South Africa at war, 1939-1945

Bill Nasson’s South Africa at War, 1939–1945 is the first history of South Africa’s involvement in World War II to appear for a very long time. It is written by one of South Africa’s leading historians, who has specialised in writing the history of war. With characteristic brio, erudition and good humour, Bill Nasson tells an illustrated story of South Africa at war against Nazi Germany, its unpreparedness at the start, its surprising success in rising to the challenge, and the huge impact the war had on South African society and on expectations of change. It explores the impact, both immediate and in a wider historical context, of the 1939–45 crisis upon the Union and its divided and often volatile society. Touching on a broad range of experiences and events – military, political, economic and social – here is an evocative portrayal of a largely neglected episode in South Africa’s modern history.