The author provides an interpretive narrative history of the ANC from its formation in 1912, until its electoral victory in 1994. It questions the assumption that the victory of the ANC has been inevitable or, indeed, was wholly matched with the wider struggle against apartheid.

Beginning with Nelson Mandela's release from prison in 1990, the author first poses various questions about the ANC arising out of this event. He then goes back to its formation in 1912 and provides an interpretive narrative history of the movement up until its electoral victory in 1994: including its early passive resistance to white power, the issue of its central policy document - the Freedom Charter - in 1965; its campaign of industiral and economic sabotage after it was declared an unlawful organization in 1960; its unbanning in February 1990; and its suspension of armed struggle later that year. It questions the assumption that the victory of the ANC has been inevitable, or, indeed, was wholly matched with the wider struggle against apartheid.