Chapter I, Prologue Summary

The Covenant by James A. Michener is an epic tale that whisks the reader from the earliest days in South Africa and the San tribal customs, and follows its growth and development through several key families right up to and including apartheid. It is a history lesson that is personalized so as to ingrain itself on you as you grow with each generation of the families involved. The Covenant is a remarkable piece of work, endeavoring to show all sides in an impossible situation and giving the reader an insight to issues that most of its own countrymen still struggle to understand.

The San tribes survive with the barest of necessities. They understand the importance of the basics of food and water and the continuation of their clan, and a San elder will sacrifice everything in order to ensure...