A Rainbow in the Night

The Tumultuous Birth of South Africa

By: Dominique Lapierre

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

In 1652 a small group of Dutch farmers landed on the southernmost tip of Africa. Sent by the powerful Dutch India Company, their mission was simply to grow vegetables and supply ships rounding the cape. The colonists, however, were convinced by their strict Calvinist faith that they were among God's "Elect", chosen to rule over the continent.

Their saga - bloody, ferocious, and fervent - would culminate three centuries later in one of the greatest tragedies of history: the establishment of a racist regime in which a white minority would subjugate and victimize millions of blacks. Called apartheid, it was a poisonous system that would only end with the liberation from prison of one of the moral giants of our time, Nelson Mandela.

A Rainbow in the Night is Dominique Lapierre's epic account of South Africa's tragic history and the heroic men and women - famous and obscure, white and black, European and African - who have, with their blood and tears, brought to life the country that is today known as the Rainbow Nation.

©2008 Dominique Lapierre; English translation 2009 by Dominique Lapierre (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Dominique Lapierre raises the curtain on the history of South Africa. Three and a half centuries...a sublime epic full of terrible dramas." ( Le Point magazine, France)

A fantastic title

As a South African living in Canada - with no prior knowledge of the history of South Africa - having left at a young age, I found this book mind opening. It allowed me to reflect on many moments from my past and see them through a new lens. This is the best and ideal way to get the foundational knowledge of South Africa's history. It reads like poetry as opposed to a boring textbook. You learn about historical figures as if they were characters in a dramatic novel, as opposed to dates and summaries. I highly recommend this title.

what a history lesson!

What is apartheid anyway? Yes, I was that ignorant! Throughout my life there was regular reference to it and Nelson Mandela on the news but that was in Africa, what did I care? Then I saw a brief portrait of him in my favorite "true story fairy tale" Invictus and I fell in love with this hero but oh was there yet a lot to learn!
It wasn't until I chanced on two of Bryce Courtenay's books: " The Power of One " and "Tandia" that I realized how little I knew and it became urgent to learn what apartheid and the History of South Africa was about so I researched S.A. history books. I wanted not too brief to really learn anything or one too long that I'd lose interest. La Pierre's book was perfect. it's hard to call a book that tells such a sad story 'fabulous'. It's well researched, beautifully put together and so well narrated by Rudnicki. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to know about S.A. It had to be emotionally difficult to write and even more so to narrate. My hats off to you gentleman. I wept, I laughed and several times had to stop listening for days at a time because I'd be so emotionally impacted that I could not sleep and my heart was so heavy with shame; shame that I could belong to a race of people capable of such savagery; not just for a day or a season but for over 340 YEARS!

Informative, gripping, incredible

Absolutely loved this audiobook. After listening to Mandela's autobiography, I was curious to know more and so wanted a concise overview of the history of South Africa from the beginning. This book was 110% what I was looking for. Reads like a novel. Can't recommend it enough.

Must read (listen)

Excellent audio quality. Superb narration. This book is a gripping account of the history of S. Africa culminating in the election of Nelson Mandela. Lapierre always does a great job of bringing history to life.

Overview of history intertwined with stories

Tells the tumultuous story of South Africa respectfully and clearly, with enough details to keep it lively and engaging. Great preparation for visit to this extraordinary place.

A Rainbow in the Night

Intelligent narration of the history of apartheid! It was intriguing to learn of its inception in South Africa, and where, yet another portrayal of man’s inhumanity to man emerged based on the senseless notion of white supremacy.

An Important History

I loved this book. Having just returned from a trip to South Africa my ignorance of the history of that country became obvious to me while there. This book was enlightening and put into context many of the places visited on the trip like Soweto and Mandela's cell on Robben Island. The story is compelling and moves quickly. It is like an excellent novel. I love Stefan Rudnicki as a narrator and if some of his pronunciations were not correct, his overall rendering made up for that. This is not just a history of a far away country but a necessary story of modern world history as vital as understanding 20th century European history.

Remarkable story stretching across 4 centuries

I was spellbound by the sweep of history making it possible to better understand this enigmatic country and its starkly different factions. I was apalled at the role of organized religion in apartheid and elevated by association with the strength and perseverance and then humanity of Nelson Mandela, a hero for our times.

A Must

An informative and educational recollection of South African History. Highly recommended to any and everyone.

Good story, bad accents

I’m finding it hard to understand why the narrator doesn’t use a South African accent when he is quoting South Africans. He sounds like he’s trying to speak like an American Indian. I’ve spent several months in South Africa and wish I would have read this before I went, it would have helped me understand the current situation.