Ruth First and Joe Slovo in the War Against Apartheid
“Focusing on the lives of the colorful and contradictory revolutionaries Ruth First and Joe Slovo, Wieder provides detail and context, personality and character to one of the epic struggles of all time. This book is a gripping social history, a love song to the revolution, and a passionate and enlightening portrait of a partnership, a love-affair, and two extraordinary activists who cast their fates with the dreams of people everywhere for justice and freedom.”-Bill Ayers & Bernardine Dohrn,“Demonized by apartheid, Joe and Ruth were revolutionary heroes for black South Africans. They were formidable opponents in word and deed. This absorbing account does them justice and illuminates the complexity and richness of their often stormy relationship and extraordinary times.”-Ronnie Kasrils,Anti-apartheid leader and solidarity activist; former Minister of Intelligence in South Africa; auth“Wieder’s book enlarges and enriches our understanding of the lives of First and Slovo, their intense and turbulent relationship, their personalities and impact on others, and their various roles as lawyer, journalist, underground operative, researcher, teacher, author, political and military leader, negotiator and cabinet minister. The evocation of the Johannesburg left during the 1950s—Gillian Slovo called them her parents’ Camelot years—is vivid and well-observed.”-Colin Bundy,Former Principal of Green Templeton College, University of Oxford“Ruth First and Joe Slovo emerge from this book as flesh and blood human beings facing monumentally difficult decisions…This book evokes a vital period which became a focus of myth-making rather than the kind of clear-eyed, honest history Ruth and Joe would each have ultimately have deemed essential.”-Dan O'Meara,Author,Volkskapitalisme, and coauthor,The Struggle for South Africa“Alan Wieder has plunged into their past of domestic and political struggle to share their story with the scope, context, and detail that it deserves. And we all will appreciate his commitment and style in critically respecting their contributions and bringing this dynamic duo alive as the complex, loving and caring people they were.”-Danny Schechter,Founder and Director of "South Africa Now", Director of six films on Nelson Mandela