderfully written journey into Afrikaner history concerns its date of publication, 1987. The seminal events of 1994 with Mandela's release and subsequent election to the presidency are hidden in the future. No doubt De Villiers would have had much to add regarding the Afrikaner's place in 2015 South Africa. The `rainbow nation’ is a richer, more complex creation than any of the apartheid engineers could have ever imagined. And it took the tremendous courage of one Afrikaner, Willem De Klerk, to help with its birth.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

AJN
5.0 out of 5 stars to better understand the events that shaped the recent history of ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 10, 2015
Verified Purchase
This is an outstanding introduction to the origins of the much maligned South Africa that we became all too familiar with in the past few decades.... I first read this book a few years ago and simply had to read it again... to better understand the events that shaped the recent history of South Africa.
Report
skibereen
3.0 out of 5 stars White tribe dreaming
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 23, 2010
Verified Purchase
Intereesting book and well written but is a bit dated. Still it provides a good histroical account of settling of South Africa through the history of one family
Report