Letters from Robben Island: A Selection of Ahmed Kathrada's Prison Correspondence, 1964-1989
Ahmed ("Kathy") Kathrada, an Indian South African leader, spent 26 years as a political prisoner, most of the time on Robben Island with Mandela and other anti-apartheid leaders. A selection of his prison letters, many censored or banned, has been retrieved and published here, with useful introductory notes that provide background and context. The personal letters may be too detailed for many readers, except for what they reveal of the writer's strength, humor, and compassion. But the facts about the letters and about the prison community will fascinate anyone interested in the apartheid struggle. Printed in full is the historic letter Kathrada and four other imprisoned leaders wrote to President Botha in 1985, refusing his offer of freedom if they would renounce violence. Now Kathrada chairs the prison museum, and one visitor describes how ex-prisoner number 468/64 showed her a cell so small you "couldn't imagine how it could have held dreams so immense."Hazel Rochman