SOWETO Life and Struggles of a South African Township (1988) - inscribed to first SA Ambassador to Russia Dr. Gerrit Olivier

An interesting and unusual Apartheid-era work that was published in English in Moscow, U.S.S.R.

Publisher's black leatherette binding with white titles on front panel and spine. Pictorial dust jacket.

312pp. Illustrated with numerous black and white photographs depicting Apartheid-era conflict.

Inscribed on the title page, "To Dr. G. Olivier with best wishes from the author V. Gorodnov, 25.V.92".

Professor Gerrit Olivier is a South African academic who entered diplomatic service in 1983. In 1991 he became the first South African ambassador to the Russian Federation. In 1996 he returned to academia and is a founding member of the South African Political Science Association. He is the author of various works on international relations. His most recent published articles are very critical of the ANC-government's neutral stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 

"With the Soweto ghetto-township as his example, the author traces the formation of the black urban population in South Africa, considers the social and political problems generated by urbanisation under a regime practising racial discrimination and apartheid, and examines the cultural and psychological processes taking place in South Africa under the impact of traditional and modern factors. He gives the story of the 1976 Soweto revolt and of the subsequent liberation struggle against the racist regime ruling South Africa."