In 1993 Massie received a Senior Fulbright Research Award to spend time in South Africa, where he taught at the University of Cape Town. In 1994 he also served as an official international observer during the first democratic elections in South Africa. His book "Loosing The Bonds: The United States and South Africa In The Apartheid Years" was completed over the next four years, and published by Doubleday in 1997. It won the Lionel Gelber Prize for the Best Book on International Relations in 1998 and was reviewed favorably across the United States, including the New York Times.