Soul of a Nation is designed to be read as a continuous narrative, but also for use as a reference work. The book includes a detailed chronology of events in the negotiating process, and a thorough index including key role-players' names and issues covered in negotiations and the documents in part two.
The notes provide a guide to the coverage of the negotiations process in the print media at the time, where the process manifested itself in the public sphere.;Part one of the text provides a detailed account of the negotiating process and its key players from 1989 to 1996.
It also includes a chapter on South African constitutional history over the last 90 years, and a forward-looking epilogue on insights from the negotiating table. Part two of the book is a ""documentary history"", comprised of 36 key documents from South Africa's constitutional history since 1902.