Three Letters from Africa

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There is no man in South Africa better fitted to write about his country than Edgar Brookes. He has spent his life and his gifts in its service. In 1923 he started teaching History at the Afrikaans-speaking University of Pretoria. In 1933 he became Principal of the famous Adams College, an institution devoted to the education of African students. He went to Parliament in 1937 as a Senator elected by the African people of Natal, and served for fifteen honourable years. Then in 1952 he returned to Natal, where he became Professor of History.

Edgar Brookes is now cut off from the main sources of political power, largely because of his views on race questions, and largely because he takes seriously Christ’s saying that it is better to lose the world than one’s soul. But as often happens, it is as his temporal authority has declined that his spiritual authority has increased.

No one has ever told more about South Africa in so little space than Edgar Brookes has done in these letters to three students, encountered at widely separated periods in his life. The letters are deeply Christian, for while they take responsible account of racial fears, social injustices, and historical determinants, it is righteousness that they exalt above all else. This imparts to his symphony a grave and yet uplifting note. All Christians in South Africa, of every race and color, should read his Three Letters in a humble and enquiring spirit, for they will nowhere find a better teacher.