Ruth First and Joe Slovo in the War Against Apartheid

Ruth First and Joe Slovo, husband and wife, were leaders of thewar to end apartheid in South Africa. Communists, scholars, parents,and uncompromising militants, they were the perfect enemiesfor the white police state. Together they were swept up in thegrowing resistance to apartheid, and together they experiencedrepression and exile. Their contributions to the liberation struggle,as individuals and as a couple, are undeniable. Ruth agitatedtirelessly for the overthrow of apartheid, first in South Africa andthen from abroad, and Joe directed much of the armed strugglecarried out by the famous Umkhonto we Sizwe. Only one of them,however, would survive to see the fall of the old regime and thefounding of a new, democratic South Africa.This book, the first extended biography of Ruth First and JoeSlovo, is a remarkable account of one couple and the revolutionarymoment in which they lived. Alan Wieder’s deeply researchedwork draws on the usual primary and secondary sources but alsoan extensive oral history that he has collected over many years.By weaving the documentary record together with personal interviews,Wieder portrays the complexities and contradictions of thisextraordinary couple and their efforts to navigate a time of greattension, upheaval, and revolutionary hope.