Wilhelm Grutter

This is a book my dad liked a lot and hung on to for decades. However, I think he can read and like almost any reasonable (in the logical way) history book. I need some tone in the writing, and this book doesn't have it. The earlier sections would've been easier to follow in a bullet-point fashion because of the long lists of foreign names and dates. The names were easier to follow later in part because the British arrived, but the names of pioneers and native tribal leaders just got replaced by British politicians and Afrikaner rebels. Like many history books that read "dry", as many students have claimed, this book focuses heavily on politics and government and lists names and dates throughout. There's not enough elaboration to really remember anything. No fluctuation in tone in the author's writing to create a conceptual view of the past. However, I love the illustrations.

This book seems to be loved on other websites, so between the opinions of those book owners selling their five-star rated copies and my dad's opinion, this is clearly a good book for some history buffs out there.… (meer)