TOMORROW IS ANOTHER COUNTRY: The Inside Story...

TOMORROW IS ANOTHER COUNTRY: The Inside Story of South Africa’s Road to Change by Allister Sparks (University of Chicago Press: $14.95, 266 pp.). In the sequel to “The Mind of South Africa,” journalist Allister Sparks reveals that F. W. De Klerk’s “Rubicon” speech of Feb. 2, 1990, which began the process of dismantling apartheid, was the product of five years of secret negotiations between his government and the leaders of the outlawed African National Congress. Years before his official release, Nelson Mandela was removed from prison to a comfortable estate, where he directed many of these discussions. Sparks shows how political enemies overcame their prejudices to resolve the crisis that threatened to destroy South Africa. He concludes his account on a hopeful note, arguing that the new democracy may become the engine to reverse the economic decline of Africa.