Early in 1978 the Council of the University decided to mark the diamond jubilee of the University in 1982 by the publication of a history of its early years — the greening of Wits.

A committee was formed, consisting of Professor Ellison Kahn, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, as convener; Professor Noel G. Garson, Head of the Department of History; Professor Reuben Musiker, the University Librarian; Professor Phyllis Lewsen, of the Department of History; and Dr A.J. de V. Herholdt, Administrative Adviser to the Office of the Vice-Chancellor, to set the project afoot and recommend the appointment of an author. The committee was indeed fortunate in finding Professor Bruce K. Murray, of the Department of History, prepared to undertake this formidable task. He is an historian of distinction, and this work shows the measure of his scholarship.

Historians, in general, shy away from writing an institutional history, but Professor Murray has produced no mere chronicle of the growth of Wits; it is a critical assessment of the University’s approach to higher education, its contribution to the evolution of the professions of the country, the role it played in the particular society to which it belongs, and its contribution to the advancement of knowledge. We are presented with an enthralling work, embracing a chronological account and an analysis of specific facets.

The University gave Professor Murray unrestricted access to its records; it imposed no censorship of any sort. Everything that appears in these pages has been authenticated. Not only did the author winnow the publications and files in our archives; he explored the Government archives and the papers of other institutions and of individuals; and he conducted many interviews with those who were participants in the events of those early days.

This book is the splendid product of high endeavour and the cost of publication has been generously underwritten by the Trustees of the University of the Witwatersrand. It should have a wide appeal: not only to all those who have attended Wits, but to all who are interested in the history of education and, indeed, in South African history and political development in general.