White Rising

In the summer of 1922, the heart of South Africa was wracked by industrial strife, racial killing and insurrection. This book reconstructs the extraordinary events of that year - the year of the Rand Revolt. Through an examination of the organisation and activities, the hopes and fears, of ordinary people, the book analyses the sources of rebellion and racial killing. It explores what white men and women invested in their racial identity, and how this was destabilized by threats to their livelihoods and sense of citizenship. The consequences were brutal, even pathological. White Rising immerses the reader in tragic and dramatic times, when workers rose against their employers and the state, and when black people were hunted through the streets.

Engaging and forcefully written, this book powerfully illuminates the Rand Revolt. It will appeal to those interested in twentieth century South Africa and to those seeking to understand racial violence and identity. -- .