Jan Smuts, Man Of Courage And Vision By Antony Lentin
Jan Smuts, Man Of Courage And Vision By Antony Lentin
Softcover
ISBN 9781868423903
Publisher: Jonathan Ball Publishers 2010
Used - Very Good. This book is in very good condition. The wraps have some slight/limited signs of wear and the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far.
In this new biography, Professor Antony Lentin reassesses the life of one of South Africa's great leaders. Smuts was scholar, statesman and soldier with a career spanning half a century, but what was his lasting contribution? In the earlier half of his life, he focused his efforts primarily on the birth pangs and development of South Africa: the Boer Wars, the formation of the Union of South Africa, and South Africa's role in the First World War. Smuts also made significant contributions on the world stage. The author examines this role closely, paying particular attention to the Paris Peace Conference of 1918-19 where Smuts pleaded tirelessly to obtain more reasonable terms for Germany to avoid its gratuitous humiliation. Lentin argues that it was this magnanimity – Smuts' fight for international reconciliation – that should stand as his historical legacy.
Interesting account of Smuts which emphasizes his visionary opposition to the harsh terms imposed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles. The book repeats the interesting assertion made in RW Johnson's The Beloved Country that it anything happened to Churchill in World War Two, because of his intellectual and strategic brilliance, Smuts was to replace him at the head of the British and Commonwealth War effort.
