cover image The Apartheid Handbook

The Apartheid Handbook

R. Omond, Roger Omond, Roger Ormond. Puffin Books, $4.95 (240pp) ISBN 978-0-14-052375-1

South Africa's policy of racial segregation is the subject of this straightforward reference book, which delineates the day-to-day workings of the legal divisions between the white minority and the Indian, ""colored,'' and black majority. A question-and-answer format treats a broad range of subjects: which beaches are for whites only, which races must carry pass books, etc. Statistics and individual examples further inform readers about the social implications of South Africa's complicated marriage laws, banning orders and homeland policies. It is reported here, for example, that the doctor-to-population ratio for blacks is 1:12,000, for whites 1:330. Omond, a South African journalist, provides hard facts for the worldwide debate on apartheid; his impassive, textbook-like tone makes the telling all that more shocking. January