“The greatest novel to emerge out of the tragedy of South Africa,and one of the best novels of our time.” —The New Republic “A beautiful novel…its writing is so freshits projection of character so immediate and fullits events so compellingand its understanding so compassionate that to read the book is to share intimatelyeven to the point of catharsisin the grave human experience.” —The New York Times An Oprah Book Club selectionCrythe Beloved Countrywas an immediate worldwide bestseller when it was published in 1948. Alan Paton’s impassioned novel about a black man’s country under white man’s law is a work of searing beauty. Crythe Beloved Countryis the deeply moving story of the Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo and his sonAbsalomset against the background of a land and a people riven by racial injustice. Remarkable for its lyricismunforgettable for character and incidentCrythe Beloved Country is a classic work of love and hopecourage and enduranceborn of the dignity of man.