A prodigious endeavor. Nowhere else could an American reader unfamiliar with South Africa get such a full understanding of its problems in such an engaging form - The New York Times Book Review.

James A. Michener was one of the world's most popular writers, the author of more than forty books of fiction and nonfiction, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Tales of the South Pacific," the bestselling novels "The Source," "Hawaii," "Alaska," "Chesapeake," "Centennial," "Texas," "Caribbean," and "Caravans," and the memoir "The World Is My Home." Michener served on the advisory council to NASA and the International Broadcast Board, which oversees the Voice of America. Among dozens of awards and honors, he received America's highest civilian award, the Presidential.