Under Our Skin: A White Family's Journey Through South Africa's Darkest Years - Rilegato

Donald McRae

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 1847379656 ISBN 13: 9781847379658

Casa editrice: Simon & Schuster UK, 2012

Riassunto

The true story of an ordinary white family living under apartheid in South Africa, torn apart by an extraordinary country. Don McRae came of age in a South Africa where his father would call the black men he met 'boy' and where his mother gave their black servants old tin mugs and metal plates for their meals in the backyard. The McRaes, like so many white people, seemed oblivious to the violent injustices of apartheid. As the author grew up, the political differences between father and son widened and when Don refused to join up for National Service, risking imprisonment or exile overseas, the two were torn apart. The detention and torture of two young white doctors, Neil Aggett and Liz Floyd, then unhinged the family in dramatic circumstances. At John Vorster Square, the notorious security police headquarters in Johannesburg, the couple suffered a terrible and haunting fate. Years later, the author discovered that the father with whom he had fought so bitterly had transformed himself into a political hero. Risking everything one dark and rainy night, Ian McRae travelled secretly into the black township of Soweto to meet members of Nelson Mandela's then banned African National Congress, trying to bring power to black South Africa. He had no political ambitions; he was just a man trying to replace the worst in himself with something better. Under Our Skin is a memoir of these tumultuous years in South Africa's history, told through the author's family. It offers an intimate and penetrating perspective on life under apartheid, and tells a story of courage and fear, hope and love, especially between a father and his son.

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Recensione

Engrossing... a gripping read... elegantly told... a rich book... a moving tribute to heroism... McRae has written about the times he lived so simply and so visually that we, too, can share in his memories - The Times

In this exemplary memoir, McRae combines a harrowing account of the fate of Neil Aggett (the only white anti-apartheid activist to be tortured to death by the security services) with a touchingly apologetic tribute to his father s quiet heroism - The Sunday Times

McRae does a beautiful job of seeing South Africa through a child's eyes... harrowing... but its undoubted power is always combined with a more reflective intelligence - Readers Digest

Donald McRae's exquisitely framed memoir, Under Our Skin, recalls a not-so-distant era when people were dying, and being tortured, and being conscripted to fight in defense of a twisted ideology . . . This is also a father-and-son story. In his unfailingly crisp and understated prose, McRae recalls with great tenderness how his dad nursed him when he cut his face open on a metal bedstead - Observer

McRae's sober, well-crafted memoir captures the moral nuances as well as the horrors of the apartheid era . . . Under Our Skin is also a coming-of-age memoir of a more conventional stamp, full of the sounds and smells of an African childhood. McRae recaptures the gaucheness of his teenage years with humour and tenderness . . . deft and fascinating --Sunday Telegraph

A moving memoir of a father and son s conflict in a white South African family during apartheid --Sunday Times

'McRae's sober, well-crafted memoir captures the moral nuances as well as the horrors of the apartheid era . . . Under Our Skin is also a coming-of-age memoir of a more conventional stamp, full of the sounds and smells of an African childhood. McRae recaptures the gaucheness of his teenage years with humour and tenderness . . . deft and fascinating' --Sunday Telegraph

L'autore

Donald McRae is the award-winning author of seven books. He is one of only two authors to have won the prestigious William Hill award twice, for Dark Trade and In Black & White. As a journalist he has twice won Sports Interviewer of the Year - as well as winning Sports Feature Writer of the Year. His latest book, The Old Devil, is also published by Simon & Schuster.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Simon & Schuster UK
• Data di pubblicazione: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1847379656
• ISBN 13: 9781847379658
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 432