A leading scholar of South Africa provides a fresh and penetrating exploration of that country s history from the earliest known human habitation to the present focusing primarily on the experiences of its black inhabitants. This third edition includes two new chapters that describe the transfer of power and the new South Africa under the presidencies of Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki. An exploration of the history of South Africa from the earliest known human inhabitation of the region to the end of the 20th century. For this third edition the author adds two new chapters on the transfer of power and South Africa under the presidencies of Mandela and Mbeki.