Promotional Information

'This is a deeply moving account of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission . A beautiful and powerful book' - Archbishop Desmond Tutu

About the Author

Antjie Krog was born in 1952 in Kroonstad, a town in the Free State province of South Africa. She has published eight volumes of poetry, several of which have been translated into European languages and have won international prizes. Reporting as Antjie Samuel, the author and her SABC radio team received the Pringle Award for excellence in journalism for reporting on the Truth and Reconcilliation Commission. Krog also won the Foreign Correspondents' Award for outstanding journalism for her articles on the Truth Commission. She went on to become parliamentary editor for SABC radio in 1997 and has since been appointed as an Extraordinary Professor in the Arts Faculty at the University of the Western Cape. Antjie Krog is married and is the mother of four children.

Reviews

One of the best books of the year
*The Economist*

No one will tell us more about the struggle for the Afrikaner's soul; for this book, like the events it reports, is an act of redemption
*Daily Telegraph*

Krog's account of the hearings, which recorded 20,000 statements from victims and nearly 8,000 applications for amnesty, is vivid and impassioned
*Mail on Sunday*

Whatever it is that makes a major lasting work of non-fiction, it is here
*Observer*

Her accounts are so powerful, her resilience, humour and compassion so engaging...to have written this book is heroic
*Sunday Times*

Krog, a poet and the parliamentary editor for South African Broadcasting Corporation radio, has written a remarkable, moving, often painful account of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which sought to reconcile warring parties from the apartheid era. Krog covered the commission's hearings, beginning in 1996. In this work, a combination of reportage, memoir, and moral tract, she describes the tortuous path of the commission as it heard perpetrators as well as victims in an attempt to heal the gaping wounds of South Africa's past. A compelling account, beautifully written, with a very helpful glossary for the uninitiated, this cathartic read is highly recommended for all major libraries.‘Anthony O. Edmonds, Ball State Univ., Muncie, IN

One of the best books of the year * The Economist *
No one will tell us more about the struggle for the Afrikaner's soul; for this book, like the events it reports, is an act of redemption * Daily Telegraph *
Krog's account of the hearings, which recorded 20,000 statements from victims and nearly 8,000 applications for amnesty, is vivid and impassioned * Mail on Sunday *
Whatever it is that makes a major lasting work of non-fiction, it is here * Observer *
Her accounts are so powerful, her resilience, humour and compassion so engaging...to have written this book is heroic * Sunday Times *