Div Looks Back The Memoirs of Sir De Villiers Graaf
Author: Sir De Villiers Graaf
Publisher: Human & Rousseau
Edition: Second 1994
ISBN: 978-0-7981-3176-4
Language: English
Condition: Good. Clean copy with tight binding.
Binding: Hardcover with illustrated coverboards
Pages: 301. Print with images
Additional Information
For more than twenty years some of the most turbulent in South Africas history Sir De Villiers Graaff embodied the United Party, of which he became the leader in 1956. But he was much more than that. He was for many years a symbol of opposition to apartheid and also, in a broader sense, a role model of a South African gentleman.
There is no doubt that Graaff played a central role in South African politics in the years 1948-1977 and gained respect, and eventually affection, across a wide political spectrum. In this riveting book he tells the story of the triumphs and tribulations of his career and brings to life many of the famous personalities of his era: Louis Botha (in whose Cabinet his father served), Jan Smuts, Hendrik Verwoerd, John Vorster, Harry Oppenheimer, Hastings Banda, Harold Macmillan and others.
A colleague of many years, Dr. Jake Jacobs, wrote of Graaff: But perhaps the most perceptive assessment of this remarkable man remains that of his mother who, more than fifty years ago, uttered these prophetic words: He is never demonstrative, but when he is needed he is always there. He was needed, he was there, but we failed to give him the tools to do the job and as a result South Africa will for ever be the poorer.
Revealed here alongside the public man is also the private man: Div the enthusiastic cricketer and fisherman, the witty and entertaining storyteller, Oxford Blue in boxing, decorated soldier and brave prisoner of war, businessman, barrister and advocate, family man and farmer with a passion for his award-winning Friesland cattle. De Villiers Graaff is a man of many parts but, perhaps, above all he will be remembered as one of the countrys most distinguished Parliamentarians who, throughout his career, put duty before anything else.
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Apartheid | United Party | Verwoerd | Smuts | Vorster | Hertzog | Malan | National Party
