Originally published in 1961, this book was the first comprehensive work on South African geography that also presented a balanced account of all facets of the economic life. It was written to provide background information on South Africa – the nature of the country, its resources and deficiencies, its historic settlement by peoples of different races and of the progress made and the difficulties encountered in the major areas of economic activity: agriculture, mining, manufacturing and trade. In discussing these factors the book acknowledged that in South Africa the complexities of the relationships between peoples of different racial origins and widely differently economic and cultural standards are met in one country.

No. 1 contains "statistics mainly for the period 1910-1916".