Crossing the Line: A Year in the Land of Apartheid

William Finnegan, an American, has authored an utterly absorbing look at life - particularly black life - in Apartheid-era South Africa. As an American intimately familiar with the political culture of that troubled country, it and the resistance it engendered is an ongoing source of wonder that the South Africa of 2007 could have emerged as a "light unto the world" given the violence, racism and depravity of its first three centuries of history. When this volume was written, Nelson Mandela was a Robben Island prisoner, P.W. Botha was president of the world's preeminent para-fascist and unashamedly racist state, and black aspirations toward freedom, equality and dignity were answered with the bullet, the bullwhip and the hangman's noose. "Crossing the Line" provides important and compelling insights: the sights, smells and sounds of everyday life in the face of oppression that can only be labelled monstrous, the unimaginable courage of the people - particularly the children - that fought it, and the desperate, despicable character of those who sought to keep in place a system whose evil and efficiency have only been rivaled by the likes of the Third Reich. Finnegan's account of life in a "coloured" suburb of Capetown is sensitive and poignant. The reader is drawn into his wonderfully textured account of some essential elements of life in apartheid South Africa. I would unhesitatingly recommend this book to any American who seeks to understand what precisely apartheid was and how it functioned, particularly to students (Finnegan chronicles in detail his year of teaching in a Capetown "coloured" high school) interested in world affairs, current events, civil rights, and the use and limitations of civil disobedience. It is a brilliantly uplifting and powerful story, offering the reader a textured account of the indomitability of the human spirit.

I read this book about fifteen years ago and even after all these years, the power of the words and images has stayed with me. It is an amazing story and provides important and compelling insights. It gives the reader a true sense of being there -- in South Africa -- under apartheid. Reading this book truly changed my life. I was 15 when I read it and it enabled me to fully understand the issues and challenges that people all over the world face. I would recommend it to high school students interested in world affairs, current events, history, civil rights, African history, or civil disobedience. I would recommend it to the college student and the adult. I think it is a must-read. It is a moving, uplifting, powerful story. It is an example of how the human spirit can overcome all. Enjoy!

Finnegan's discovery of life in Cape Flats, S.A. is poignant and thoughtful. As the reader, you are drawn into his understanding as he captures some essential elements of life in apartheid South Africa. The rampant racism, segregation and human misery contrasts remarkably with the "other side of the tracks." I teach African studies in high school and have always used this novel to bring to life the educational system of the old South Africa and the disparities that persist there. Finnegan's thoughtful, caring concern for his students becomes evident in his approach to his writing...in the care he takes to bring Cape Town & Flats to the reader. Wonderful book!