{"product_id":"promise-and-despair-martin-plaut-9780821422755","title":"Promise and Despair: The First Struggle for a Non-Racial South Africa","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe struggle for freedom in South Africa goes back a long way. In 1909, a remarkable interracial delegation of South Africans traveled to London to lobby for a non-racialized constitution and franchise for all. Among their allies was Mahatma Gandhi, who later encapsulated lessons from the experience in his most important book, \u003ci\u003eHind Swaraj.\u003c\/i\u003e Though the mission failed, the London debates were critical to the formation of the African National Congress in 1912.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWith impeccable storytelling and rich character depictions, Martin Plaut describes the early quest for black franchise and the seeds it planted for a new South Africa. While most people believe that black South Africans obtained the vote in 1994, men of all races voted in the Cape Colony for almost a century, sometimes deciding election outcomes. The London mission was part of a long history of nonwhite political agency.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTaking as its centerpiece the 1909 delegation, \u003ci\u003ePromise and Despair\u003c\/i\u003e covers the twelve years between the South African War and the First World War, during which the major forces that would shape twentieth-century South Africa were forged. Plaut reveals new details of the close collaboration between Gandhi and the ANC leadership during the Indian-South African community's struggle for their rights, the influence of the American South on South African racial practices, and the workings of the Imperial system.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Martin Plaut\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0821422758\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780821422755\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Ohio University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/27\/2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 272\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.32lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.75d","brand":"Martin Plaut","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48441365692671,"sku":"9780821422755","price":80.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_b265c8fc-2525-4da3-89e3-6d3ed6b369f9.jpg?v=1777190429","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/promise-and-despair-martin-plaut-9780821422755","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}