Alan Paton

(New York: Twayne Publishers, 1968). Twayne's World Authors Series, number 40. 8vo; original red rexine, lettered in silver gilt on spine and upper cover; no dustwrapper; pp. 160, incl. index. Library ink stamp to copyright page; library ink stamps and label scars to rear endpaper; slight impression to lower board. Good. "Since his first novel, Cry, the Beloved Country, appeared in 1948, Alan Paton has been accepted as one of the foremost interpreters of South African life and society through the medium of literature. Prior to 1948 he had gained a fine professional reputation for his creative approach to problems of penal reform; and in more recent years he has felt compelled to enter public life as an active leader of the Liberal Party to promote the spirit of non-racial democracy in South Africa. The principal aim of this book has been to describe and evaluate Alan Paton's literary achievement in fiction, drama, biography, and poetry. But I have also sought, where possible, to show the related significance of his writings on sociology, politics, and religion, and of his practical endeavors in creative social welfare as well as in the work of the South African Liberal Party which he has led as National President since 1958." - From the Preface. .