To their many detractors, Afrikaners are impractical, wild-eyed, racist fanatics. To their less numerous supporters, they are fervent anti-Communist crusaders, safeguarding stability and progress at the tip of the 'dark continent'. These strongly held, politically charged, and incompatible views make it virtually impossible for outsiders to distance themselves sufficiently, both intellectually and psychologically, from the situation in South Africa to achieve any real understanding of the Afrikaner's world-view. In this basically non-judgmental book, David Harrison offers the general public badly needed insights into how and why Afrikaners see the world as they do. This work goes a long way towards substituting understanding for invective.