A bold and innovative social history, The Seed Is Mine concerns the disenfranchised blacks who did so much to shape the destiny of South Africa. After years of interviews with Kas Maine and his neighbors, employers, friends, and family – a rare triumph of collaborative courage and dedication – Charles van Onselen has recreated the entire life of a man who struggled to maintain his family in a world dedicated to enriching whites and impoverishing blacks, while South Africa was tearing them apart.

“If ever one wondered whether the life of a single man could illuminate a
century, [this] brilliant biography … proves the point.” — Carmel Schrire, The
Boston Globe

“An epic … [that] tells of the loss of human potential generated by a politics
that surrendered generosity and openness to self-interest and bigotry. It
reveals the way an ordinary man can survive with dignity in such a world.” —
Vincent Crapanzano, the New York Times

“A magnificent book [with] implications beyond its modest claims … This
remarkable story compels foreboding but also kindles hope, for it shows the
extraordinary courage of ‘ordinary’ men under severe difficulties.” — Eugene
Genovese, Emory University

“[Van Onselen] teases out the subtleties of the paternalistic relationships
between rural whites and blacks which gave rise to real friendships but also
to much betrayal, anger, and humiliation . . . It is a monumental masterpiece
of research, and a poetic evocation of the human spirit to survive … ” —
Linda Ensor, Business Day