The End of Normal

Max Du Preez

ISBN 10: 1776195558 / ISBN 13: 9781776195558

Published by Jonathan Ball Publishers SA, ZA, 2026

About this Item

In 1976 Max du Preez witnessed the first stones thrown and the first shots fired in Soweto on June 16 as a young newspaper reporter. Having grown up in the heart of Afrikaner nationalism, it was the end of his normal. It was also the end of normal for white South Africans, most of whom were living in blissful ignorance. The events of 1976 set in motion a continuous series of developments that led to the ruling National Party and the main liberation movement reaching a settlement in 1994 that brought democracy to South Africa for the first time. Over the last fifty years, Du Preez has had a front-row seat witnessing South Africa's darkest and brightest moments as a journalist. He paints a colourful story as a child of apartheid, doing his military service, studying at Stellenbosch University and starting his career at Afrikaans newspapers. But what he experienced and had to report on, eventually led him to rebel and become a traitor to his volk and a media terrorist exposing apartheid's darkest secrets. In The End of Normal he explores how otherwise decent people came to implement and support an evil system like apartheid. He examines the long-term impact of June 16 and takes a hard look at white and black attitudes today, in particular the resurrection of Afrikaner nationalism A raw and honest account spiced with fascinating anecdotes, confessions and revelations.

Seller Inventory # LU-9781776195558

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The End of Normal
• Publisher: Jonathan Ball Publishers SA, ZA
• Publication Date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1776195558
• ISBN 13: 9781776195558
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Dimensions: 15.24W x 2.13H x 22.86D centimeters 15.24 centimeters width by 2.13 centimeters height by 22.86 centimeters depth
• Weight: 500 grams

About this title

Synopsis

It was the beginning of 1976 and life was good. White South Africans danced along to Queen and ABBA. There was huge anticipation of the pending All Black rugby tour in July - and at last South Africa had TV!

And then came the Soweto student uprising in June. It was the end of normal, setting in motion a series of events that culminated in the negotiated settlement of 1994.

MAX DU PREEZ, born and raised in a conservative Afrikaner Christian Nationalist family, witnessed the first stones thrown on 16 June - and the first shots fired - as a young newspaper reporter. That was also the end of his normal. In the half century since those seismic days, Du Preez has had a front-row seat to South Africa's darkest and brightest moments. The End of Normal explores how otherwise decent people came to implement and support the evil system of apartheid. He examines the long-term impact of 16 June and takes a hard look at attitudes today, in particular the recent resurgence of Afrikaner nationalism.

In this highly readable account, replete with anecdotes, confessions and revelations, Du Preez pulls no punches.