Ons Politiek van naby

(Cape Town: Tafelberg, 1971). 8vo; original black boards; dustwrapper; pp. (vi) + 186; facsimiles. Dustwrapper somewhat rubbed and edgeworn; previous owner's discreet hand-stamp to front free endpaper; faint spotting to page edges. Very good condition. Afrikaans text. Loosely inserted is a newspaper article from Durban's 'Sunday Tribune' of January 9, 1972, regarding this book. It is entitled 'Dr V: Looking back in awe at the man who was never wrong', and includes the following illuminating comments on Van Rooyen's memoir: "But now, nearly five-and-a-half years after his death, Verwoerd's life and times are described by Jan J. van Rooyen - former Nasionale Pers political correspondent, associate editor of Die Transvaler and confidant of the late Prime Minister - in the almost awed tones ascribed to a Godlike figure. In Van Rooyen's new book Ons Politiek Van Naby, Verwoerd's contribution to the complexities of the South African political scene is not treated as the more valuable clinical assessment - he was too close to the man for that. ... To Van Rooyen, Verwoerd was a hero, a prophet, a visionary, a man who was seldom wrong ... Many may argue against this image, which is a product of hero worship, but to back his unstinted praise Van Rooyen does give a remarkable insight into Verwoerd's keen analytical thinking at the earliest stage in South Africa's moves towards complete independence and the formulation of Nationalist policy which led to South Africa leaving the British Commonwealth." .