DW Krüger as skrywer van eietydse geskiedenis

Abstract

DW Krüger (1906-1981) was a professional historian who published books in both English and Afrikaans. His publications include surveys of twentieth century South African history of which The making of a nation is the most comprehensive. These surveys were used as university textbooks during the 1960s and '70s. The article compares Krüger's overview of the period 1939-1961 with more recent surveys of the same period. Krüger's chapters on the Second World War and the implementation of the policy of apartheid are especially examined. It is concluded that Krüger's texts are strongly white centric and have several defects. Nevertheless he largely succeeds in giving a clear and balanced interpretation of major political developments of his own time. His books should still be regarded as valuable additional texts for studying twentieth century South African history.