117 Days: An Account of Confinement and Interrogation under the South African 90-Day Detention Law
(Paperback)
Publishing Details
117 Days: An Account of Confinement and Interrogation under the South African 90-Day Detention Law
By (Author) Ruth First
Introduction by Gillian Slovo
Little, Brown Book Group
Virago Press Ltd
1st February 2011
United Kingdom
Classifications
General
Non Fiction
Offenders
Political activism / Political engagement
365.45092
Physical Properties
Paperback
192
Width 135mm, Height 200mm, Spine 12mm
138g
Description
'In prison you see only the moves of the enemy. Prison is the hardest place to fight a battle.'
117 Days is Ruth First's personal account of her detention under the iniquitous '90-day' law of 1963. There was no warrant, no charge and no trial - only suspicion.This sparsely written and unique record tells of her experiences of solitary confinement, constant interrogation and instantaneous re-arrest on release - lightened by humorous portraits of governors, matrons, wardresses and interrogators, seen as the tools of the police state.Reviews
[Ruth First's] life, and her death, remains a beacon to all who love liberty -- Nelson Mandela
Author Bio
Ruth First was a journalist and academic and, along with her husband Joe Slovo, strongly active in the anti-apartheid movement. She escaped South Africa in 1964. In 1982 she was working at a university in Mozambique. On the 17th August she opened a letter bomb addressed to her by the South African security police.
