Birth - The Conspiracy to Stop the '94 Election

The country was ablaze. There were bomb blasts, massacres, assassinations. The right wing wanted a Volkstaat; Inkatha wanted secession for KwaZulu and was prepared to fight for it. It was a time fraught with danger. It was a time loaded with possibility. Peter Harris saw it all from the inside. In January 1994 he was seconded to the newly formed Independent Electoral Commission with South Africa's first democratic election only three months away. A dedicated group of people tasked with the impossible. This story - enthralling, moving, thrilling - reveals the forces at work behind the scenes: those intent on destruction, those committed to delivering an election against the odds, and a conspiracy to strike at the heart of the election. Birth is about a vulnerable moment. It is about a nation staring into the abyss as it steps out to determine its future.

The stunning new book by the author of the acclaimed In a Different Time (Umuzi, 2008), and this account of the drama behind the scenes is every bit as gripping as his first book.

“Every bit as spellbinding as his first book, but with a nation’s survival at stake. Glorious.” Cyril Ramaphosa

Click here to watch the book trailer.

Read an online review here.

Peter Harris talks to Anne McElvoy of BBC Radio on the Night Waves show about the British edition of his novel, In a Different Time. The British title, A Just Defiance, was published by Portobello Books.

Listen to an interview with Peter Harris on Vox Africa.